Media Control In 1984, By George Orwell's 1984

With the power hungry Party and the most acknowledged face of Big Brother watching and monitoring everybody, the story of “1984” by George Orwell expresses the utmost control over their people and have the absolute power with their country Oceania. The Party believes that Big Brother will live on forever, because of the constant removal of those who are unfaithful and the rewriting of history. However, with the example of the main character showing disobedience against the Party, there is a chance for this type of ruling to fail and be destroyed by the people. The main possible cause of the fall of Big Brother is most likely the underestimation of the power of the people.

Today’s society is predicted as living in a world George Orwell envisioned in 1984. The system Orwell invented is compared to what the United States government is capable of doing. Government control of society is an essential subject due to the current mind set of the world today. In 1984, George Orwell represents how Big Brother is compared to today’s government, showing the consequences and dangers of a government with unlimited surveillance power.

There are rules everywhere in this world. When you drive, you must wear your seatbelt. When you go down to the public beach, you cannot swim too far into the ocean. When in a certain country, you have to follow their own rules. These rules are there to control you whether the government wants you to be safe or anything the government wanted. But, have you ever noticed that most of laws, even in different places, are very similar? In the book 1984 by George Orwell, the methods of control used by Big Brother are very like the methods used by chairman Mao Zedong of China. Both governments controlled their citizens through education, through censorship and even through advertisements. The methods of manipulation used by the chairman Mao and Big

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”(Orwell 2), is a saying that surrounds society in the classic novel 1984. The author, George Orwell provides his audience with an abundant amount of themes throughout his writing. One very prominent one is Orwell’s psychological manipulation of his characters. As characters within this society are constantly surrounded by sayings such as, “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”, and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”(Orwell 4), Orwell shows the ultimate type of control within his characters. Orwell is able to achieve such psychological manipulation in his characters through physical control and the abundance of technology. Without Orwell’s use of telescreens, his characters would be able to have their

In “1984”, Winston is a normal staff working for the “big brother” and his job is to change the history in order to change people’s mind. For example, if the government says there will be two chocolates per a person instead of three chocolates. Then all the news and old news need to change to two chocolates per a person, like three chocolates per a person was never happend. Also, in this novel Winston gets catched by being with Julia, after they caught him they tortured him and make him admit that 2+2=5 not 4. “He wrote first in large clumsy capitals ‘FREEDOM IS SLAVERY’ Then almost without a pause he wrote beneath it: ‘TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE’. He wrote ‘GOD IS POWER.’ He accepted everything.”(pg. 277) He tried to fight against the party after he got a book that’s against totalitarian but after all the torture and brainwash he starts to feel he could not fight the party any longer. So that shows how Big Brother

“1984” is a chilling dystopian novel written by George Orwell, set in the 1980’s, in London, in the continent Oceania. Oceania is ruled by the Party, and their dictator Big Brother. Big Brother controls Oceania through four ministries, Love, Truth, Peace and Plenty. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he changes the dates, articles and photos of things to match up with what Big Brother is saying. Big Brother watches everyone through telescreens, which are in every room, and anyone who speaks out, or thinks to rebel, or even doesn’t get to their house at the right time, vanishes. “Big Brother is watching you” is the Party’s slogan, and is plastered all across London. In their society, the ideas of individuality, freedom and opinions

"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself--anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face...; was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: face crime..."

The juxtaposition of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 with our present day government and social media presence in the United States demonstrates the imminent danger of imposing figures who control both the actions and thoughts of its citizens. Throughout the novel, the narrator depicts Big Brother as a controlling force that takes technology and surveillance of the citizens of Oceania too far. Similarly, in today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with new technology by the government and social media that demands and records our actions as well as our inner thoughts. As Winston navigates his dangerous and dilapidated world, one can uncover parallels between his relationship with Big Brother and our relationship with the government

Big Brother is the face of the oppressive government of Oceania. There are posters everywhere conveying a message that you are always being watched by Big Brother. This feeling of constant surveillance through telescreens and secret microphones all over Oceania invokes fear to all the people. As the novel states, “Always eyes watching you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed – no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.” The telescreens are very dangerous to be around because the slightest of abnormality could expose you to be a thought criminal. Even in the comfort of one’s own home, while working, there is not a time that the Party is not monitoring anyone for suspicious activities. Big Brother represents the fear in people. Fear is continuously exploited by the Party throughout the book. “Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage…” This quote explains to us that there will still be fear in the future because the foundation of their world is made up of rage. Big Brother is the biggest figure that everyone fears, even at the end of the book. Hence this shows that the meaning of fear is unchanging. The proles are easily manipulated because a frightened population is easier to control

1984 was primarily written to bring light to the dehumanization a totalitarian government may provoke. There were many cases in this novel where the citizens of Oceania were exploited to promote the Party’s own agenda. Propaganda being one of these exploitations, the man with the mustachioed face, also known as Big Brother. The people of Oceania may see this and think of the name Big Brother, a family member, someone who will protect and care for their family’s wellbeing. Yet the posters read “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” a scary thought indeed. The Party is manipulating its people

People hear about political issues all over the news and form their own opinions on them, but are they really deciding beliefs for themselves or are they just believing whatever the media tells them? Because of the modern day media biased, many people do not think independently, even when they think they are. They merely believe the lies the media feeds them and do not research the matter themselves to get an accurate idea of what is truly going on and how the control of information will impact the world around them. Because of people’s tendency to accept any piece of information that gets shoved down their throats, the US is slowly digging itself into the same government-controlled, no-freedom world as in the book 1984 by George Orwell.

The novel 1984 was written by George Orwell at the closing of the Second World War, where the political ideologies of the Stalin and Hitler regimes are combined and amplified. The story is set in Airstrip One, a province in the highly impoverished superstate of Oceania which is under the control of a totalitarian government. Oceania is also in perpetual war with three other superstates, and the Party utilizes various methods to retain their absolute control over the entire population. The Party runs under the ideology Ingsoc, a term used by the Party for English Socialism. The story revolves around the life of Outer Party member Winston Smith who unsuccessfully attempts to rebel against the Party and is ultimately erased from existence. By controlling every aspect of a citizen’s life and preventing the formation of political opposition, the Party is able to maintain their superiority. The Party uses three main tactics to remain in power: public manipulation, widespread government surveillance, and the concept of fear.

First of all, Big Brother in the Party used methods like Newspeak, which was the language of state in 1984. He controlled the way that people were able to speak in Oceania. He controlled through a combination of manipulation and fear. The party controlled people by cutting out words and also on the way that they thought. They also used methods like the ministry of love to torture people into loving Big Brother mand the Party. This works because Winston, at first, he was against the Party and their beliefs, so they got into Big Brother “The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain...He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (245) This quote proves that they can control even the most stubborn minds.

shows that children learn to think a certain way, as they are educated. For instance, Parsons, a man who strongly supports Big Brother, is turned into the Thought Police when his own daughter convicts him of saying “Down with Big Brother” in his sleep (Orwell 233). This demonstrates that the education children receive manipulates their minds into thinking the way the government wants. Parsons’ daughter learned to turn in people who did not support Big Brother even if it was a family member. The Party also uses the Ministry of Truth to manipulate its population with skewed history. Winston’s job is to change records of history so people only know the history that the government wants them to know. Through these lies, the government is able to control people’s thoughts and how they think. Orwell shows that people have lost their thoughts without even noticing since they have been taught to always think like so. He uses this to demonstrate that “if man [does] not become aware of the assaults on his personal freedom,” he will lose his right of thought (Bossche). Therefore, Orwell establishes that the government can be too powerful when they manipulate people without anyone noticing.

The governments in today’s society have brainwashed their citizens into believing everything their leader says and thinks is correct and everything else is wrong. This can sometimes be known as a totalitarian government. George Orwell’s novel 1984 revolves around totalitarianism. The members of the party in Oceania are taught and required to worship their leader Big Brother whether they believe in him or not. In the novel 1984, George Orwell shows the problems and the hatred with a totalitarian government through his use of symbolism, situational irony, and indirect characterization.