1984 Figurative Language

George Orwell employs the usage of different rhetoric throughout 1984.  The rhetoric differs from describing the human body and its struggle to survive to the different crimes and how the citizens felt about them.  Also, within 1984 lies a warning from Orwell: to eliminate the caustic consequences of a communist government.  While Orwell served as part of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma during the 1920s, he examined the faults of the communist government.  This phenomenon inspired Orwell to warn governments world-wide to stay on the right path to a safe and free rule.

In 1984 propaganda is misleading information used to promote or publicize a person’s point of view, it can be used to harm a person, group of people or a movement. It is mostly made up of false information and rumors. Propaganda is used in 1984 to manipulate the citizens so that they don’t think of rebelling against the party at any time. One of the propaganda that is used in 1984 is “Big Brother is watching YOU!” and “war is peace, slavery is freedom, ignorance is strength.”

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed,” this quote was stated by the infamous dictator, Adolf Hitler. By looking at this quote through a dictator’s point of view, one could favor that if one was powerful enough to tell such powerful lies one could get the people to believe anything one claims. Within the novel 1984, by George Orwell, one can find that the Party and Adolf Hitler are similar. Both tell big enough lies frequently enough for the people to just accept what their leaders claim is true. A limited amount of key topics that will be analyzed are the themes of governmental control, symbols of the powerful Big Brother, the repeatable motifs of the Parties slogan,

The novel 1984 is a political story with the purpose to warn the readers about the dangers of a totalitarian government. It really shows everyone that if there is a bad appearance, it will lead us to poor language. Then, when inadequate language comes, we think faulty thoughts. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, there is no expression of freedom. The government in 1984 has control over people by controlling the information. People have no access or memory of history from the past, which allows the Party to control their understanding about the past which would influence their thoughts in the present and the future.

In his book, 1984, Orwell has created a dark and gloomy atmosphere for the readers to witness the negative impact brought forth by a totalitarian government. Orwell has succeeded in depicting the dangers of a totalitarian government by using imagery and figurative language to create the dark and gloomy atmosphere.

Ben Tieves Crookston Hour 1 English 12 22 April 2024 1984 and the Use of Manipulative Language Written by George Orwell, 1984 is the story of Winston; a middle-aged man suffering under the totalitarian reign of “The Party” in a dystopian nation known as Oceania. The novel utilizes language not only as a tool to tell a story, but also creates an entirely new language known as “Newspeak.” This fictional language is implemented by the Party to maintain its power and further control the citizens of Oceania. Along with prioritizing language that reduces individual expression, the Party also edits historic documents to muddle the truth of the past. Orwell uses Newspeak and history modification to answer the question of how people use language and rhetoric to inform,

The year is 1984, but this world is completely different. Certain phrases and thoughts are banned, any sort of rebellion against the government is entirely banned with harsh punishments and human freedom is non-existent. Winston knows this is wrong as he says “All beliefs, habits, tastes, emotions, mental attitudes that characterize our time are really designed to sustain the mystique of the Party and prevent the true nature of present-day society from being perceived.” But he does not possess the power to make a change. What does he do then, fight for his cause, stay quiet, or rebel?

“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say” -Italo Calvino. According to (dictionary.com) a classic is a book that is “something noteworthy of its kind and worth remembering”. There is multiple definitions of what a classic is but all of them say that the book still needs to be remembered for a long time after being finished. The book, 1984 by George Orwell is a classic book when analyzing the symbolism and figurative language used throughout the book.

1984: Psychological Manipulation There are different kinds of manipulation, the physical, which is physically altering an object, or psychological, which subdues the mind of a person to think differently. The party manipulates its people through propaganda and telescreens in order to be in power. The main issues that are portrayed in 1984, from the point of view of governmental propaganda, are: the party members being all uniform and consistent; society not being able to have a true identity; and washing people’s brains without even being caught by the thought police. Everyone in the Party wears the same things, eats the same things and thinks the same.

George Orwell’s 1984 is probably one of the most famous political novels in History. It´s strong criticism to authoritarianism, government abuses and sameness makes it one of the most analysed novels of the twentieth century. Hence, Orwell uses a lot of literary devices such as vivid imagery, symbolism of color and all sorts of allusions to convey the reader into his powerful criticism of authoritarian societies and how the promote the decay of free-thinking and individualism, which his the meaning of his narrative prose.

In “1984”, lies, myths and false information controls the thinking of the citizens. The Party uses propaganda as the deadliest weapon of control. Propaganda increases the citizens’ morale and makes them think that what the party tells them to do is always right.

In Comparison of the three slogans the number one thing they all have in common is they are all false and are all contradictions of each other; “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is strength.” Each slogan has it 's own purpose and reason to help the inner circle to control everybody to make sure they do not rise up against the inner party. If someone does go against the inner party the inner party sends their “task force” in to take that person and to have them do manually labor for the rest of their life. Which having the Thought Police a.k.a “task force” in the mix of everything adds even more anxiety and fear into the people of this society. In truth the inner circle uses fear and repeats the slogans to get people brainwashed into believing everything the inner circle is telling them.

as seen above, one could manage to say that the term doublespeak was coined in the early 1950s and appeared for the first time in the novel 1984, by George Orwell, under another name called newspeak.

When “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”(16) is flashed on the screen it is kind of an irony. The Party is technically telling the people they have strength due to the fact that the citizens of Oceania are ignorant to the lies told by the party. The more ignorant the more power the Party has. The quote “WAR IS STRENGTH”(16) is describing the people wanting The Party to win the war they are in turning them against their “enemy” to gain more respect and power above the people. This was a tactic to get the people to fight for The Party who has been manipulating them into believing the lies they tell them every day. The last quote the Party uses is “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.” This quote is basically stating that a man who is on his own is doomed to fail.

Newspeak is the official language of Oceania in the novel 1984 written by George Orwell. The higher officials of the totalitarian state of Oceania also called “Big Brothers” created this language in order to limit the thought of freedom, individuality, peace and self-expression by the people. The main concept of this language was to limit the use of similar and expression-full vocabulary. The rule was that “what cannot be said, cannot be thought.” The totalitarian leaders and party use this language to restrict ideas, rather than broaden it. To illustrate the fact that language can corrupt thought and that totalitarian systems use Newspeak to restrict ideas, rather than broaden ideas, Orwell created Newspeak.