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Examples Of Doublethink In 1984

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In George Orwell’s 1984, the Party floods Winston’s world with contradictions in order to control the thoughts and emotions of the people of Oceania. In doing so, the Party fulfills its urge to keep power over the people in order to get rid of all chance for a rebellion. The main thought process that the Party uses to get this goal is Doublethink. Orwell’s describes Doublethink as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them” (Orwell 214). In 1984, Doublethink is the normal way of thought, and as a result everyone gets it and uses it. Mainly the differences all serve to help the Party control people. Within the framework of Doublethink the Party uses two primary mechanisms for manipulating the people: slogans, and the rewriting of history. When all three are used together the Party achieves its goal of maintaining power. The main purpose of …show more content…

The government believes, “whoever controls the past, controls the future” (Orwell 34). The Ministry of Truth is challenged with always changing or getting rid of all records of the past which might be dishonorable towards Big Brother. For example, Oceania is sometimes allied with Eastasia and sometimes Eurasia. Whenever the ally changes, all books and newspapers are edited to make it appear what the current alliance was always Winston first explains how and why this system works in Chapter Three of Part One, saying, “If all records told the same tale--then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’h” (Orwell 34), “ ‘Reality control’, they called it: in newspeak, ‘Doublethink’a” (Orwell 35). The government is always changing the past to keep it consistent with current times and the Party’s plan for later. By changing the past, the Party is never

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Throughout the novel, the Party systematically destroys and information they say is not correct and replaces it with information they say is. For example, the Party claims they invented the airplane, but the reader knows they were created by the Wright brothers. Winston himself has a job in the Ministry of Truth “rectifying” Times articles. By controlling the past, the Party is able to justify the wrongs they do in the present. This creates the mentality in denizens that the Party can do no wrong because there is no proof of their wrongs.

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369 Words | 2 Pages

In the world of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, the totalitarian regime of one of the three superstates, Oceania, was known as “The Party” . In order for “The Party” to constantly maintain complete control of the minds of the party members, they instituted principles such as “doublethink” (as described in this quotation). The principle of “doublethink” is instilled in the minds of party members since birth. In essence “doublethink” allows for two opposing thoughts to reside in one’s mind while both are taken as the absolute truth. By instituting this principle “The Party” is able to control the minds of the masses simply by stating a fact because party members are taught that every word spoken by “The Party” is truth.

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387 Words | 2 Pages

In the book 1984, by George Orwell, there’s some psychology that we’ve seen so far. A group of people participate in something called The Two Minutes Hate, during this the people’s behavior exemplify groupthink, which states in the text, “Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds, uncontrollable exclamations of rage were breaking out from half the people in the room.” This tells us that the people are frustrated so they shout altogether, and this shows us groupthink since one person shouted, then everyone else joined in. Winston’s response is conformity by the text that states, “It was apparent that she was uttering a prayer. At this moment the entire group of people broke into a deep, slow rhythmical chant of ‘B-B! …

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1166 Words | 5 Pages

Doublethink is the best government tactic compared to the other methods due to its efficiency and effectiveness. Doublethink in the novel essentially means the ability to maintain two different views that contradict one another and to truly believe that both views are true. In this world usually the Party, Big Brother, has the ability to control the mindset of the public, in order to

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251 Words | 2 Pages

The Two-Minutes Hate is a powerful and weird, display of many of the psychological concepts in the book 1984. Since all of the member of society are requires to participate in the Two Minutes Hate, there’s definitely an aspect of groupthink at play. The group continually repeats what they should think. There are no new ideas or phrases that are said. Winston’s has to follow every rule and law that is a part of the groupthink because this was his reality.

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(Orwell 193). They want to eliminate individual freedom and thoughts for good. This essay confirms Orwell’s warnings because they have fixed their own “truths” just to abide by the government and their lies. People’s love for the Party was very strong they took back their statements and described them as mistakes, justifying the government. In Nineteen Eighty – Four Julia says “It’s always one bloody war after another, and one knows the news is all lies anyways” (Orwell

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191 Words | 1 Pages

The quote “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” appears twice in the novel 1984 (Orwell 32). It is a slogan used by the Party. In book one it emerges as Winston is thinking about how the Party claims to have never been in alliance with Eurasia but in reality they once had been. The lie had been written into history and accepted into fact.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

Doublethink is simultaneously holding two contradicting opinions at one time. This is a real life situation in which Winston and the reader encounter doublethink without realizing it on the surface level. Winston knows deep down how he really feels and what life could be like in his dream state, while Winston is forced to act a certain way and believe certain things in the real world. Having two contradicting beliefs, while knowing one is the better belief and choosing not to believe it for the benefit of the Party is the exact definition of

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874 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, in 1984 the party’s slogan is “who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 35). In 1984 Winston believes that as long as a person’s perception of the truth can be externally verified, then even a lie can become the truth. As long as governments or parties have control over history and the past no person can stand up against them because no one can verify or prove what they have to say about the

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951 Words | 4 Pages

A Sense of Hope Toward the beginning of Orwell’s novel, which illustrates the possibility of a dystopian society, the protagonist, Winston, who lives in a totalitarian estate and appears to be the only citizen aware of its awfulness, reads, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Page 34). This reading illustrates the dystopian society that the Party has created in order to maintain their totalitarian rule in Oceania. From the illustration, the reader learns that the Party has destroyed history in order to appear more powerful. In order to maintain their power, citizens are constantly monitored by telescreens, televisions that are used for party propaganda, spying, and promotion of Big Brother,

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1738 Words | 7 Pages

Winston reflects back on how the party alters the history of the country: “the lie passed into history and became truth” (Orwell 34). Although Winston knows that Oceania and Eurasia were in alliance before, he also believes that they did not have an actual alliance because of what the Party imposes onto the citizens’ memories of the past. Orwell’s use of the word “passed” possibly shows that the lies they create can easily to history and be masked as the truth. It can be inferred that Winston now knows exactly how the party paralyzes anyone from actual thinking, which is by changing the history.

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1299 Words | 6 Pages

What this is saying is in order to stay in power, they have to manipulate the records of the past. That is actually one of Winston’s jobs as a follower of the Party. There was an instance when a person turned on the Party and was soon erased from history. Winston and others went back into official documents such as speeches and literally deleted the officer. By controlling the past this way, they control the future.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

Patriotism is the love that people feel for their country; in the novel 1984, George Orwell consistently utilizes a three sentence slogan to illustrate a world with patriotism taken to the extremes. These sentences are “War is peace” where individuals accept the constant warring, “Freedom is slavery” where the people ignore their own thoughts, “Ignorance is strength” where the individuals blindly follows the Party’s orders. Through this slogan, Orwell describes a future where the ignorant and loyal prevail and support an endless war. The first phrase “War is peace” advocates war because it promotes patriotism and devotion to the country.

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1559 Words | 7 Pages

This is the Ministry that Winston works at, and his job is to correct and edit documents. "This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, soundtracks, cartoons, photographs to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance" (Orwell 40). This passage refers to the process of changing the past, which is Winston's job. By controlling the past, the Party is able to manipulate the minds of the citizens. This is an example of how the party lies to the people.

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925 Words | 4 Pages

George Orwell’s 1984: How Doublethink is the Most Powerful Weapon for Control Being able to believe two paradoxical statements at one time sounds impossible but it is more common than believed. It is called doublethink, which is the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs on a topic and wholeheartedly believing them both at the same time. This term was coined by George Orwell and it becomes the main tool for control over the citizens of Oceania in his novel 1984. Orwell created a totalitarian future in hopes it would serve as a warning to preceding generations as to how the government can metamorphose into having complete power over a population to the point where they even control the thought process of the human mind.

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