Apathetic Populace and Their Relation to Totalitarianism Satisfaction with a simple life, and complete indifference to what goes on in society makes a person a prime candidate for a member of an apathetic populace. On the other hand, if a person's life is too restricted and daily routine depends on what the government dictates, yes, a totalitarian society might be the current situation. Although indifference and totalitarianism seem miles apart, totalitarianism is often spurred on by an apathetic populace; furthermore, a person's attitude determines the actions of people who have power. This has been proven many times in history and literature. In Orwell's Animal Farm, through a pig named Squealer, an apathetic and ignorant populace is exploited and led to totalitarianism. This is the same case in Shakespere's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,as Mark Antony easily wins over the people with a simple but convincing oratory that gains him enough support to rule tyrranically.
English: Map of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after ...
Bust of Julius Caesar from the British Museum
Photo of the first page of Julius Caesar from a fa...A prime example in history is portrayed by Napolean Bonaparte. A master of propaganda, Napolean used a symbol of nationalism as a front to take advantage of an apathetic populace.
In Animal Farm, animals took over a farm, and ruled on their own. The pigs declared themselves the rulers because they were the most intelligent, and could read Along with their intelligence came the privileges of ruling. All of the pigs' success could be linked to a pig named Squealer who utilized his extremely convincing speech skills to put the other animals' unconcerned attitudes to use. He justified the pigs' privileges with lies, and provided enough evidence to persuade the other apathetic animals that their lives were equally as pleasurable.
When times were poor, Squealer found something to blame it on, and the animals frequently brought it upon themselves. For example, Boxer,