This study discusses about totalitarianism in Yoko Ogawa's The Memory
Police. There are four questions to be answered in this research: the depiction of
totalitarianism in the novel, the cause and effects of totalitarianism in the novel, and
the characters' resistance to totalitarianism in the novel. The objective of the study is
to find the reflection of totalitarianism on islanders, the depicted cause of
totalitarianism, the depicted effects of totalitarianism, and the characters' resistance
to totalitarianism. In analyzing the problem, the writer applies a descriptive qualitative
method with sociological approach. The analysis shows the forms of totalitarianism
found are terror, absolute control, surveillance, and monopolizing information. The
cause of Memory Police's totalitarianism is the desire of Memory Police. The effects
of totalitarianism found are loss of trust, intolerance, loss of identity, fear and anxiety,
loneliness and isolation, emptiness, trauma, and depression. Most of the people calmly
accept the reality of the loss of memories, but some fight back. The characters'
resistance to totalitarianism found are forming groups, escaping, and making a hiding
place. The writer concludes that the Memory Police as a totalitarian government body
uses their repressive power to impose forgetfulness and create an oppressive
atmosphere. Because of their repressive power, there are many negative effects on the
islanders.
