How Is The Government Controlled In 1984

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It is obvious that the government is the biggest thing in the book “1984” and how much the government controls the population is astounding. Although there are many obvious ways that Big Brother controls the population, “Newspeak” is probably one of the worst, if not the worst and most intense control mechanism. With “Newspeak” not only is what people say controlled, but it is also restricted, it is made so that the language used is modified and people cannot say certain things even if they wanted to. “Newspeak” is a way in which the government in Oceania controls what the people say and believe. Big brother is the ruler of Oceania, and while it might not directly be said that he is a dictator, it is very much obvious that everything that …show more content…

The government has made it so that people cannot say words that would make them look bad, the people of Oceania cannot even say words like “bad”, but instead they have to say “ungood”. They have made it so that the people of Oceania are so brainwashed, that they will believe anything that the government tells them to believe. The language that is used in Oceania has been watered down so that the words that can be used are few and simple. It is so controlled that the people of Oceania only have enough words so that they can go on with everyday life, but not exceed the limit implemented by Big Brother. “There is no opportunity-- no space-- left by such words for thinking around or beyond objects they refer to..” ( Lang, 172) This method of control is so intense that even things that you would think everyone knows have been changed. Even though the form of government shown in “1984” seems to be absurd, it is not too far off of what is happening now. In places like North Korea the government is also extreme, but most of the people there do not even think it is weird because they have been accustomed to that type of ruling so they do not see a point in trying to fight it. Very similar to the …show more content…

Although “Newspeak” is the most effective way that the government controls the people, it is not even close to being the only control mechanism that is used. The government of Oceania have implemented things such as thoughtcrime, junior spies, and propaganda, as a way to control their people. Thoughtcrime is committed when someone says or even thinks something that is out of bounds of “Newspeak”. If they get caught, which most of the time they do, then they are taken by the thought police, and vaporized. The people of Oceania are able to get caught so easily because they are always being watched, they all have televisions in their homes which are constantly spitting out propaganda telling them what to believe and what to do. With these televisions the members of the government are able to watch what the citizens do and what they say. Propaganda is also a way that the government ensures that “Newspeak” is implemented in the lives of the people because the televisions are constantly reminding the people of what to say and what the “truths” are. The repetitiveness of this propaganda has made it so that it is nearly impossible for the people of Oceania to forget the “truths” that they have been told. Not only that, but the government of Oceania has also implemented