In the novel 1984, George Orwell talks about how privacy is scarce and how the government controls our lives in a totalitarian government. George Orwell in his novel, 1984, published in June 8, 1949 addresses the topic of what he thinks Oceania will look like in 1984, based on how things were back when he wrote it. Orwell's claim is supported in today's modern literature in the article “When Euphemism Disguises Truth: George Orwell’s Foresight” by Bernard A. Weisberger saying that when the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer and then later saying that the German, Russian and Italian languages have all deteriorated in the last 10 or 15 years, as a result of dictatorship. The surveillance capabilities used by Big Brother were that “any sound that winston made above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover , so long as he remained within the field of vision of the metal plaque commanded he could be seen as well as heard.” As you can see, surveillance has been a big issue and there have been technologies used to spy.
Only Human? In the novel 1984, George Orwell utilizes figurative language as well as vivid diction to convey that totalitarian rule of a society will lead to dehumanization. The first time Winston sees the man sitting at the table across from him, he notices that “his spectacles caught the light and presented to [him] two blank discs instead of eyes” (55). Using a metaphor, Orwell compares the man’s eyes to “two blank discs,” bringing to mind the concept of emptiness, or a lack of emotion.
The dialogue used incorporates a lot of incorrect grammar slang, which is used to provide readers with
Former words have become obsolete, thus eradicating nuance and eliminate style. Orwell has taken it so far that you cannot even think about committing such a crime, making it a very difficult society to
Language: “The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall.” (2) “Day and night the telescreens bruised your ears with statistics proving that people today had more food, more clothes, better houses, better recreations... Not a word of it could be proved or disproved... It was like a single equation with two unknowns” (74) L(1) George Orwell, the author of 1984, uses figurative language within this quote with a perfectly crafted simile.
What is a hero? A hero is someone who has the ability to rise above challenges and is brave enough to sacrifice himself for others. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, by definition, Winston Smith can be considered the novels hero. This is because of his strength and bravery to go against the party. While reader can admire Winston, they can over exceed his actions.
Question: How does George Orwell use language to convey a dystopian world? Through the use of figurative language, and atmosphere, George Orwell manages to convey language as a powerful tool in Dystopian Societies. In Orwell’s book “1984” George Orwell conveys language by actually restricting certain words, and creating a new language in entirety, named “Newspeak” which is created to minimize any negative concepts stirred by the followers of the Dystopian Society, which removes and limits “bad” words that pose a threat to the society. Which in turn, Orwell manages to create entire languages, such as Newspeak, as an official “language” in Dystopian Societies by masking rebellious, and “bad” words, and instead replacing them with colloquialisms
There are some who would argue that "Our civilization is decadent and our language — so the argument runs — must inevitably share in the general collapse" (Orwell 529). Some would refute this saying that our language is not dying but evolving and to a certain degree they are right. The English language has evolved over centuries of time even splitting into multiple dialects such as British, Australian, and American. Each has their own terms, phrases, and even words that the others do not use. These people who seek to destroy Orwell's essay would say that this evolution is natural and that nothing should be done to stop it.
Newspeak is a language that was designed to limit the ways people are allowed to express themselves through speech and writing. Orwell believes there are flaws in the English language, highlighted by the use of Newspeak in 1984 (Fowler). One flaw that Orwell sees is the use of “ready-made phrases, which is of immediate relevance to Nineteen Eighty-Four” (Fowler). Ready-made phrases are expressions that take the place of logical and well-constructed thought. The Party’s aim is to keep people from forming a logical reasoning to resist their reign and Newspeak takes advantage of ready-made phrases to make sure people use a diction that has no relevance to the subject at hand.
In Anne Curzan’s TED Talk, she mentions that “[dictionary editors are just trying to keep up with us as we change the language. They’re watching what we say and what we write to figure out what’s going to stick and what’s not.” (“What makes a word ‘real’”) It goes to show that there is not just single person who is in charge of language, but rather billions of people all over the globe. Society is constantly creating new terms that ease our communication and although we edit and shorten existing words, we rarely remove them from our language.
Thesis: In the novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, “Newspeak” and various other principles, are implemented by the Party in order to manipulate and diminish the people’s thoughts, so as to fulfill its own political agendas. The Party is able to diminish the people’s thoughts, as the Newspeak language only comprises of words that are relevant to particular concepts and subject areas that the Part approves of. Additionally these have been given only “one rigid definition” [Pg 53, Part I, Section V].
Political language "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind "according to George Orwell, who believed that the language used is meaningless and its intention is to hide the truth by those who exercise political power. The essay "Politics and the English Language" became a powerful work for the writers, journalists and teachers, thus the author creates a “poetics” for political language appointing the main rules and problems that determine the truth not to be said. While reading George Orwell’s essay I agreed and disagreed with his opinions and solutions for an improved English, consequently, I gathered evidence to prove my claim which is multilateral because during the years, the subject has been debated and analyzed by umpteen writers or critics. For example, there are people who agree that what blames Orwell as ways of controlling the people, but there are opinions who claim that the essayist’s rules are too harsh. George Orwell was a known fighter for the freedom to speak, think or against the control of language and masses of people through politics.
“Politics and the English Language” was written by George Orwell discussing the collapse of the English language. Orwell states in his short essay that writers are trying to get more involved in political speech than they do with expression. He explains in his essay that publishers and writers are more worried about sounding intelligent than getting to a point and expressing their opinions. Modern writers are straying away from expressing their point or opinion which Orwell says is blasphemy. Orwell was expressing his opinion that less is more with the English language and simplicity will get you farther with the reader.
The English language constantly changes, whether the changes are substantial or small, nothing about the language itself is still. The structure and the continuous building of language are quite mesmerizing furthering one's curiosity about how exactly language can expand so far. One cannot argue that language is a major influence everywhere while simultaneously a powerful tool that can manipulate many. Depending on who the person is within the hectic world, language can either be one’s greatest asset or their worst enemy. In 1984, a novel written by George Orwell demonstrates the unquestionable sovereignty that language holds upon the masses, along with Saul Alinsky’s opinionated statement, “he who controls the language controls the masses.”
Along with this, Orwell openly portrays his anger revolving around the destruction of the English Language. In prior writings, Orwell displays his disgust at the evolution of language and his unhappiness in the migration of shorter, unexaggerated sentences to the lengthy wording of simple phrases. In Orwell's writing titled “Politics and the English Language,” he states “no modern writer of the kind I am discussing- no one capable of using phrases like “objective consideration of contemporary phenomena”- would ever tabulate his thoughts in that precise and detailed way,” a passage which thoroughly depicts Orwells contempt of modern writers. By incorporating Old English language into his writings, Orwell subtly displays his unrest with the modernization of our language.
