Comparing Orwell's Propaganda And Censorship

Movies such as the Hunger Games and Divergent gain popular acclaim for their presentation of a dystopic world. To citizens in democratic countries, a dystopian society such as those in the movies above may seem far from reality and similar to George Orwell’s fictitious society in 1984. On the contrary, dystopian societies are far from fiction and are prevalent in various autocratic countries around the world. The daunting societies present in George Orwell’s 1984 as well as Veronica Ma’s depiction of communist China in “Propaganda and censorship: adapting to the modern age” are the consequences of abusing language’s power. The Party and the Chinese government’s use of censorship solely for political success reflects Orwell’s belief of language being power. The political usage of censorship by both, the Party and communist China, destroys individuality by the suppression of one’s mind, expression and actions in order to prevent rebellion amongst its citizens.
Through the Party and China’s propagandistic censorship, citizens are unable to create opinions inconsistent with the policies of each party. Orwell’s description of bland Oceania exemplifies the extent of the Party’s censorship. The propagandistic censorship the Party produces goes as far as producing a false sense of safety and brainwashes the Oceanians. In Winston’s daily life, his comrades, Parsons and Syme,

project the Party’s image of a perfect citizen. Both Parsons and Syme know enough to be against the Party. Even Parsons, a seemingly loyal supporter to the Party, mutters in his sleep , “Down with Big Brother!” (Orwell 245). However, the constant bombardment of media and literature which portrays the Party in a positive light suppresses their thoughts and brings about loyal supporters for the Party. Through Winston’s observance of Parsons and his strategy of dealing with propaganda he claims,”Parsons swallowed it easily like an animal” (Orwell 62). Orwell’s comparison of Parsons to an animal symbolizes censorship inhibiting one’s thoughts and reducing a human’s mind to that of a wild animal. Likewise, censorship in China, although not as harsh, similarly brainwashes individuals.To most Chinese citizens propagandistic censorship “was understood as an everyday mechanism to induce love and loyalty for the party and the country” (Ma 1). Similar to the Party, the Chinese government portrays their false propaganda as fact and further controls the minds of the Chinese people. Even to those who question the government, like Winston, it is never publicly known. Professor Li, a Harvard University professor, describes that, “a lot of the time it’s actually people pretending they don’t know” (Ma 3). The citizens’ false naivety resembles that of the concept of doublethink in 1984 and consequently gives them no sense of their own thoughts similar to Parsons. Through the restrictions on thoughts, both governments are able to limit expression to keep their civilians in line and hinder insubordination.
Oceania and China’s power over their language restricts their civilians’ expressions. In Oceania, residents are only able to view media and read literature which corresponds with the practices of the Party.In addition, the people of Oceania are also not able to commit ‘facecrime’, an expression on the face which reflects any thought that will harm the Party. The Party goes as far as outer party exclusively letting members who are in the Ministry of Truth to write and that too,solely for political purposes. Ingsoc only allows citizens to express themselves during the Two Minutes of Hate. The purpose of the Hate session is a mixture of inducing hate towards the enemy as well as expressing their own emotions. For instance, Winston realizes at a certain moment during the Two Minutes that his hatred is, “not turned against Goldstein at all, but on the contrary, against Big Brother, the Party and the Thought Police” (Orwell 16). However, the overwhelming amount of propaganda and hate towards the enemy masks any hate directing to the Party. Correspondingly, Chinese government also restricts content citizens produce. Anyone who wishes to produce films must cater to the party and portray the party in a positive view. Therefore, majority of movies inherently have a propagandistic message. Furthermore, China goes as far as censoring giant platforms such as the internet. Veronica Ma states, “ Popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been effectively replaced with Renren, Weibo, and Youku, which comply with state-mandated censorship standards” (3) . In doing so, Chinese officials can observe and prevent any expression of an individual which will threaten the strength of communist China. In essence, the party does not wish to eliminate self-expression unlike Ingsoc, instead its goal is to prevent a large group of people expressing their hatred towards communism. Nonetheless, both communist China and the Party inhibit an individual’s self expression to prevent any act of rebellion against the leading powers.
In addition to the reduction of expression, peoples’ actions are also in control by both parties. In 1984 Orwell depicts Oceania as a super state where everyone’s daily lives are similar to those of a machine. Winston’s life, in particular, emphasizes how much control the Party has over his actions. Winston’s largest rebellion against the Party is his intimate relationship with Julia. In the eyes of the Party intimate relationships go against the Party’s policies as it creates undesirable emotions which can possibly cause rebellion. The Party prevents such emotions and teaches that intercourse is purely for procreating. Yet there is a constant state of paranoia of having an intimate relationship as Winston knows it is wrong. From a young age the Party enforces that sex is , “our duty to the party” (Orwell 139). In response to being taught that intercourse is purely political, marriages in Oceania lack intimacy. For instance, Katharine, Winston’s wife, is never able to cope with Winston’s lust as she becomes stiff the moment he touches her (Orwell 138). In like manner, China controls its civilians actions to reduce chance of rebellion. The government forces its citizens to watch films with a propagandistic message. In fact, movies which portray communism in a positive light receive a large viewership. Ma states “One propaganda film, "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" (1970), was claimed by Chinese officials to have a viewership of over 7.3 billion people by the close of 1974, thereby making it one of the most watched movies of all time” (1). The large viewership results from the large push by the government in order to produce an untruthful love towards communism. As the party continues to force movies on communism, they reduce any possibilities of a rise of civilians against the government. Together, both parties mirror each other as they edit media in order to prevent any acts of revolution.
The Party and China’s censorship inhibits rebellious movements.

In order to prevent rebellion both Oceania and the Chinese governments use censorship to eliminate individuality by restrictions on thought, expression and actions. Orwell’s predictions of society carry into reality even today,in particular, governments abusing language’s power. The exploitation of language is evident throughout dictatorial countries and mirror Oceania. Through Orwell’s prediction becoming reality one should understand the power of language. Language is a privilege and should never be subject to propagandistic

censorship.