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Propaganda in the media
Propaganda in the media
Propaganda analysis and mass communication
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George Orwell’s 1984 contains explicit usage of propaganda, such as posters and party slogans, in order to convince their citizens that what they do is for the best of their country. The totalitarian regime described by Orwell in his book used a plethora of party slogans, as these would help keep a strict order in the country, as well as literally brainwashing the inhabitants of Oceania into believing things that are quite untrue. One clear example of propaganda used by Orwell occurred in chapter 1, where an eerie poster on the wall reading the caption, “Big Brother is Watching You” (Orwell 6) is described by Winston, the main character. Winston depicts the setting by saying, “On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so …show more content…
contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move.
‘Big Brother is Watching You,’ the caption beneath it ran” (Orwell 1-2). It is truly unbelievable that such a thing can be a part of a daily life, but as we learned, a society like this is quite real. This has happened and continues to happen in our world, and we often forget about it while we sit in the comfort of our own, free country. Orwell is clearly illustrating a world of intimidation, and unfortunately people must live through this constant intimidation or else they will not live at all. Another way Orwell’s country uses a sort of brainwashing and intimidation blueprint is through the mandatory following of three brutal phrases. This phrases are “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell 26). These are not words that the country wants their citizens to just brush off and move on from, these are the words that Oceania wants them to
constantly live by. One can clearly notice that each phrase is technically a contradictory statement. War is the opposite of peace, freedom is the opposite of slavery, and ignorance is the opposite of strength. Would the citizens of Oceania may have recognized this? It’s possible. Would they have any power to fight this? Not at all. In this world, one takes what one is given and is expected to fully obey without question. One can easily take for granted their consistent allowance to say whatever they want, as the people in this world written by Orwell is not a place where one is allowed to speak up for what one believes in. One cannot ignore that some people in the world do not know any better than what the government is feeding them. Of course Mao is going to want to make sure that the people believe that China is the most powerful, and overall finest place in the world. Orwell’s make believe world is not nearly as make believe as one may think.
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.
Many features of Orwell's imaginary super-state Oceania are ironic translations from Stalin’s Russia. In Oceania, the Party mainly uses technology as the chief ingredient to implement a psychological manipulation over society by controlling the information they receive. An example of this is the big screen television set up in every person’s home, and the poster all over the city. The giant “telescreen” in every citizen’s room blasts a constant stream of propaganda designed to make the failures and short successes of the Party appear to be glorious. In Winston Smith’s apartment, this “instrument” is always on spouting propaganda and constantly brain washing the peoples’ mind. In actual fact, “It could [only be] dimmed… there [is] no way of shutting it off”. In doing this, the Political Party is in complete control over the citizens’ mind, 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 truth. Using this power, Stalin and his regime would get people to do anything for them. (Basgen, 2010)
... middle of paper ... ... When oppressed by a Party that takes away basic inalienable rights, publicizes false information, and each individual has a common knowledge of consequences that they might receive from thinking, it is extremely difficult to maintain a sense of reality. Orwell proposes that when an individual faces all of these prohibitions, they are easily manipulated into psychological enslavement.
When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.
Though the problems that Orwell fears do exist and have been present throughout the history of the United States, they are not as likely to ruin us as a society as Huxley’s predictions. In Orwell's negative utopia or dystopia, there is a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives including their private life, what they think, and what they believe. In 1984, a political body known as the Party rules the state Oceania. One technique that the Party utilizes to control the people of Oceania is psychological manipulation in which the government uses propaganda and doublethink to send contradictory messages such as...
George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 follows the psychological journey of main character Winston. Winston lives in a utopian society called Oceania. There, the citizens are constantly monitored by their government coined “Big Brother” or “The Party”. In Oceania, there is no form of individuality or privacy. Citizens are also coerced to believe everything and anything the government tells them, even if it contradicts reality and memory. The goal of Big Brother is to destroy individual loyalties and make its citizenry only loyal to the government. In Orwell's novel 1984, he uses Winston's psychological journey to stress the dangers of individuality in a totalitarian regime because it can result in death. Winston’s overwhelming desire to rebel
I strongly agree with Fromm’s viewpoints and interpretations of Orwell’s 1984 text. He warns that the future federal powers will dehumanize society and leave everyone alienated. Thus, I agree with Fromm to the extent that he acknowledges the fact that humanity can indeed cease to exist as a result of our own self-destruction as well as the effect of our actions. Many of his opinions and warnings expressed by Orwell to an extent appear in contemporary society.
is this fear of the Government which all of us have. We may fear that
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. The party slogan of Ingsoc illustrates the sense of contradiction which characterizes the novel 1984. That the book was taken by many as a condemnation of socialism would have troubled Orwell greatly, had he lived to see the aftermath of his work. 1984 was a warning against totalitarianism and state sponsored brutality driven by excess technology. Socialist idealism in 1984 had turned to a total loss of individual freedom in exchange for false security and obedience to a totalitarian government, a dysutopia. 1984 was more than a simple warning to the socialists of Orwell's time. There are many complex philosophical issues buried deep within Orwell's satire and fiction. It was an essay on personal freedom, identity, language and thought, technology, religion, and the social class system. 1984 is more than a work of fiction. It is a prediction and a warning, clothed in the guise of science fiction, not so much about what could happen as it is about the implications of what has already happened. Rather than simply discoursing his views on the social and political issues of his day, Orwell chose to narrate them into a work of fiction which is timeless in interpretation. This is the reason that 1984 remains a relevant work of social and philosophical commentary more than fifty years after its completion.
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
The society Orwell creates in 1984 has an awful appearance which is unlike any other predictions of our future. Orwell involves familiar things to humans in the story 1984 which makes us believe in the reality of this futuristic dystopia. Oceania is a terrible world in which every word and every thought of the people is censored. Freedom of speech in Oceania is unthinkable and everything goes against a Utopia. For example, when Winston is talking to Julia in his revolt against the party he says: “I hate Purity I hate goodness I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere. In the story O’Brien states, “the arrests, tortures, and the executions will never cease.” It is evident in this quote that O'Brien is able to see Oceania's doom (Howe, 293).
“"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.
Orwell uses repetition throughout his book to emphasize what his main point. In the beginning of the book, Orwell constantly has the phrase “ BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. Orwell uses repetition in this phrase, for he is emphasizing how people are spying on the main character. Furthermore, he uses this quote to emphasize how suspicious Winston is. Orwell vocalizes, “ War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength” (18,29). "War is peace" and "freedom is slavery" are samples of double thinking. Though these phrases are contradictory by definition, the citizens of Oceania accept them both as correct, simultaneously. Orwell emphasizes that although Oceania is a constantly in a state of war, the people pretend as if there is peace. The repetition brings light to the
Orwell highlights how powerful the use of language and propaganda can be when used to control society. One of the first times ...