How Does George Orwell Use Propaganda In 1984

901 Words2 Pages

Being able to think freely for yourself and see whats right from wrong is very important and when this is constricted it leads to a society that is very easily manipulated and once all feelings of self-identity are wiped away it is impossible to break this cycle. 1984 by George Orwell shows just how manipulative constant propaganda can be when paired with constant government control and prevention of having your own thoughts. What makes 1984 so important is the fact that everything that happens could very well happen in real life and none of it is impossible especially with the technology we have today. George Orwell uses Winston's perspective to warn us of the dangers of an over controlling government that constantly spies on their citizens. …show more content…

Telescreens which are capable of monitoring citizens every action is what the government uses to accomplish this. Winston fears them and attempts to avoid them when possible. This is shown at the beginning of the book when it says “Winton kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer that way as he well knew, even a back can be revealing.” (p3) This proves that Winston fears the government seeing his actions. Throughout 1984 Winston thought that he had outsmarted the telescreen. But it was revealed at the end that they knew what he was doing from the first day when he started writing in the notebook that he was not supposed to have. This enforces Orwell's message of the dangers of a government that constantly monitors its citizens. Telescreens are also used to deliver constant propaganda that cannot be turned off. This is another form of control from the government because it is a constant reminder to citizens who is in control also if you continue to hear the same thing over and over you will eventually start to believe …show more content…

Posters reading big brother is watching you are plastered everywhere constantly reminding citizens that the government is watching their every move. This prevents any retaliation from the people because they are reminded that there is little to no chance that they will get away with it. Telescreens as mentioned before force citizens to watch multiple forms of propaganda including two minutes hate an activity featuring Goldstein. The party's goal is to use Goldstein to get people to focus their hate on a common enemy. This is done during these two minutes by getting people riled up against him and blaming him and specifically his teachings for any rebellious actions towards the party. Winston feels that “The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in.”(p14) This quote from Winston shows just how much control the government has when it's physically impossible for someone even like Winston that has negative feelings about the party not to participate in propaganda activities. This is dangerous because the citizens fail to have a sense of what's right and wrong and only feel what the party tells them is right and

Open Document