preview

Examples Of Manipulation In 1984 By George Orwell

Good Essays

1984 George Orwell- Manipulation for Political Purposes George Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949 when England was facing an economical and political crisis due to the repercussion of World War II after Hitler’s and Stalin’s rule. The political world was repressed under the government’s control, resulting in forced labour, starvation and mass execution. Big Brother is a reminiscent of Hitler’s and Stalin’s totalitarian beliefs; the society is being persuaded by the false image projected by propagandists to promote state dominance. The public is constantly manipulated by psychological devices and forced to worship the rule, “Thou art” (Orwell III, 2) being the command of the regime. The novel is set in Airstrip Oceania, once called …show more content…

Not only the past is altered it is also destroyed so that there is no evidence left at all to support the history as a result nobody would ever be able to question it. The slogan of the party is “WAR IS PEACE” (I, 1), misleading the public to believe that it exists to keep peace and security. The war does not necessarily hold to its true meaning of conquering land but it exists for labour purposes only to keep the society intact. By deceiving the public to be against other states and creating a common enemy evokes hate and disgust amongst people which keeps the civilians under control. Having a common enemy increases cohesion in the state resulting into an overall peace within the society. The everlasting war with continuous victory exists to ensures that the state holds the power and the trust of the public. Goldstein describes in his book “A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war. This — although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense — is the inner meaning of the Party slogan: WAR IS PEACE.” (II, 9) The continuous war creates an atmosphere that hierarchical society requires keeping the economy working and securing the political power. Moreover, it depletes the resources in the state, resulting the public to rely on the state. Since Oceania has no contact with outside world or retain accurate history, the public would never realize that they are being oppressed. The forgery and suppression

Get Access