Metropolis and 1984 Explore What It Means to Be Human. How Have Humans and the Human Condition Been Affected by the Aspects of Each Context of the Two Texts

Module A Essay - Revised after the Brain

Metropolis and 1984 explore what it means to be human. How have humans and the human condition been affected by the aspects of each context of the two texts.

A composer’s analysis of the human condition is heavily influenced by their respective contextual worlds, and the way in which they react to events at the time. Despite the dissimilarity in social context between both Fritz Lang’s classic film Metropolis (1927) and  George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four (1949), both of these composers share concerns towards a loss of human values such as love and justice following the rise of a manipulative, totalitarian government. Through the distortion of what it means to be human, these two texts present similar dystopian societies suffering from the impacts of war.

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis explores the abuse of power due to human greed within a dystopian, capitalist economy and the subsequent restriction of human values, including freedom and emotions. Lang portrays the city of Metropolis in a vertically structured design, which is a visual metaphor of the social structure, where the ruler Fredersen lives at the top of the tower, and the workers live underground. In the opening sequences of the film, the juxtaposition between the sleek, geometric designs of the skyscrapers and the generic, dilapidated buildings in the worker’s city highlights the inequality between the two classes. This notion is accentuated by the weary demeanour of the workers, who are deliberately designed to mimic robotic movements, representing the workers in the Weimar Republic after WW1 and the dehumanising effects of industrialisation. Moreover, The Tower of Babel is utilised by Lang as an allegory to describe the disjointedness between Fredersen and his workers, which also refers to the lack of relations between workers and the upper class in Germany at the time. The worker’s city is alluded to as a form of hell, enhanced by the symbol of Moloch, a demon who demands human sacrifices, suggesting the idea that the workers are sacrificing their humanity for the capitalist rulers. Fredersen remains stern and poised throughout the film until the very end, even after hearing about the injuries of his workers, thus emphasising the loss of his compassion towards the livelihood of other humans.

 Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell scrutinises the exploitation of the general population due to the desire for power and control, where the human condition of emotions and empathy is distorted by greed. Orwell introduces The Party as a ruthless and tyrannical regime which rules through power and the fear imposed upon the people. The party’s oxymoronic slogans “War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is Strength” describe fundamental human values which oppose the norm in society, yet are blindly followed by the masses. The symbolism of “Big Brother” is chosen to immortalise the leader of Oceania as a guardian angel and simulate the human concept of a family, which references the reliance of the populace upon the government, as well as conveying a pretence of the human concept of family. Orwell intends for the state of Oceania to act as a partial allegory to the Soviet Union under the reign of Stalin, with certain Nazist elements such as the Thought Police being reinventions of the Gestapo and the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, responsible for the Stalinist purges and forced collectivisation. The role of technology in surveillance is also criticised by Orwell as it disregards the anonymity and privacy granted to individuals as a part of their basic human rights. Moreover, the personification of the telescreen in “as long has he remained in the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded” associates the screen with the party itself, emphasising the lack of freedom and privacy of the party members. Thus, Nineteen Eighty Four depicts a dystopian state, distinguished by a lack of human values and rights, primarily as a result of the control exercised by the government to remain in power.