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Importance Of Language In 1984

1038 Words5 Pages
To understand what you need, you must first try to live a day without it. George Orwell embodies that philosophy and uses it to illustrate the importance of language in 1984. The novel written in 1944, centers around Oceania, a country dictated by the highly centralized government, INGSOC which is also commonly referred to as Big Brother. Orwell presents a world in which information is carefully weaved throughout society and constantly filtered. Language is heavily limited and INSOC’s weapon of choice is newspeak. The dictionary.com definition, an “ambiguous euphemistic language used chiefly in political propaganda.” Newspeak enforces the concise expression of thoughts and the utilization of simple language. Compared to current society, where language defines a person 's identity, in Oceania, personality is much more binary. Either a yes or a no, adhere to INGSOC or not. Neglect to do so and be tortured by the government. INGSOC uses Newspeak as a tool to enforce order and obedience as the oppression of language is essentially the oppression of thought. George Orwell exemplifies the importance of language in his novel, by constructed a world in which language and self-expression are extremely limited and writing of the less than pleasant result.
Before elaborating on the effects Newspeak has on Oceania, it must be first be established that Newspeak sole purpose is to corrupt thought. Conventional languages often grow and become more broad with time, however, Newspeak
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