The Machine Stops, 1984, And The Circle

Information is controlled by the Party by creating Newspeak, Doublethink, and mutability of the past. The language control instrument called Newspeak reduces both the number of, as well as the type of permitted words accessible to its citizens. The entire purpose of Newspeak, is to eliminate the ability for the population to have rebellious thoughts, by means of limiting language. Since Ingsoc leadership believes it is a crime to merely think thoughts counter to its principles, by controlling words permitted to be used, Ingsoc believes it can eliminate the transgression of thoughtcrime. The character Syme says to Winston Smith, “Don’t you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, as there will be no words in which to express it” (Orwell, 52). Furthermore, the language control instrument called Doublespeak changes the meaning of existing words in order to indoctrinate citizens through propaganda. The motto of Ingsoc is ironic, as the Party uses formerly conflicting synonyms and antonyms as part of its brainwashing strategy. Specifically, the Ingsoc slogan, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH,” is repeated throughout the novel (Orwell, 4). The slogan shows how previously nonsensical or contradictory meanings are redefined by the Party to omit any “undesirable”

“From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” In the story, 1984 by George Orwell, the Party places this slogan everywhere to make sure they have the power over everyone the people. Although the Party’s ideas seem to contradict one another, their ideas do make sense in a way. If there is war between two countries and they are fighting one another, then their will be no fighting within the country. Everyone has one common enemy which makes them all on the same side. Also, if people are ignorant with no knowledge of anything except what the Party tells them, then they will not question the

The motif is displayed through many different ways in the book, for example, "Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them" (Orwell 214). In other words, doublethink is accepting two beliefs that are totally opposite of each other. This is used by The Party through out the book to influence its people. For instance, "WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGHT" (Orwell 4). This is an example which is used various times through out the book 1984.War is peace symbolizes that war is the only source of peace that they can find because in the book the country is always at war with some other country. Freedom is slavery represents the people of the country following the traditional laws that everyone else has to; however, this way no one tries to rebel against the own country and abolish their totalitarian government. On top of that, "'Political Correctness', our now-passing rage of liberal conformity, is very much an Orwellian phenomenon, and our universities, wretched parodies of what they are supposed to be, are veritable monuments of newspeak and doublethink" (Bloom 1). Bloom tells us here that our society is very much like the community that Winston lives in. This evidence portrays our colleges and schools as types of doublethink that mean to teach us one thing but in reality it is a whole different curriculum that we would never imagine we signed up for. Doublethink is a world that defines the whole book and defines our whole lives as well as our

Throughout the novel, "newspeak" is discussed. The whole purpose of "newspeak" is to control how people think. Orwell writes, "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime impossible, because there will be no word in which to express it."(p.61) This quote shows what the

His dystopian representation of political totalitarian oppression was strongly influenced by his involvement in Spanish Civil War when he witnessed horrific treatment by the Spanish regime government. Orwell’s criticism of the methods of totalitarian states is shown in the Party’s slogan in Airstrip One “War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength”. These illogical contradictions being accepted by society highlights the enslavement of populace to Party’s doctrine. It also shows the recurring motifs of ‘Doublethink”, holding 2 contradictory ideas at same time. The effect of such mind control is shown in the 2 Minute Hate sessions through simile as the “desire to kill” appeared to “flow through whole group of people like an electric current”, demonstrating the powerful and widespread impact propaganda had on the masses in manipulating them. Similar to Lang’s use of Freder to question values of his society, Orwell uses Winston Smith to highlight the erosion of individuality by totalitarian states, as Winston diarises, “to an age when thought is

As our society has developed throughout the last century, both morally and technologically, personal privacy has been declining, and a struggle has emerged. The two main sides are presented as those who support the privacy of the individual above all else, and those who believe that the individual’s privacy may be sacrificed in order to better protect the many. What is privacy? Does it pertain to just technology, or is it something more? In George Orwell’s book, “1984,” he foreshadows a world in which privacy almost completely eradicated. It seems as if this world, envisioned by an author in 1949, could come to pass within just a few more decades. If the decline of privacy does not cease, we might be living in a world where nothing we do or

The novel, 1984 by George Orwell, is a complex novel evoking many thoughts and emotions as a reader along with showing that the author was effective in conveying his message to the audience. In the first section of the novel, Orwell introduces a society that seems to be quite unusual to many readers completely in the norm for the characters in this novel. The individuals of this society or also know as party, live a life a strict rules and a protagonist of the novel is able to give the readers some insight. Winston, the protagonist of the novel, is introduced very early and was able to give insight to what this novel will pertain and share the slogan of this “community”. The slogan

In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, a central theme that persists is power. The entire dystopian society shown is controlled by a single group known as the Party, which places people in a servile state, forcing them to lose their identity and have no original thought. Nevertheless, an individual, Winston Smith, becomes cognizant of the hold on his mind, and he realizes that autonomous thought is a necessity. Orwell is able to depict Winston’s rebellion against conformity through characters, symbols, and diction which abide throughout the book.

To take away a man’s right to privacy is to take away his right to live. In the totalitarian government of the novel 1984 by George Orwell and the article “Personal privacy up for grabs” by C. Mitchell Shaw, there lies a sense of knowledge that constant watch does not signify safety or true freedom. Rather, both written pieces focus on the belief that a man without the freedom to act in private without observation is not a man at all--his existence is erased in the process. By analyzing the article “Personal privacy up for grabs” and the novel 1984 we can further grasp the importance and impact of the loss of privacy in society. The intimacies and secrets of life that we ourselves should have the right to determine whom to

In modern society people are free to read, write, and speak freely but in Winston's world thinking wrong, writing thoughts, and speaking freely is considered a death sentence. A repeated quote “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength”(Orwell,7). This

In a country where we witness our government, like the NSA, entrenching themselves further and further into our private lives, that the world depicted in 1984 gives a feeling of a world that could be not too distant in the future. In George Orwell's book 1984 he is able to present the issue of privacy along with healthy relationships and the importance of learning.

According to the main character, Winston Smith, who was played by John Hurt, “freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four if that is granted, all else follows” (1984, 0:47:58). By this, it could be assumed that Smith is referring to the idea that if, and when, the people of Oceania are given the power to believe that two plus two equals four, then perhaps it would be possible for them to gain the ability to believe other thoughts to be true. In this dystopian society, all individual thoughts are prohibited. As a way to prevent individual thoughts, a language has been created as a way to minimize the vocabulary of citizens. This language is known as Newspeak and it has taken the previous version of English and condensed it in such a manner that there is only one word to describe good and one word to describe something that was not good, otherwise known as “ungood” (Orwell 53). By controlling language and limiting the amount of words that citizens have to describe the way that they feel and think, the government is able to prevent its citizens from having original ideas. This idea of censorship also helps to prevent any stray, negative thoughts about the government. By oppressing language, the government has censored its people and has stopped them from believing in original ideas.

George Orwell’s 1984 talks about a totalitarian society, a supposedly ‘utopian’ era. Under the totalitarian regime of the Party - the government - no freedom is granted. Privacy is taken away, the citizens are monitored with telescreens and snooped upon by the Police Patrol. Compared to today’s world, where we are accustomed to freedom of choice and thought, the people in the book are scrutinised with every move. Freedom is a foreign concept to them, they have no basic rights, they belong to the Party. Not even the freedom of speech, a birthright, is given to the people. In addition to the lack of freedom, speech is slowly being taken away from them and their thoughts are being narrowed as time passes on. This essay will discuss the importance of language, Newspeak and its significance in the book, along with Syme’s Shrinking Dictionary,

“WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 4). However appealing this statement seems to be to the people of the Party, these words are nevertheless their identity and are tied both to themselves and to their seemingly inherent love for their party. In George Orwell’s 1984, he uses politically-charged language to put a spotlight on and capture the public’s attention to political movements happening both inside and outside the story that Orwell believes are examples of political injustices in the world around him (Amenta 170). Looking back, most of what the world considers problems, communication might have avoided, likewise, most of what is considered achievements in the world can be boiled down to one central connection, words. Words are impactful and lead to greater understandings of the people that inhabit the world, but they can also lead to significant strife and opportunities for corruption and authoritarianism by the people who control it.

Dictators manipulate language as one would wield a sword, it’s a weapon of mind control and abuse of power. This weapon of language is demonstrated in 1984 when Big Brother started turning the people into machines, their organic thoughts were about to be synthesised to love the Inner Party (the Party). Orwell used symbolism of advanced technology in the form of telescreens1 and a force called the Thought police to symbolise the overarching theme of oppression. Telescreens symbolise oppression by being a constant source of propaganda and reminder that “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” (Orwell 2016, Ch.1 pg. 3) The Party’s tactic was to erase such “nefarious” thoughts, therefore, Orwell used a harsh writing style to convey propaganda, as exemplified by the aforementioned quote. The language used is direct and leaves no room for interpretation, this ties in with the Party’s goal of oppression of language. Orwell wrote 1984 to bring awareness to the audience about the reality his novel could become, thus Orwell used technology to symbolise oppression to instil in the minds of the audience how much technology dictates their lives. Technology in the present day controls many people and it’s something many audience members can relate to, therefore, when this awaked the minds of the audience to realise that the dystopian isn’t far away from a reality. This direct language is a powerful form of propaganda, the writing style is seen once again with the quote, “War is peace. Freedom is