Written in 1948, George Orwell’s “1984” shows the negligent actions of a government within a dystopian novel. Orwell depicts a dictatorship society where the government uses mind games, and even an altered past, to misguide the country’s citizens. Due to a lack of individualism, people act in accordance to the commands of the government and the concept of family ceases to exist. Throughout the novel, the citizens’ minds are psychologically altered in order to maintain a solid, totalitarian society. In order to gain this quantity and quality of control, the politicians in “1984” control the citizen’s thinking and destroy their freedom by creating fear with propaganda, laws and continual surveillance.
Propaganda in “1984” is an unforgivable method of misguiding the attitudes of a person to believe an alternate reality. Chances of propaganda being the best method of control utilized by authorities are ranked the most effective. With this notion, politicians are capable of manipulating the residents of Oceania’s minds. The main character, Winston Smith, himself alters the news, history books, personas and other various documents in accordance to the party’s desires and demands. A memory hole takes the inconvenient and falsified documents, photographs and other records down a small chute where it will be incinerated in attempt to give the impression that something never happened. Regardless, there are two types of propaganda utilized to create alarm- doublethink and doublespeak.Doublethink changes truth and doublespeak creates fear in the world of “1984.” The party’s slogan, “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (6), is one way they convince others that the party is there for the benefit of the people, and what t…
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…nced the party is flawless, and without Big Brother their lives would be worse off, but in actuality they are in danger every single waking and sleeping moment.
In conclusion, the government utilizes the use of propaganda, laws and surveillance to gain ultimate control over a misguided country. Historical records are constantly fitted to the Outer Party’s desire, laws greatly restrict individualism, and surveillance reinforces this fear by constantly monitoring what a person says or does- even a simple twitch could lead to vaporization. It’s a novel like this that allows us to see how the government can take advantage of the powers they possess. It builds appreciation to live in a democratic country and have the freedom unrecognizable by the citizens in “1984.”
Works Cited
Orwell, George, and Erich Fromm. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Signet Classic, 1961. Print.
