Death of Language in 1984

928 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: George Orwell 1984 symbolism

The book 1984 by George Orwell is about a dystopian society called Oceania. Big Brother is the unseen leader of this society. Telescreens monitor every move of the Outer Party. The party consists of the Inner Party and the Outer Party. The Inner Party is the highest class in society, followed by the Outer Party. The lowest class is the Proles. The Proles are not monitored because the Inner Party considers them ignorant and does not consider them as a potential threat. People are monitored in order to eliminate thoughtcrime (any unorthodox thought). The new language of Oceania is Newspeak. The Party is trying to simplify language to limit thought. The Party also rewrites historical events in order to keep the past in line with Big Brother’s agenda. The main character, Winston, works on rewriting history. Winston and Julia (his lover) are against the government and join an underground revolution. Eventually, they are caught and are brought to the Ministry of Love (an organization that punishes crime by torture and brainwashing). They are separated and tortured. Winston is tortured by a man named O’Brien. Winston is tortured physically when he is beaten and starved. Winston is tortured mentally when he is brainwashed into believing what Big Brother believes. After being faced with his greatest fear, Winston submits to O’Brien and gives up his revolutionary ideals. In the end of the book, Winston confesses his love of Big Brother. Two of the main themes in 1984 are the destruction of language and the power of language. In 1984, Orwell uses Newspeak and the death of language to show that one’s thoughts are directly controlled by the language they use and he who controls the language controls the future. Newspeak is the official langua... ... middle of paper ... ...eing brought down to a very simple level, Newspeak. Thoughts and language are directly correlated. Therefore, when the language is made simple, the thoughts are made simple. Overall, Newspeak “strips language down to the bone” in order to eliminate thoughtcrime. The party destroys words to destroy thought. Since the words for something do not exist, thinking about that object or idea will be nearly impossible. The party seeks and finds total domination by limiting the language because this would give them control over the thoughts. The party controls the language therefore they control the present. The party controls the historical records therefore they control the past “’Who controls the past,’ ran the party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’” (34). Works Cited Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classics, 1977. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing 1984, The Long Watch and The Ones Walk Away from Omelas

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...

    Read More

  • The Use Of Propaganda In 1984, By George Orwell

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    The government changes the way that reality looks like by altering the past, use of pure power and propaganda. People really think that the government is there to help them from their enemies, they get happy with the increasing food rations announcement and really think the Big Brother exist. Therefore, the citizens of Oceania, especially the proles prevent rebellion against the party because they admit that they have an ideal society. The winners in this type of society, are all the members of the inner party and higher ranks members whom steal away the rights of living from the lower class in order to create a lavish lifestyle for

    Read More

  • 1984 Summer Assignment

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Winston Smith - The protagonist of the story. Winston Smith works as a clerk in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to rewrite historical documents. This involves revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs, mostly to remove "unpersons," people who have fallen foul of the party. Because of his proximity to the mechanics of rewriting history, Winston Smith nurses doubts about the Party and its monopoly on truth.

    Read More

  • Rebellion in George Orwell’s 1984 and Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Party and its leader Big Brother play the role of authority in 1984. The Party is always watching the citizens of the Republic of Oceania. This is exemplified in the fact that the government has telescreens through which they can watch you wherever you are set up almost everywhere. Even in the countryside where there are no telescreens, the Party can monitor its citizens through hidden microphones disguised as flowers. The Thought Police are capable of spying on your thoughts at anytime, and can arrest or even kill you on a whim. Not only does the Thought Police find and hunt down felons, but it also scares others into being good citizens. The Party strives to eliminate more and more words from people’s vocabularies. Thus, the Party can destroy any possibilities of revolutions and conspiracies against itself. Its ultimate goal is to reduce the language to only one word, eliminating thought of any kind. The Party makes people believe that it is good and right in its actions through the Ministry of Truth and through the slogans printed on the Ministry of Truth:...

    Read More

  • 1984 Conflict Essay

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Winston Smith is a thirty-nine year old man who participates in a group of the “outer-party,” which is the lower part of the two classes. Smith works in one of the four main government buildings. This building is called the Ministry of Truth; his job is to rewrite history books so those that read them will not learn what the past used to be like. The occupation Winston is the major factor that allows him to realize that Big Brother is limiting people’s freedom. He keeps these thoughts to himself as secrets because the totalitarian party will not allow those of rebellious thoughts around. The tensions between the two grow throughout the book because the Big Brother becomes very suspicious of Winston. The Big Brother becomes so suspicious of Winston that he sends a person by the name O’Brien, to watch over him. Mr. O’Brien is a member of the “inner party,” which in this book is the upper-class. Winston doesn't know of the trap that Big Brother had set tells O’Brien of his own idea and plans. He tells Winston of a rebellious leader that has been rounding up those that want to go against the totalitarian government. But like the Big Brother had done, he set a trap and O’Brien betrayed Winston. During the story the conflict between Big Brother and Winston climaxes when Winston is caught. He is taken to some sort of bright underground prison type

    Read More

  • 1984

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Conclusion, 1984 is a novel that represents a called government. The government is taken over by “The Party”. The Party seeks to gain complete obedience from the people of Oceania. The main goal of the Party is to eliminate independent thought. The book is surrounded by psychological manipulation. Everything that happens throughout the book is government related and tends to manipulate some people of Oceania. Since their government is totalitarian they seek absolute power towards their people. This shows warning of what might happen id our government becomes too powerful, the party is trying to avoid any sort of rebellion from the people.

    Read More

  • 1984 Body Paragraph Essay

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most essential ways in which feelings are expressed by humans is through language. Without language people are merely robotic figures that can not express their thoughts because language is in fact thought. When this speech is taken away through complete governmental power, a portion of human nature is also taken away. In 1984, due to totalitarianism, language has begun to transform into a poor representation of humanity and natural human expression. Orwell states, “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” In the novel, a new language, Newspeak, has emerged. Newspeak has drastically limited the vocabulary of the English language

    Read More

  • Internal and External Conflict in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    The conflict between Winston and Big Brother starts from the beginning of the novel when Winston begins to keep his secret diary about Big Brother. Winston Smith is a third-nine years old man who is a member of the 'outer-party'--the lower of the two classes. Winston works for the government in one of the four main government buildings called the ministry of Truth where his job is to rewrite history books in order for people not to learn what the past used to be like. Winston's occupation is the major factor which lets him to realize that Big Brother is restricting people's freedom. However, Winston keeps his complains about Big Brother and the party for his own secret because the party will not allow anyone keeping a rebellious thought. The tension between them gets serious when Big Brother becomes suspicious of Winston. Winston is therefore watched by O'Brien, an intelligent execute at the 'Ministry of Truth', who is a member of the 'inner party'--the upper class. Without doubting Big Brother's trap, Winston shares his ideas with O'Brien. O'Brien mentions a gentleman named Emmanuel Goldstein whom he claims to know the leader of the rebels against the party. O'Brien also promises to help winston, and promises him a copy of Goldstein's book. But O'Brien betrays him as Big Brother has planned.

    Read More

  • Comapring George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    destroys any variation of idea from the intention of the “Party’s';. Literature is also slowly altered so that the author’s original meaning is lost to the meaning of the Newspeak language. Newspeak translations seem to consume thoughts and memories much like a sponge absorbs water.

    Read More

  • Winston’s Struggle in 1984

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.

    Read More

  • 1984: A Rhetorical Analysis Of 1984 By George Orwell

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    1984 was written in 1948 and published in 1949 by Eric Arthur Blair under the pen name ‘George Orwell’. It is set in the year 1984 in Airstrip One, which is a province in the country of Oceania. The world is in a constant state of war between Oceania, and the other two countries, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is controlled by English Socialism, or INGSOC in Oceania’s language, Newspeak. The powerful Inner Party controls the country using omnipresent surveillance, and manipulation. Every part of life is regimented and controlled, but the only crime is ‘thoughtcrime’: independent thinking and individualism. Big Brother is the figurehead of the Inner Party, and throughout the book, it is heavily implied that he may not really exist. The people

    Read More

  • Language Manipulation In John Leo's Stop Killing The Language

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    ” Stop murdering the language!” John Leo exclaims. Looking deeper into society, manipulation of language is vastly occurring. John Leo sheds light on language manipulation occurring all over the place. Language manipulation has become a large problem in the technology, professional sports, and hunting industries. Although these three subjects are very different and diverse, they all have one relatable topic, language manipulation. For example, some people label trophy hunting as a form of serial killing, an old NFL football team’s name being prejudice, and even blaming cell phone overuse for addictions.

    Read More

  • 1984 Dehumanization Analysis

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Free Essay on George Orwell's 1984

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 2nd part of 1984 Winston is meets a girl named Julia. At first Winston believes Julia will turn him in for committing Thought Crime. Then Julia passes Winston a note and they meet each other. The Party also does not allow association that is not goverernd. This is the start of an affair between the two, because they are not married and free love is not allowed. Winston is rebelling fully by his association with Julia. The 2nd section Winston fully rebels, he joins an underground resistance, and he believes that his life is better because The Party is no longer controlling him. At the end of this section Winston learns that he has been set-up and followed by the Thought Police the whole time. He and Julia believed that they were resisting and rebelling but had actually been entrapped by the Thought Police.

    Read More

  • Government Control In 1984 By George Orwell's 1984

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Death of Language in 1984

Open Document