Propaganda Essay Everyday, we see propaganda more than we realize. Advertisements at bus stops or on billboards, flyers up on telephone poles, or even the news are all examples of propaganda in our daily lives. One of the most common methods of propaganda is the use of slogans, a memorable motto or phrase that leaves little room for detail, and tries to unite others in a common purpose. Another method is appeal to fear, where the audience is warned that disaster will result if they don’t follow a particular course of action. These are used in the book 1984 by George Orwell, a novel set in a dystopian city Oceania, where the government uses propaganda to control the thoughts, words, and actions of the citizens, and even the past. The piece …show more content…
Slogans are used often in 1984 as a way for the government to control the citizens and stop them from rebelling. A slogan that is widely used in this story is “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength”. This shows up on the sides of important buildings in Oceania, such as: “From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (4) Imprinting these messages on the minds of the people will eventually make them feel that they don’t need to ever rebel, because they already have freedom, because freedom is slavery. It makes them believe that it is normal and perfectly fine to always be at war, because there is no need for peace, and that they should not strive to learn more about life, the world, or the government, because ignorance is strength. These phrases also appear during the two minutes of hate, after the face of Goldstein frightens the citizens, the phrase appears: “Then the face of Big Brother faded away again, and instead the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (16) This slogan is meant to comfort the citizens after the stressful two-minute hate. They are being showed opposite sides of the spectrum, that Goldstein is bad, and then directly after they are shown these phrases, to give them …show more content…
The next moment a hideous, grinding speech, as of some monstrous machine running without oil, burst from the big telescreen at the end of the room. It was a noise that set one’s teeth on edge and bristled the hair at the back of one’s neck. The Hate had started. As usual, the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, had flashed onto the screen. There were hisses here and there among the audience. The little sandy-haired woman gave a squeak of mingled fear and disgust.”
In the film Red Dawn of 1984, it depicts both a work of art and propaganda for various of reasons. To start off, propaganda is used to imply a negative impact on both Russia and Russian troops. The way they are portrayed in the film, illustrates them as savages and corrupted people who are ruthless. In the film, the United States is portrayed as the victim because of the the strong brave soldiers, who are trying to survive and would fight any obstacle in their way. In fact, this film of Red Dawn can also be considered a work of art, because this film uniquely symbolizes the acceptance of thinking like a child. For example, in many scenes in the movie seeing the world from a children’s point of view was a way to help the soldiers forget about their present situation. In this case, the war battles between Russian troops. Most importantly, what I consider a work of art in this film, would be that a group of teenagers get together as a team to defend their country from Soviet invaders. In this essay I will explain different examples that prove that the film of 1984 Red Dawn can be considered both a work of art and a of propaganda.
“"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984, describes a totalitarian dystopian society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side, people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal, they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda in the society of 1984 takes away freedom from individuals because of the absence of privacy, thinking and making decisions.
1984 by George Orwell may seem like a run of the mill dystopian novel, but the plethora of paradoxes and interwoven contradictions create a complex reading experience. Every single incongruity within the novel proves itself to be sensible and valid. Orwell skillfully enlaces this backwards society with contradictory slogans, ideology, and language that leaves one perplexed at what they just read, forcing one to reevaluate their own logic. Early in the novel, the three fundamental mottos of Ingsoc are presented. These mottos are “WAR IS PEACE/ FREEDOM IS SLAVERY/ IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 26).
In the novel 1984, George Orwell describes a dystopian society called Oceania. It is one of the three super states in the world and is controlled by an imaginary leader, Big Brother. This society is lead by a totalitarian Party that controls the society by enforcing their slogan onto their people: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. These slogans are encrypted into everyone’s brain as a way to manipulate them and make them believe they live in a fair, just society. In 1984’s Oceania, the slogan “ignorance is strength” plays a massive role in the Party’s manipulation of the society.
This collective whole is easily controlled and manipulated. Society has always been troubled by the idea of overpowering control. In George Orwell's 1984, humanity is dominated by an extreme government whose intent is to abolish all aspects of freedom. Orwell indicates that when subjected to mass propaganda and intimidation, the ignorant majority’s memory and concept of truth are distorted, making them extremely malleable and subservient. The Party employs slogans to convince the ignorant that what they want is what they already have.
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, the government blocks almost all forms of self-expression in order to assert its authority over the people. Those within the society who show signs of defiance against the set rules, even those who act unwillingly, are seen as a threat to the success of the regime are wiped from existence. In Orwell’s 1984, the government uses different forms of propaganda and brainwashing to achieve complete control of society for their own personal benefit.
Many countries believe that propaganda helps to institute a necessary level of patriotism in their citizens. Most authoritarian governments, the type of government that Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell illustrates, use propaganda. However, the use of propaganda also limits the freedom of people since propaganda can control thought and speech. Propaganda can influence people to believe that their country is the best country by either exaggerating the positive events that are happening in their country or by showing negative events that are happening in other countries. Nineteen Eighty-Four is more about the dangers of the government controlling people’s thoughts by propaganda than the dangers of an authoritarian government system.
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, in a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However, such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment.
Take a second to think about the word propaganda. What comes to mind? Do events such as World War II or The Cold War? According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, propaganda is a noun which means “the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.” In other words, propaganda, in this particular definition, is viewed as the deliberate transmission of an idea or document that a group of people believe in. This definition suits the description of propaganda in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The Inner Party is pushing the concept of “Big Brother,” the ultimate leader. But words can have multiple meanings and can leave room for interpretation. In an alternate definition, from The Analysis of Propaganda by W. Hummell and K. Huntress, propaganda is defined in a different manner:
“WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” Part 1,Chapter 1,pg. 6. These three principles were repeatedly emphasized throughout the book and helped lay the foundation of the dystopian society George Orwell imagined in his novel 1984. Fear, manipulation, and control were all encompassed throughout this dystopian society set in the distant future. The freedom to express ones thoughts was no longer acceptable and would not be tolerated under any circumstances. Humankind was rapidly transforming into a corrupt and evil state of mind.
In George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, the setting is in a place called Oceania, a dystopia. A dystopia is a usually imagined place that is far worse from reality, and its opposite being a utopia, an ideal place.Orwell imagined a world with new advanced technology, such as a telescreen, a TV that observes the ones watching and a world that consists of three megastates rather than hundreds of countries.In 1984, Orwell comes up with a new form of English called Newspeak, which the totalitarian government uses to discourage free thinking, without words to express an idea, the idea itself would be impossible to achieve, the government can control people through their words.
The use of propaganda to gain support for the flawed state is common throughout many dystopian works, and directly parallels its use...
George Orwell’s haunting dystopian novel 1984 delves into the closely monitored lives of the citizens of Oceania as the Party tries to take control of society. In totalitarianism, propaganda and terrorism are ways of subjugation with a main goal: total obedience. He aimed to create a “what if” novel, what would happen if totalitarian regimes, such as the Nazis and Soviets, were to take over the world. If totalitarianism were to happen, the leader would be the brain of the whole system. Orwell emphasizes the theme of individualism versus collective identity through Winston, the protagonist, and his defiance to the Party and Big Brother, with a frightening tone, surreal imagery and a third person limited point of view.
George Orwell’s intent in the novel 1984 is to warn society about the results of a controlling and manipulative government by employing mood, conflict, and imagery.
Orwell highlights how powerful the use of language and propaganda can be when used to control society. One of the first times ...