The novel, 1984, is an interesting book to read as it shows how the party manipulates the people of Oceania through the use of doublethink and newspeak, and how the party is controlling their minds. The novel also shows the journey of the main character, Winston, and his opposing opinions and struggles against the party. 1984 is an interesting novel to read because it shows how the party controls its citizens in the novel. For example, the Party uses this type of manipulation called doublethink. Doublethink is just when the Party changes any information he doesn’t like, so that it is in the form that he sees as correct.
In 1949, an author by the name of George Orwell decided to put the tragedies that were happening in real life onto paper to create a frightening story that would haunt several generations. In the thrilling dystopian novel 1984, tells of a story of a new world that is filled with manipulation, fear, control, and a brainwashed public. This world depicts a government who is everywhere, sees everything, and controls every aspect of every person's life. Not only is the government controlling the public, but they are also in the media. Mainly the news being the source of manipulation, many stories get rewritten and several words get cut out of the news every day.
1984 portrays a society that is built on sole government control, and a leader portrayed by the powerful Big Brother, set in the society of Oceania, London. Winston Smith is a member of the Outer Party and his role in society is to rewrite and change history. Everyone except the proles, the low ranked society who the government do not care about, are constantly being surveyed through modern telescreens that can monitor citizen’s movements and conversations. Winston and his beloved Julia, began to plot against the government by building their relationship built on love, and risk their safety and freedom being torn away. Eventually, these characters are caught and enter the Ministry of Love, a place that enforces love to Big Brother through fear.
The takeaways from the story 1984 shows how a government should not function, and how one should stand up for their beliefs. Also, 1984 demonstrates an example of an unfair and terrible government. This government is led by their leader Big Brother, who controls everyone’s thoughts in Oceania. The government also has telescreens everywhere to record every single conversation of the citizens. If the citizens say anything, and Big Brother does not like the thought, the police will come and arrest them.
All while creating approved views that give a subjective fit to the Big Brother party. George Orwell hints to us in Nineteen Eighty-Four that we increase public attention of this “New Speak”. The media in his novel show us this expression of language by the use of posters, and advertised on the Television. Double think which creates a inconsistency in phrases such as “Ignorance is Strength” or “Freedom is Slavery”(Orwell pg.6). Language is used by the party to fool and shape people.
The novel describes the journey of Winston Smith as he rebels against the Party and tries to maintain his human qualities. By creating a totalitarian government in the novel 1984, George Orwell is able to express how important humanity is to not only Winston but also
Censorship of History One day thousands of Chinese citizens were slaughtered by their government, and the event known to the rest of the world as the Tiananmen Square Massacre was essentially erased through censorship. Victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre weren’t mourned, familys were forced to remain silent in their grief because of the government’s prohibition of the truth. George Orwell wrote his famous novel 1984 in 1948 forty-one years later the Chinese government proved to the world what could happen when there is a significant power imbalance. The Party in Orwell’s work said “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
While reading the novel 1984 there were many signs of censorship within the party and everyone involved. Media manipulation also played an important role in the everyday life for the people of Oceania in George Orwell's 1984. The thought police, telescreens, the change in language and how they speak, and vaporizing people in society are all examples of the different ways the part sensors information in the novel. The thought police in the novel are believed to read and monitor the thoughts of the people in Oceania.
Moderation of expression, a significant part in 1984’s government, “Ingsoc”, plays a key element in America’s division. The “Ministry of Truth” is a branch of Ingsoc’s government that acts with controlling the Thought Police, and they censor the world’s history as well. They also use technology such as the “telescreen” to see and hear everywhere in the country. If a citizen is caught acting in “Thought Crime”, that criminal is rehabilitated through brainwashing in the mockingly named “Ministry of Love” (Orwell 2-4). Similar to Ingsoc’s “Ministry of Truth”, the United States has its own federal spying organization.
News can spread rapidly in a world of 8 billion people and hundreds of messaging, communications, and social media platforms. In George Orwell’s 1984, readers can see the effects of complete government censorship from books to the news. Whether it's from the government or private entities, censorship and misinformation exist. The First Amendment of the Constitution states that government agencies and officials are forbidden from restricting information based on viewpoint or content.
1984 by George Orwell is a dystopian novel that tells the story of Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the Party in Oceania. The Party exercises total control over the lives of its citizens, using propaganda, surveillance, and torture to maintain its power. Winston becomes disillusioned with the Party and begins to secretly rebel against it, starting a forbidden love affair with Julia and seeking out forbidden literature. However, Winston is eventually caught and tortured by the Party, which brainwashed him into accepting its version of reality. The novel ends with Winston fully embracing the Party's ideology, having lost all sense of individuality and freedom.
What if you could change the world with just one action, would you do it ? Taking in and out certain factors in one’s daily lives could change everyone’s perception of the world around us. However, realistically alone one cannot make such a big impact to create this big of a change but collectively we can change our society with time. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, individuals come to realize that change can only come when everyone questions the world they live in. This is displayed in the world through the significance of language and communication, warfare and censorship in America.
This is a literary analysis on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a more recent classic dystopian novel. Written in 1949, it's based in the future year of what is presumed to be 1984. It focuses on the life of Winston Smith, a member of the newly established Party that rules over a territory called Oceania and that is led by a man called Big Brother. This novel provides a rather frightening insight into a dystopian socialist environment.
To illustrate, the book discusses how the government utilizes mind control methods such as providing an alternative definition to words. “All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality control,’ they called it: in Newspeak, ‘doublethink’” (18). Providing an alternative meaning of words can misconstrue them in the favor of Big Brother. Likewise, the United States has emulated “doublethink” when it presents itself as convenient.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell reveals the destruction of all aspects of the universe. Orwell envisioned how he believes life would be like if a country were taken over by a totalitarian figure. Nineteen eighty-four effectively portrays a totalitarian style government, in which elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation with very little citizen participation in the decision-making process of the legislative body. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to today’s society which is somehow a realist perspective. Orwell integrates devices such as irony, satire, and motifs to illustrate the life unfulfilling life of Winston Smith.
