1984 George Orwell Analysis

Absolute control over society is the central theme in the novel, 1984, by George Orwell. One method this power over society is exercised is use of language to manipulate and control people. The story features a society called Oceania, which is located in the European region. In Oceania, there is a form of totalitarian government called the Party which controls the entire society. The Party controls thoughts by making certain words or phrases illegal. In addition, any anti-party thoughts or motives are also deemed illegal. To control society, thoughts are monitored by telescreens which read reactions and record speech. A force, called the Thought Police, is also engaged to take power over and eliminate society’s individual beliefs. The

“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,

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (6).” These are the three slogans of The Party, and they play often throughout the book through the telescreens. As stated in the last paragraph, telescreens are everywhere in 1984, which by extension means The Party’s propaganda is everywhere as well. Reading this you may be thinking, “That’s the opposite of what we believe in our world today”, and that is correct, but remember who is playing these messages, The Party. This is what the party wants, a population of people that will follow what they say and will believe anything that is told to them. Which is another topic the telescreen’s propaganda capitalizes on. “Life, if you looked about you, bore no resemblance not only to the lies that streamed out of the telescreens, but even to the ideals that the Party was trying to achieve (Orwell 94).” The combination of citizens that will believe anything that is told to them, constant pro-Party propaganda, and the lies that are taken as

If every act of influence in another’s decisions is considered to be propaganda, then it has more of a hold on society then one can believe. This concept can be applied to the previously mentioned novel, 1984. If each act was a variety of this mind control device, then every moment of a human’s life is controlled and influenced by it. A specific example of this is the transition to Newspeak, the new language of Oceania. If the government were able to manipulate a language, the minds of hundreds of thousands of humans could be easily controlled. By limiting the vocabulary one has to think and to speak with, it is hard to explain complex emotions, therefore erasing those complex emotions from the minds of many. Technology can also be placed in the propaganda column. The telescreen, for example, can see the person watching it just as the person watching can see it. With telescreens almost everywhere, it would be difficult, if not impossible to perform any act without a constant surveillance. The idea and concept of revisionism can also be classified as a type of propaganda. Revisionism, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, is defined as “the act of revising an accepted, usually long-standing view, theory, or doctrine, especially a revision of historical events and movements.” In 1984, the character

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the Party develops multiple strategies and tactics that allow them to gain complete control over the people of Oceania. As a result, the Party has the ability to manipulate people. Through the use of this power, the Party eradicates any and all individuality including the freedom to intervene in governmental development. Instead of using surveillance methods to help the people, they use them to gain control. The Party instills fear in the citizens of Oceania through the abuse of power, and thought control as well as the promotion of big brother.

In George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 it depicts a government that has full control over their people. Orwell uses his book as a warning to our society, to help us realize that every action has its consequences; we must choose the actions that will bring good one’s to our societies. Throughout the book Orwell uses many controlling techniques to depict his warnings; each technique uses literary devices to make his words have more meaning behind them. The two devices that stood out to me the most, was how the party uses language as mind control as well as how they use physical control to break the spirits and bodies of their people. As of right now we are seeing evidence in our own world that it’s not always best when the government has too much power.

“We’re living ‘1984’ today” is the title of a CNN article written in 2003 as well as other numerous other articles discussing whether the predictions made by George Orwell in his novel 1984 have materialized into today’s world. Not only has Orwell predicted the advancements in advancements in surveillance, but also how governments today have been able to manipulate the press as well as the youth. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, George Orwell warns us about how governments will revoke the privacy rights of humans to provide security, control the press and language to ensure a lack of rebellion, manipulate the minds of children in order to create a new generation of followers.

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, psychological manipulation was used by the government through telescreens, the Thoughtpolice and Newspeak to control the public. This tactic emphasizes how a totalitarian government would act in a modern day situation.

In the novel, 1984, George Orwell describes a dystopian future in which the citizens are living under the control of a totalitarian regime. The “Party”, Orwell’s version of the modern day government, used their power to keep constant surveillance of the citizens, censor information, and manipulate the people. Through the use of telescreens and microphones, the Party was able to watch and listen to the citizens whenever they were in range. Party members were also responsible for the systematic destruction of words from the dictionary. Scare tactics related to war were used to control the citizens into conforming to the Party’s ideals. These concepts of corrupt power is seen in modern day society as well. Orwell’s version of the future was relevant, because it mirrors the government of modern day society due to the fact that the government uses surveillance to watch people, it manipulates citizens to support war, and it censors words and terms.

George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.

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.

Just like the telescrenes, the theme of psychological control is scattered throughout Orwell’s 1984. “Those who control the past, control the future: who controls the present controls the past”, by understanding this and a totalitarian government, we can see that with manipulation of history, such as rewriting it and deleting personal photos, and the use of technology – like cameras and microphones, psychological control of people is easier than it

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell a man named Winston lives within a dis-utopian society. People within this society keep their emotions non-noticeable because if they go against what the inner circle is teaching than that person would work manually labor for the rest of their life. In the story a party known as the inner circle uses a few slogans and sayings to control everything. The inner circle uses all that they say to brainwash people into believing what they are saying is true. The inner party 's slogans are “War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is strength” By using these phrases one can see that the inner circle can manipulate everyone into believing in what the inner circle tells

The strongest people are poor, starving, and treated like animals. In 1948, author George Orwell wrote the dystopian novel 1984. In 1984, Orwell created a world without freedom of speech, motion, and thought to portray an idea of our world with totalitarian power. In the book, it follows a member of the Outer Party named Winston, and his fight to keep his freedom of thought through love, rebellion, and secrecy. Throughout the book, it portrays three important themes, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength. The statement, “Ignorance is Strength” is a deep meaning throughout George Orwell’s 1984 due to the jocundity of the Proles, the rigid rules and expectations of both the Inner and Outer party, and Big Brother’s strive

The novel 1984 is a futuristic totalitarian society where everyone is kept under close surveillance and is forced to follow all rules and laws of the state. The novel 1984 was written by George Orwell and published in 1950. The main characters were Big Brother, Winston Smith, Julia, O’Brien, Syme and Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston Smith is a low man on the totem pole when it came to the ruling Party in London, Oceania. His every move is watched by the Party through devices called telescreens. Posted everywhere around the city is the face of their leader, “Big Brother” informing them that he is always watching. He works in the “Ministry of Truth” which is ironic seeing that they alter history to fit the liking of the Party. As this book continues Winston challenged the laws and skirts around the fact that he is always being watched. His shocking and rebellious act is “falling in love.” Throughout this novel George Orwell utilizes symbolism to further enhance the totalitarian features of the society. In many ways these symbols represent the things that this society hasn’t experienced and doesn’t understand.