Connected Text Study, Between 1984 and Sin City

Review:candreacchio
“Governments have all the control”, Discuss in relation to 1984 and Sin City Both 1984 and Sin City use the extremes of government control. The justice system in Sin City is corrupt and is very ineffective, whereas in 1984 it is very effective and has too much control over the general public. Both systems are worse off for the general public. In 1984 the main reason that the government have the excess of control is that they wish to have the Party’s reign forever. If someone disagrees with anything they do, then they will be severally punished, in some cases by extreme torture, until they agree with anything the Party says to them. In Sin City, the government does have some control over the public, but not enough to keep the city a safe place, and the government forces which are supposed to keep the city safe, are partially corrupt so that no one can rely on the police or the court systems. For example, when the police catch Marv, “The judge is all fire and brimstone when she hands down the sentence” they framed Marv for not just the crimes he committed, but also other people’s crimes. The reason was because when they do catch a criminal, it is not often so they try to place as many charges on them as possible. The reason that the Party has so much control over the public is so that the Party can have the power over the rest of the countries until a revolution occurs. “If there is hope, it lies in the proles”, as the proles are the only people of the population, can be compared to the working class of today’s society, that are not under the full control of the Party. They do all the hard work labour, and are left mainly alone from the Party as if they are disturbed from anyway, they would stop any flow of materials to the rest of the countries. The rest of the population however is under a influence not to up rise against the Party. Whereas in Sin City, they don’t have much control over the public as they don’t have enough cops to go around and the cops that are employed, are sometimes corrupt. For instance, when a big bust is about to happen, by Detective John Hartigan, his partner, Michael Madsen. This is just the smallest bit of corruption as a senator frames Det. Hartigan for the bust because the senator’s son was the one who should have been arrested. The affects due to the governments having most of the control are very extreme. In 1984, Winston feels that he will rebel against the Party in any way possible, as he knows that once he has broken the law the first time, he is a dead man living.

He starts up an affair with Julia, who also has rebelled many times against the Party. Whereas in Sin City, the affects of not enough government control are extreme, as there is lots of violence, which rules the streets even when there are policemen around. Both of the general population seem to be rebelling against the government in some way, whether they are standing up in an intellectual or physical way. Generally, both of the books have something against what the current government is doing, either by making everyone have equal rights, as in 1984, or not protecting its citizens enough, as in Sin City. In both texts, there is the theme of sex. In Sin City there are many examples of sex as all parts of the film involve it. Two main examples are the prostitutes in Old Town, and the story about the death of Goldie and how Marv avenges the death. This shows that prostitution is a major part of the life in Sin City. The theme of sex is also in 1984, with the relationship between Winston and Julia. This relationship is the reason that leads to their capture by the thought police, and eventually to their “curing”. Winston loves Julia, mainly because they both think on the same wavelength, and he enjoys knowing that there are many other people within the Party who also think the same was as well. In Sin City, prostitution is legalised, but only in one section of town, whereas in 1984 it is banned. Both governments have a problemwith the amount of control they impose on the general public, one government believes that over control is the key to the Party’s future, and one government is so corrupt anything can happen. In an ideal world, it would be a mixture of both worlds, so there is no corruption, but enough control over the general public to keep the streets safe. In most countries, this equilibrium is met, but in the other countries, it’s more about the reign of the government and not the people. But after all, “The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” – Robert Heinlein, 1984 By Carlo Andreacchio
Connected Text Study, Between 1984 and Sin City Originally published in Shvoong: http://www.shvoong.com/books/18526-connected-text-study-1984-sin/