Abuse Of Power In 1984 By George Orwell

1346 Words6 Pages

The Overarching Control of the Party “‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’” (Orwell 36). It is safe to say that most people want some input on how to live their life, but Orwell had a vision. In 1984, the Party uses the four ministries to control its citizens with new truths (“Ministry of Truth”), a unified icon to hate (“1984”), and no freedom to think on their own (“Ministry of Truth”). Power for the Party comes from keeping the masses they control ignorant, this in turn makes them strong (“Examples”). Intimate relationships are seen as something uncontrollable and strong, and the Party will not put up with that. Intimacy has turned into something that must be done, …show more content…

Power over truth means power over what is believed, taught, and spread. The Ministry of Truth is in charge of the spread of information through news, entertainment, and manipulating past and present truths that suit the Party’s current needs. Even though it is called MiniTrue, it is the opposite and destroys the truth instead (“Examples”). Some people that work for MiniTrue are in charge of erasing the past and rewriting it (“Ministry of Truth”). Any untruthful documents are sent down a memory hole to be destroyed forever. Sometimes cases come up where current information does not align with what Big Brother says. These modifications and rewriting of physical documents make sure that what Big Brother is saying is nothing but the truth, keeping his image intact and the Party absolute. This brings up the concept of doublethink which allows Party members to know the real truth and the fake truth at the same time to keep themselves away from the Party’s wrath …show more content…

It is exactly what it sounds like in that it writes down what the workers speak into it. The Party uses this device to know exactly what is being written down at all times to make sure there are no extraneous thoughts getting through. This limited thought is constrained even more through Newspeak, a language created by the Party. The purpose of Newspeak is to get rid of any extra words present in the English language and whittle them down into one word meaning a few different words. A limited language means no capacity for rebellious thought and thus, complete control of thoughts (“Ministry of Truth”). Another department of the Ministry of Truth is called Pornosec, they make special films for the proletarians. These films keep the proles entertained and under control. To further keep the separation of classes, anybody outside of Pornosec is never allowed to see these films, keeping the filth at the bottom of