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Psychological Manipulation In 1984, By George Orwell's 1984

Decent Essays

“1984” is a classic novel written by George Orwell. Written in 1949, Orwell’s dystopian novel is still relevant today as it illustrates a totalitarian government using media and technology to control people. The Citizens are barraged by ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”(Orwell 2). Not only that these signs are everywhere but the message itself warns the citizens that they are being watched. The novel focuses on three major characters: Wintson, Julia, and O’Brien. Although, the novel focuses on Winston and his relationship with the other characters, it’s the manipulative ways of the Party to sustain its control and maintain its power. The main theme that binds all the characters together is the Party’s psychological manipulation of its citizens. In the novel, the party uses psychological manipulation on its Citizens in different facets. First is re-writing history. Fabricating history helps to dissolve its citizens of psychological independence. By controlling the past, the citizens will act to prevent conditions from recurring. The party created a history that was a time of distress, suffering, and torment. From which, the Party forced a belief which claimed to have liberated its citizens. Thus persuaded them to believe that the they’ve been liberated from a time of tribulation. The Party’s slogan, “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 34). The past can be treated as a set of conditions to

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