The Roles Of Media In 1984 By George Orwell's 1984

In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, a totalitarian government known as “the Party” and headed by the symbolic “Big Brother” is in command of the country of Oceania. This government demands complete and absolute control of the minds of its citizens. Reality is whatever the Party says it is in Oceania. Big Brother has complete control of the media and also claims to be above even the laws of mathematics and physics. There is an extraordinarily strong and influential relationship between media control and perception of reality both in the novel and in the real world.

The fictional novel, 1984 by George Orwell is about a world run by a totalitarian government, called the Party, which takes away all the freedoms of its citizens by watching over them with high surveillance technology. In addition, the Party uses dishonesty and betrayal to expose people’s true feelings of Oceania, the country where the story takes place. Betrayal is seen throughout society in Oceania through government manipulation and actions made by Winston, Julia and O’Brien, the main characters. Winston’s true self-betrayal comes when he realizes his new passionate love for Big Brother, the leader of the Party and Oceania. The Party fears a rebellion against them, as a result they use different methods to eliminate trust between

Are we living in a world similar to that of the dystopian society depicted in George Orwell’s popular novel 1984? Are we constantly being watched? Are our thoughts being influenced by the media around us? There has been a significant spike in sales of the novel over the last month (Freytas-Tamura). The question now becomes why. Maybe our society is becoming more and more like 1984 every day. While the United States has biased media and oppressive surveillance like 1984, it also has striking differences.

When George Orwell wrote his novel, 1984, Hitler and Mussolini had recently been defeated in World War II, the nuclear arms race was warming up and the Soviet Union was a threat to the world. Although these are not problems in today's society, 1984 is still very relevant in current time, "The twentieth century will soon be over, but political terror still survives and this is why Nineteen Eighty-four remains valid today” (Ricks 5). In the novel 1984 the main character Winston is faced with challenges when he meets a woman named Julia. Julia makes him question his loyalty to the government. They are living under a totalitarian government that sees everything you do, hears everything you say, and knows everything you think. George Orwell’s novel 1984 is still relevant in today’s society.

Controlled by a fascist government, the population of Oceania struggles to live freely as they are constantly surrounded by the fear of getting arrested for the worst possible crime, thoughtcrime. In the novel “1984”, by George Orwell, Winston Smith rebelles passively against the idea of living in a complete uniform world under Big Brother’s dreadful surveillance. Thought crime’s impact on the novel’s population is devastating, so much so that it is somewhat hard to picture today’s society in its place. The sad reality is that thoughtcrime does impact the lives of the people in today’s society to some extent as it does in the book. The level of punishment for such a crime is just at a lower scale. Thoughtcrime impacts the novel’s

In the book “1984,” written by George Orwell, there is a character that is known as Big Brother. He is a man who could be known as a Demagogue. The reason for this is due to the fact that he was able to rise to such power where he is capable of changing the past. The way he is now, in the story, shows that he didn’t use rational argument to rise to power, but chose to appeal to the majority group of people through desires and prejudice.

The Party is constantly streaming propaganda into the lives of people living in Oceania and the things being said have been deemed to be the truth by the Party. The three slogans of the Party are, “War is Peace/Freedom is Slavery/Ignorance is Strength”. Big Brother is the symbolic figurehead of the Party who is equally significant as these slogans. Early in the morning, Winston reads these words above the entrance to the Ministry of Truth where he works and is now wondering if the Party will be in power forever. He pulls out a coin to look at what is inscribed, “There [on the coin], too, in tiny clear lettering, the same slogans were inscribed, and on the other face of the coin the head of Big Brother [...] On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrapping of a cigarette packet—everywhere” (Orwell 27).

Dictatorial government named Big Brother rules “the futuristic dystopian society” called Oceania in the novel (Gallant). The way of Big Brother dictating the society is to take over the media and create lies “broadcasting the propaganda” (Gallant). If the polices detect someone who does not believe the propaganda, they brainwash their thoughts. However, ‘1984’ apparently shows that “the communications and media can be used to control the masses” and it is the main reason that the government should not take control of the media. If we let the government to dictate the society through media, our own society will be a victim to a tyranny like Big Brother. We will lose the importance of valuing the truth information and freedom over a secure government. According to an article, it says, “we not merely accept all information at face value” (Gallant). ‘1984’ definitely warn us of the power of media “in its most extreme form of abuse” to be totalitarian state (Gallant). It shows us that the government controlling people to access the information will negatively impact the society. If we let government control media, there is a fearful prediction that society will lose value in truthful information, which in turn negatively effects society by controlling people’s knowledge through

George Orwell’s 1984 was written as a “political satire of a totalitarian state” (Fitzpatrick), but is now more relevant and truthful than ever before. Frightening parallels can be drawn between 1984 and places like North Korea, and even the United States. These include such things as the use of propaganda, places of imprisonment and torture, and around the clock surveillance. All of which are used to gain and hold onto power over people.

The novel 1984 written by George Orwell gives the reader a distinct view of a dystopian society. The government in the novel is very controlling. It uses propaganda to manipulate its people to believe what it wants them to believe. In general; nowadays, other governments have freedom and fewer rules but, they still show on the television: such as the news for what they want their people to know. The party in the novel shows a representation and a similarity to the government Germany in 1933. However, both were not successful. George Orwell’s 1984 suggests that an authoritarian government that uses propaganda to control its citizens cannot be successful.

In 1984, by George Orwell violence contributed to the plot by having three stages of reintegration. The stages are to learn, understand, and to accept, Winston was forced to learn that 2+2=5 under torture, understanding that the party is good, and seeks power for its own. Winston accepts and understands the Party and Big Brother as soon as Winston wishes the burden of torture on someone else who he loves, and to learn that Big Brother is eternal and that 2+2=5, Winston then is committed and loyal to the Party and its understands purpose, as he awaits his execution to prove his devotion to the party.

George Orwell’s 1984 shows how simple it is for a government to control their citizens. This book suggests that war or the idea of war can control citizens and keep the Party in control by maintaining the social classes, promoting patriotism, and keeping the citizens ignorant of what is going on around them. This matters because the Party can get the entirety of Oceania to believe what they say even if it is a lie, which demonstrates how simple it is for a government to control its citizens through words and propaganda.

The book, 1984 by George Orwell, is about the external and internal conflicts that take place between the two main characters, Winston and Big Brother and how the two government ideas of Democracy and totalitarianism take place within the novel. Orwell wrote the novel around the idea of communism/totalitarianism and how society would be like if it were to take place. In Orwell’s mind democracy and communism created two main characters, Winston and Big Brother. Big Brother represents the idea of the totalitarian party. In comparison to Big Brother, Winston gives and represents the main thought of freedom, in the novel Winston has to worry about the control of the thought police because he knows that the government with kill anyone who

As human beings, there are distinct characteristics that separate us from feral animals; the ability to create, to appreciate art, to curiously question the world and most importantly to sympathize for our kind. However, when that exact nature is stripped from us, we tend to become mindless, restricted, cold, and degraded as an entire race. This is the setting of George Orwell’s last book, 1984. A world where human thought is limited, war and poverty lie on every street corner, and one cannot trust nobody or nothing. It is all due to the one reigning political entity, the Ingsoc Party, who imposes complete power over all aspects of life for all citizens. There is no creative or intellectual thought, no art, culture or history, and no

Hopelessness, deep and gaping ever lasting hopelessness. If the course of humanity fails to change, to this everyone will succumb. That is the message that George Orwell has left for the future, and it would be in humanity's best interest to heed. Winston Smith of 1984 lived in a world that had been consumed by the everlasting abyss of injustice. Eventually this world became too much for our hopeful protagonist and thus, like the future that is bound to a horrific fate, he succumbed. “It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it” (Orwell 248). No one in this world is any different than Winston, they will follow his path like all of those before them, following the five stages of Kübler-Ross. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance make up the cycle that every feeble life will follow and that Winston grew to know all too well.