Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are familiar names, but what about more obscure individuals Muammar Gaddafi, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un? George Orwell used 1984 as a prediction of what might happen if fascism in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia continued. The dystopian, fascist government that exists in 1984 resembles the governments of the modern, real countries of Libya, China, and North Korea. The government in Orwell's Oceania is fascist, which causes citizens like Winston and Julia to hate the government. O'Brien explains the future of governing Oceania to Winston, when he says, "'If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot trampling on a human face, forever'" (Orwell 240). This passage uses a metaphor to accurately define fascism. According to Dr. Lawrence Britt, there are fourteen defining characteristics of fascism, including: “a contempt for the recognition of human rights, control of the mass media, and the entanglement of religion and government” (Britt). These characteristics are all examples of how the government represses its citizens, thus preventing them from rising up. The image of “a boot trampling on a human face” metaphorically illustrates fascism. Specifically, the government has total control over civilians. There is a dictator who has complete power over the nation and forcefully, often violently, represses criticism and opposition. This is blatantly similar to “Big Brother,” the government that brainwashes its citizens to love their leaders and then punishes them, to the point of murder, if they attempt to rebel in any way. The boot symbolizes the government because the government represses civilians, preventing them from rising up against the government. The human... paper... center of the world if fascism were to continue. In Orwell's time, the main fascists were Hitler and Stalin, today there are Muammar Gaddafi, Kim Sung-un and Xi Jiaping, while in 1984 there is Big Brother. All these governments are very similar to each other, as Orwell predicted. These points reveal that even though those who live in free nations think that 1984 is dystopian science fiction, in some places in the world 1984 is almost a work of realistic fiction. Works Cited Cumings, Bruce. The Two Koreas. New York, NY: Foreign Policy Association, 1984. Print.Lawson, Don. Libya and Gaddafi. New York, NY: F. Watts, 1987. Print.Zurlo, Tony. China. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Print.Britt, Lawrence. "Fourteen Distinctive Features of Fascism." Rense. 2003. Web. 5 May 2014. Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1949. Print.