Examples Of Manipulation In 1984

No matter what the intent, manipulation of a person has the shared purpose of gaining control over them (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). The texts 1984 and Memento use different facets of manipulation to bring out different emotions and attitudes in the audience to characters and events. 1984 is a novel detailing the fall of Winston, a closeted rebel in an oppressive society where the government has gained totalitarian control through psychological manipulation. This text has a pertinent association with Christopher Nolan’s Memento, a film about a man named Leonard who struggles with a memory condition, causing him to be manipulated by himself and those around him. The three major sources of manipulation in the texts are: within the plot, forced onto

Leonard believes that the second intruder escaped; his mission to avenge his wife is to find and kill the intruder. Because Leonard’s condition prevents him from forming new memories, he’s reliant on reminders through tattoos and notes (Klein, 2001). However, he becomes an unreliable source of information; being limited by recording his thoughts through simplistic notes and Polaroids, the context is lost upon reinterpretation. He lacks the narrative continuity usually present with long-term memory, and loses any ethical consideration (Belling, 2006). An example in the film is when Leonard kills Jimmy Grantz, a drug dealer. Teddy, a policeman, reveals that Jimmy isn’t the person Leonard wanted; Leonard already murdered the real intruder. Nonetheless, Teddy strung Leonard along so he would “take care” of Jimmy for him. Having knowledge that he won’t remember this newfound truth, Leonard manipulates himself by setting up Teddy as his next suspect by recording that Teddy’s license-plate number is the intruder’s, to ensure his death (Klein, 2001).
Where 1984 focuses the plot on the government’s obvious manipulation of Oceania’s citizens recognised by the protagonist from the beginning, Memento provides a protagonist unable recognise

1984 presents a linear, chronological order divided into three acts, while Memento has a unique non-chronological structure. 1984’s arrangement highlights the protagonist’s character development through acts, which show the lengths that the government will go to for ensuring totalitarian power; the linear structure allows the action to keep rising to the climax. The intensity of manipulation varies: the first two acts have “standard” manipulation which doesn’t affect Winston, but transforms to be specifically targeted at him. This structure works for the story, emphasising that the Party will go to any lengths to gain control and power, implementing more rules and using their power in frightening ways, to the point of dehumanising