Comparitive Study between The Matrix and 1984

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Who are the composers of the texts? 1984 – George Orwell The Matrix - Andy and Larry Wachowski When were the texts composed? 1984 – First published in 1948 The Matrix – Released 1999 George Orwell – Biography and Influences George Orwell uses 1984 to publicise the danger of political authority and the dangers of a totalitarian society. Orwell had witnessed this in countries such as Spain, the Soviet Union and Germany as a result of the age of advancing technology. 1984 remains as one of the most powerful sources of warnings issued against totalitarian societies. George Orwell aims to portray the worst human society, a dystopia. The negative utopian form is used to convince readers to avoid any actions similar to this that could lead to a reaction as shown in the novel. 1984 is one of the most famous novels of the negative utopian, or dystopian, genre. When 1984 was composed, a society that was monitored seemed possible, as it was the dawn of the nuclear age, before the television became a common appliance found in homes. That Orwell postulated such a society a mere thirty-five years into the future compounded this fear. Orwell was influenced by many existing works, and some of these include “WE" by Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937), "Winter in Moscow" by Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-90), "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) The Wachowski Brothers – Biography and Influences Many precedents exist for the idea that the real world is an illusion, and the Matrix trilogy is riddled with specific references to philosophers who have entertained this idea. Although the films are meant to stand on their own and create their own set of philosophical questions, the Wachowskis pay homage to these precedents through both obvious and subtle references. Four of the most striking philosophical precedents for the

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