Examples Of Timelessness In 1984 By George Orwell

In George Orwell’s 1984, the Party’s use of timelessness and immortality is a central element of its strategy to control and suppress the citizens of Oceania. Through the manipulation of history and language, the Party creates a false sense of continuity and stability, presenting itself as an unchallenged and infallible entity that will always emerge victorious in its perpetual war. The Party’s propagation of this illusion aims to prevent individual and collective memory, identity, resistance, and any possibility of change or progress that might challenge its authority or ideology. By elevating Big Brother to a god and creating an obsessive hatred towards Goldstein, the Party discourages any alternative source of meaning or value while redirecting emotions away from the reality of oppression and suffering. This essay will explore how the Party’s use of timelessness and immortality serves as a means of social control and how it affects Oceania’s citizens’ lives.

One way to create a sense of timelessness and immortality is by altering historical records and documents to suit the Party’s needs and claims. The Ministry of Truth, where Winston works, is responsible for changing newspapers, books, photographs, films, and other media to make them follow the Party’s reality. For example, in chapter 17, when Oceania switches enemies from Eurasia

Newspeak eliminates words that might cause a rebellion, such as freedom, justice, or democracy. (177) They introduce words reinforcing the Party’s ideology, such as doublethink, which means holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and accepting both as accurate. This linguistic manipulation limits the people’s ability to think freely, thus reinforcing the government’s hold on their minds. As Syme states, “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought and to bring thought under the government’s complete control?”