Power Lust, Violence and Depression in Orwell’s 1984 (1949) and Kourouma’s Les Soleils des indépendances (1968)

Abstract

Based on George Orwell’s 1984 and Kourouma’s Les Soleils des indépendances, this research paper intends to study some central themes which the two novels share. This dissertation is concerned with the study of the idea of the totalitarian leading elite’s lust for power and their use of violence. We have examined the position of the two authors towards issues through referring to the socio-political influences in writing the plot of two novels. This justifies our appeal to the "New Historicist" theory in dealing with our corpus; this has allowed us to study those two literary works in relation to history. In this analysis, we have tried to demonstrate that in spite of the fact that both writers come from different areas and lived in different periods, they share the same concerns and reflect the same issue that characterized their time. Both of them have portrayed the rise of totalitarian governments which resort to several strategies to reach absolute power and keep the population masses under control. They have depicted the violent nature of totalitarian regimes which perpetrate terroristic acts to sustain their power and to reprimand any attempt of resistance. The two authors have also described the depressive situation of citizens living under such authoritarian regimes. This research paper has been divided into three chapters. The first one comprises the times and life of the two authors. It also includes the summary of the two novels. The second chapter, entitled Hegemonic Despotism, is divided into two sections: the first section is devoted to study the theme of totalitarian governments’ rise in which the single party plays a decisive role in reaching its ultimate goals. The second section analyzes the techniques of manipulation and control the totalitarian government uses to sustain its power. The last chapter puts emphasis on two other central themes. The first portrays the totalitarian government’s recourse to violence to subjugate the masses and to express power. The focus of the second theme lies in depicting the state of despair that overcomes the citizens who live under totalitarian regimes.