Jean-Jacques Rousseau eloquently said: “Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau). His idea is that, although man may be brought into the world as a free individual, innumerable social and political limitations imposed on him may prevent him from obtaining true freedom. In George Orwell's 1984 and Hyenseo Lee's The Girl with Seven Names, Winston Smith and Hyenseo Lee fight against the government to break these chains. Although 1984 is science fiction and The Girl with Seven Names is a memoir, both books describe totalitarian societies in which social values ​​and freedoms have been limited with manipulation and oppression through propaganda. To achieve freedom and individuality, the characters refuse to abide by the government's views. By exploring their autonomy, the characters bear witness to their own fear being used against them. Both Orwell and Lee argue that fear can be weaponized as a means of ultimate control. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1984, Orwell develops the idea that the Party exploits citizens' fear to remain in absolute power through Winston's mindless obedience to thought-police and excessive awareness of Party surveillance. When Winston performs his Physical Jerks exercises in front of the television screens, his mind goes to the Party that alters the memories of people from Oceania's past. He is immediately pulled out of his thoughts when a voice from the television screens immediately criticizes him for not having performed the exercises correctly and he immediately warns himself: “Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single blink of an eye could give you away!” (Orwell). Winston is immediately afraid that the telescreens have caught him thinking thoughts contradictory to those of the Party and that he will soon be killed for thinking them. Through constant surveillance of the television screens, Winston is terrified of the repercussions that could follow his actions. His fear is best illustrated by the moment the Thought Police invade Winston and Julia's apartment to arrest them both for their resistance to abiding by the Party's rules. Winston describes and interprets this moment as a "feeling of nakedness, with his hands behind his head" and "he did not dare turn his head even an inch, but sometimes his bruised and panting face came into his angle of vision" (Orwell) . Even when Julia is beaten by the thought police, she doesn't try to defend herself or save the woman she claimed to love most. This shows Winston's obedience towards the thought police due to his immense terror towards them. Thus, disobeying government controls (telescreens and thought police), Winston finds himself in conflict with his own fear. Fear, therefore, is a tool with which governments maintain power. Likewise, through the portrayal of Bowibu and the promotion of propaganda through education, Lee argues that an authoritarian regime must use fear to force citizens to submit. The Bowibu are North Korea's secret police who punish any citizen who commits a political crime. The Bowibu are not interested in the crime that affects the people, but are only interested in "political disloyalty, the faintest hint of which, real or imaginary, was enough to make an entire family disappear - grandparents, parents and children" (Lee) . Lee recognizes how deeply rooted fear is in his society and realizes that his life and the lives of many others are at risk if they show even a small sign of defiance. Citizens fear Bowibu and it shows in the way they refrain from challenging the system.