In referring to the camps of Nazi Germany, Arendt wrote of this necessity, "Under no circumstances must the concentration camp become a calculable punishment for definite offenses" (448). To imprison innocents is to completely deprive individuals of their sense of existence in a logical state or judicial system. Arendt further postulates that totalitarian governments seek to extend their control over the entire citizenry and that "The ultimate goal partly achieved in the Soviet Union, and clearly indicated in the last phases of Nazi terror, is to have the whole camp population composed of this category of innocent people" (449). .
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This first step towards absolute control clearly manifests itself throughout 1984. The very structure of Orwell's Oceania serves to eliminate any concept of a juridical existence. Winston Smith perceives himself a member of society with no laws, yet still realizes that unorthodoxy carries with it harsh penalties. Early in the work, Winston contemplates the consequences of his journal keeping: "The thing he was about to do was to open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death. . ." (Orwell 9). Oceania adheres to Arendt's model in the respect that there is no clearly defined system of right and wrong. Heresy against the state is vaguely defined at best, and orthodoxy consists simply of submitting entirely to the Party. Oceania has no courts or prisons, only the Thought Police and the Ministry of Love. The Thought Police serve to help the Party maintain the strictest levels of orthodoxy among its followers, and further contribute to the loss of juridical rights, for as O'Brien eventually explains to Winston, "The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about" (209). Such a philosophy makes a significant contribution to the annihilation of the rights of man, for actions become meaningless and the private domain of personal belief comes under intense scrutiny.
