Examples Of Doublethink In 1984 By George Orwell

George Orwell’s 1984 is a dystopian novel that is a clear homage to the political turbulence in Europe in the wake of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War. When Orwell published the novel in 1949, World War II had just ended with the demise of Adolf Hitler and the Cold War was just beginning to take shape with Eastern Europe becoming increasingly communist, specifically with the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. Throughout the entirety of the novel, George Orwell makes unmistakable references to the ever-changing political scene. Though the majority of the novel shows clear parallels with the Soviet Union, Orwell’s establishment of the philosophy of doublethink seems to curiously deviate from the established philosophies of the Soviet

The government in 1984, or The Party, creates a new language that limits the amount of words that the people are supposed to use. Newspeak is created “not only to provide a medium of expression for the worldview and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible” (Orwell 299). The creation of the new language of Newspeak ties into the concept of doublethink because the language is a key component of the addition of words that contribute to doublethink and the removal of words that weaken the concept of doublethink and give citizens the power to avoid doublethink. Because the government can limit the amount of words the citizens can use, they have full control over the ideas of the people since there are no other words with which to communicate negative thoughts and politically corrupt messages, or thought-crime. By incorporating government control over the mind using Newspeak, George Orwell clearly references the Soviet Union’s ability to control language through Russification and censorship. Russification created a nation in which all people were using the same language, Russian, in order to create a collective identity of all people, rather than enforce

The propaganda portrayed in 1984 is primarily posters of Big Brother that are intended to unify the population in their love of the made-up figurehead with the caption “Big Brother is watching you” inciting fear into the people. The reason that the propaganda is a part of doublethink is because the people are forced to love Big Brother while also fearing him; love and fear are opposite feelings that are mutually accepted at the same time by the population. In the Soviet Union, propaganda included posters with images of Joseph Stalin plastered all around the country. In this respect, doublethink is clearly portrayed in the propaganda of the Soviet Union because the people are basically forced to love and fear Stalin at the same time. Throughout the novel, Winston Smith is shown to hate Big Brother, but by the end of the novel, through much torture and doublethink, Winston learns to love the figure. As Winston finally loses himself it says, “He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over