Ahyan Mehta Ms. Bishop ENG 4U1.51 5 April 2024. Exploring Control and Power in 1984 Imagine living in a society where everyone is told to think, live and feel the same propaganda under the threat of torture. In the 1984 novel by George Orwell, the government’s use of control and power is evident and powerfully clear. The novel is set in a totalitarian society ruled by the Party led by Big Brother. The citizens of the superstate must conform to the Party’s laws, facing dire consequences if they do not. Winston Smith, the male protagonist, and his partner Julia struggle with conforming to the Party’s rules. Eventually at the end of the novel Winston gives in to the Party's control, betraying his beliefs and Julia in the face of torture. The …show more content…
The Party uses methods of propaganda to manipulate its residents as well as being able to observe them for their whole lives using telescreens and the thought police. The Party expresses dominance over its citizens by maintaining total control over the circulation of information, carefully influencing what citizens read and think about the Party. The Party’s shift from Oldspeak to Newspeak is another way they maintain control over the population, this is evidenced by Syme's explanation of Newspeak, “Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it”(58). The transition from Oldspeak to Newspeak in Oceania enables the Party's power to expand over the people. Newspeak does this by reducing vocabulary, altering word meanings, and eliminating expressions of …show more content…
The Thought Police are a secret unit whose sole purpose is to repress those not loyal to the Party with the help of surveillance and severe punishments, as Winston reflects, “a party member lives from birth to death under the eyes of thought police. Even when he is alone, he can never be sure that he is alone”(215). Utilizing secret spies, informants and surveillance tools, the Thought Police enforce strict submission to the Party ideology. Their methods are brutal, almost always ending in execution for minor crimes and utilizing strategies of torture on their prisoners in order to uncover anti-Party activities. By exploiting the privacy of their citizens, the Party holds a grip on power, using the threat of surveillance and punishment to suppress any form of freedom and independence. A very vital tool the Party uses to invade the privacy of their citizens is telescreens. A telescreen is a two-way television screen that broadcasts propaganda as well as a camera that allows the Thought police and the Party to listen and see what their citizens are doing inside and outside their homes. As Winston reflects, “There was no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. You had to live – did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, every moment scrutinized” (10).
Propaganda also plays a central role within the Party's infrastructure and it is used to gain support for Big Brother, stir patriotism and induce hate towards the chosen "enemy" country. Workers in the Ministry of Truth work to change the past, making Big Brother seem to have always been right. Also, the Party seeks to stifle any individual or "potentially revolutionary" thought by introducing a new language, Newspeak, the eradication of English and the deployment of "Thought Police" who terrorize Party members by accusing them of "Thought Crime" (ie. to think a crime is to commit a crime). The introduction of this new language means that eventually, no-one is able to commit thought-crime due to the lack of words to express it.
In doing this, the Political Party is in complete control over the citizens’ minds, blasting what they want each individual to think (Orwell, 6). They psychologically stimulate each individuals mind, limiting their ability to think and have a mind of their own. In a similar way, Stalin’s created “The Poster” and The Pravda (the Russian newspaper controlled by the government during Joseph Stalin’s regime) to twist and manipulate the minds of people into believing that what they were saying was absolutely right and true. Using this power, Stalin and his regime would get people to do anything for them. (Basgen, 2010).
The Party employs slogans to convince the ignorant that what they want is what they already have. “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, “ (Orwell 4). There is no desire for freedom, because they are told it is slavery. If freed, they would be unhappy and would not live the way in which they do. In doing so, society is to believe that war establishes peace and serenity. Just changing a few small items in history can alter human belief. By constantly feeding the people fraudulent information and hiding the truth, the Party can get the people to believe almost anything; eventually leading to complete dominance over the mind.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
Psychological manipulation the Party uses on the citizens is one of the first themes Orwell exposes in this dystopian society. The Party maintains this manipulation by constantly overwhelming citizens with useless information and propaganda.
Eventually, the lack of privacy and freedom leads to a suppression of people’s thinking. In 1984, people’s thinking was controlled by lies, invented stories and false information. The stories of the past are all altered and the information is constantly changing every day without any sign of change. The party uses propaganda as a deadly weapon to control its citizens’ minds.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
All civilians devote extreme loyalty to the Party, and it is nearly impossible to encounter people that oppose to the Party. If one if found to be an enemy of the Party, they will be vaporized, and their life will cease to have existed. One way in which the Party implements their power is by individualizing each civilian. Through the usage of telescreens implemented in every house and building, “There was of course no way of
The Party uses children by telling them to constantly watch their parents and if the parents do something wrong, to rat them out. Not only that, the idea of sex for pleasure is prohibited unless someone is a Prole. People are only supposed to use sex to aid the Party. The Party makes people go through a ‘Two-minute Hate” and also “Hate Week.” These events help fill the people with hate for the enemies and for Goldstein and love for the Party.
The novel 1984 is a futuristic portrayal of the world in the year 1984. The main characters Winston and Julia fall in love with each other but are caught and purified of all their wrong doings. In the end they betray each other because of the pressure of the party. The party is a group that controls society in these ways: Manipulation of Reality, Invasion of Privacy, and Desensitization.
Imagine everything you know being a lie, if every belief you’ve ever had was suddenly changed. The Party is in a position of such power, that they can force anyone to follow their ideas in order to ensure your safety. They are capable of portraying any information in a such way that it will benefit them and their stigma. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984 , the Party uses fear and control not only for methods of torture but a way to manipulate the minds of people all across Oceania.
The story follows a working-class citizen named Winston who dares to rebel against Big Brother’s oppressive ways. His unsuccessful struggles highlight the strength of the human spirit, yet also demonstrates the relentless grip of totalitarianism. 1984 serves as a cautionary tale about the tyrannical abuses of power due to Big Brother aiming
1984: Diminishing Freedom by Orwell Totalitarianism leads the novel, by George Orwell, through it’s twisting, cynical, and conforming values of an omnipotent government. Cruelty is portrayed throughout the novel as the use of the “Party” or “Government” taking total control of all freedoms of its population and their lives. In the novel, 1984, by George Orwell, the main character, Winston Smith explores the world under strict ruling while experiencing cruelty through his own mind, betrayal of a friendship, and physical harm forcing mind control to change his life into conforming to the extreme views of “Big Brother”. As Winston starts out by following the strict laws and conformity around him, he then experiences life as it should be, becoming
Centuries ago, around the world, some people were enslaved and would have to follow everything their leader said, having no say in their life choices. In 1984 by George Orwell, the novel revolves around a man named Winston Smith, who lives in Oceania, a totalitarian dictatorship run by “Big Brother”, who restricts the thoughts, actions, and words of its citizens. The government engraves its slogans, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”, into the minds of the people of the society. Winston is one of the very few that see that Big Brother limits their lives, but 85% of the population, proles, does not. In this society, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY tells of that if you are free, you will be a slave to your own thoughts and ideas, and
The Party is able to control the citizens through complete surveillance throughout the state. This means of control, mixed with a terror and propaganda, allows the Party have absolute authority. And although there are no laws to directly punish crime, the party can indiscriminately use other means of punishment such as torture, imprisonment, or vaporization of anyone whose thoughts or actions go against the regime. Through telescreens in every room, the citizens are reminded that they are being constantly observed, and all live by the fear the complete surveillance