Absolute Control in the Novel 1984 by George Orwell

789 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical interpretations of 1984

In the novel 1984 ever since the beginning of the book propaganda has been used by The Party to have absolute control over its people. The Party used a varieties of techniques to maintain their power. The telescreens, child spies, and the thought police. It is made important that the first job of the Party is to break down self confidence in the people. They focus on destroying peoples confidence in their common sense, ability to make their own decision and intelligence. How they party does this is through what they call double think. This is propaganda suggesting that if the people are having other thoughts then what The Party says it is a crime because it isn’t what the “truth” is. The telescreens are used to instill fear in the people of oceania.”There was no place you could be more certain that the telescreens were watched continuously”(107) From this quote you can clearly see there was no place to hide from The Party. Every you go they have eyes and ears on everything you do or say. This inserted fears into the lives of the people in thinking that The Party was right and in control. A perfect example of instilling fear in the people was when winston wrote in his journal “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”(18) and he started to panic because he as afraid the telescreen had seen what he wrote down. Telescreens were also used to put put false lies and news reports brainwashing the citizens of Oceania. The Party decides what exactly to tell the public even if it isn’t accurate. The Ministry of Truth is responsible for the Party's publication and information. The citizens of Oceania were under constant influence by propaganda. “And if all others accepted the lie which the party imposed-if all records told the same tale-then the lie pas... ... middle of paper ... ...arved and tortured it’s victims with their worst fear Room 101. Nobody was released from The Ministry of Love until you believed in what The Party wanted you to believe. The Ministry of Plenty is the correct name but only for The Party. As you went down the food chain the less food the people got. If you were part of the Outer Party you got second hand tasting food and Proles were basically starved, but if they decided to rebel they would be tortured so they continued to obey The Party. Throughout the whole book The Party is clearly in charge of what goes on and they only way they are successful is through propaganda and fear. The Party inserts fear in the citizens making them not being able to rebel in fear of their lives. “But it was alright, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”(298)

Show More
Related

  • The Use Of Propaganda In 1984, By George Orwell

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    One type of the propaganda which is common in 1984 is called “doublethink”. As the book describes it as, “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” (270). Propaganda ensures people of their society and makes them think that they have a better life in contrast to other zones. One of the famous propaganda used are the three slogans, “WAR IS PEACE”.

    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

  • Telescreens And Technology In 1984

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    Through out George Orwells 1984, the use of telescreens is very efficient and effective for the Party. On the other hand it plays a very hard role on our main character, Winston. Through out the novel, he lives in fear of the telescreen and is ultimately taken by the mighty power that is the Party, all in help by the telescreen. The watchful eye of the telescreen is not totally fiction though, in many places it all ready exists.Winston is a worker who's job is to change history to make sure that its "correct" by the Parties standards. He meets a lovely girl Julia and falls in love. They together try to find life and happiness together, and also they want to find the resistance, or the group of people that they figured existed that will help see the end of the Party and Big Broth...

    Read More

  • 1984, by George Orwell and the USA Patriot Act

    1923 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel, 1984, written by George Orwell, gives readers an insight to a possible frightening future where one government has complete and definite control of the people. But “control” might not be the term to describe such a rule. The Party dominates every aspect of life. There is not a single thing that is not under the Party’s rule. Feelings, history, language, statistics, and even human nature are submissive to the Party. They corrupt the mind so much that there is no longer a line that separates truth from a lie. Slogans are repeated through telescreens on a daily basis so the people are gradually forced to believe in illogical statements. Upon first glance, it may seem that a 1984 society is not even imaginable in the world we live in currently. But is it really logical to make such an assumption so quickly? Do we know that what we see on the news and read in our history textbooks is completely accurate? The Internet is one of the most powerful technologies our world has, consisting of an insurmountable amount of information, which is not always what it seems. Ultimately, there are so many things that we do not know, some of which is being held a secret from us. Modern day society shockingly has evidence of a transformation into a menacing 1984 society because of similar government actions and abuse of advanced technology.

    Read More

  • The Outer Party Analysis

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    By showing the sheer power the totalitarian government of the Party obtained, the ways in which they monitored the outer party, and how they use Big Brother as a symbol that they are always being watched; Orwell painted the outer party to be an underprivileged and fearful group of people.

    Read More

  • Example Of Individualism In 1984

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. Orwell argues that society is completely oblivious to the constraints that are involved in everyday life. There is no individual in society and everyone remains the same. “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?”

    Read More

  • Doublethink In 1984

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    What is doublethink? Orwell describes doublethink as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.'; In 1984, doublethink is the normal way of thought, and as a result everyone understands it and practices it. Doublethink is different from changing ones mind, lying, and self-deception in many ways. Doublethink involves believing in the two contradictory ideas at the same time. This is different from lying because lying is saying something that is wrong and knowing that it is wrong but still saying it anyway. For example lets say you broke a vase. When your mother asks you who broke the vase and you say the dog did it that would be lying. The reason it is not doublethink is that you do not believe in two different beliefs at one time. You don’t believe you broke the vase and the dog broke the vase, you absolutely know you broke the vase and are trying to put the blame on the dog as to avoid trouble. Changing ones mind is also different from doublethink. Changing ones mind is accepting or believing one thing, then deciding to accept or believe something else different then what you thought before. An example of changing ones mind would believe the earth is flat and then after seeing sufficient evidence that it is not flat but actually round. Due to the new evidence you would change your mind and now believe the earth is round as you previously thought it was flat.

    Read More

  • Freedom And Security In George Orwell's 1984

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    George Orwell’s Famous book 1984 is about a man who struggles to live under the superintendence of Big Brother. Throughout the novel, Winston struggles with constantly being surveilled and the lack of freedom. Similarly, in our world today, there are government agencies that have the power to listen to phone calls, track people's movements, and watch them through cameras. Winston’s world of surveillance and inadequate confidentiality both privately and publicly is in many aspects much the same as in our world today and the people should demand regulations to be set in place to protect their privacy.

    Read More

  • 1984: The Control Of Reality For Control Of The Masses

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paragraph 1: History: Explain Revisionism Its Process How it affects the present. Paragraph 2: Psychology: Artificial Scarcity: Affects Human Behavior Maslow Theory of Human Behavior. Paragraph 3: God: Big Brother has taken the place of God: Omnipotent and Omniscient, and is under the control of the party. Among the many themes expressed in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the most interesting and frightening is the concept of creating an alternative reality to control a mass population. The Inner Party stays in power by shaping the thoughts and opinions of the masses and it does this by creating a reality where everything suits whatever it is the party needs to be believed.

    Read More

  • 1984 Paradox In 1984

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Their daily “Two Minutes of Hate” is how each individual falls onto the Party’s brainwashing bandwagon. This is a clever way the party seeks control over people, but more importantly, their minds. Reassociating words to differing meanings keeps the masses where the party wants them to be mentally. In other words, it keeps the citizens obedient and too distracted to focus on their actual living conditions. Not only that, it also makes it less likely for anyone to rebel against the Big Brother. “It is precisely in the Inner Party that war hysteria and hatred of the enemy is the strongest." Without that drive of outside hatred, people of Oceania would direct their hateful attitudes toward their real enemies: The Inner Party. Constant fear of propaganda keeps the masses at their toes with strong devotion to Big Brother and everything the Party stands for. The slogan is also true in the sense of keeping society together through the means of stopping progress. “It eats up the surplus of consumable goods, and it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair.” Because war requires so many resources, the products that are manufactured using the arduous labor of Oceania’s population are expended. This cycle of continuous war ultimately makes the people languid, too tired to rise up

    Read More

  • Government Control and Privacy Issues in 1984 by George Orwell

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today’s modern world may not be exactly like 1984, but there are some issues that are very similar to it. Some of the biggest issues that is becoming compromised today is the issue of privacy, which in the book 1984 was something that the people did not have much of because of things like telescreens. Not only is our privacy compromised but the government is also being too controlling. Ways today’s privacy is being compromised are through things like game consoles, phones, social media, and drones and not only is our being compromised through these things but the government is also gaining too much control by compromising our privacy.

    Read More

  • Domination And Power In 1984 By George Orwell's 1984

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    The struggle for complete domination and power has been apparent in the past, most notably when Germany and Russia conflicted to maintain control in World War 2. In 1984, written by George Orwell, a totalitarian society seeks unlimited power by constantly monitoring it citizens. This monitoring was used to manipulate the minds and alter the thoughts of the people of Oceania. The population of Oceania is led to support ideas, which they do not truly believe. The lack of privacy and personal belief in citizens induces the idea of “doublethink”, where two contradictory ideas are both accepted. This is utilized by George Orwell to demonstrate political power and dominance. The Party forces the people to believe that “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,

    Read More

  • Psychological Manipulation in 1984

    1923 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a superb novel with outstanding themes. One of the most prominent themes found in this novel is psychological manipulation. Citizens in this society are subject to ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). Along with psychological manipulation, physical control takes place. The Party not only controls what people in Oceania think, but what they do as well. Technology is another important theme. Without the constant telescreens, microphones, and computers, the Party would be all but powerless. Big Brother is the main figure of the Party. The main symbol that drives these themes is the telescreens. It is representative of the party always watching and controlling everyone at all times.

    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

  • Justice in George Orwell's 1984

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel 1984 by Orwell, an extremely controlling totalitarian government called The Party, rules the society. They have introduced Telescreens which monitor your every movement, conversations and any other action. The citizens of Oceania, located on Air Strip One, are psychologically manipulated to believe in the three main slogans of the party: ‘War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength’ (1948, Orwell). The citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed that they don’t question anything the party tells them or any new law they make. Thought crime occurs when someone does not fully agree and follow what the Party has said. People who commit crimes become unpersons; therefore, they stop existing, and any record of their existence is erased or they can be sent to the ministry of truth, where The Party will try to break them, and force them to love Big Brother. This is very relevant because in order to serve justice which according to them is having everyone love the Party and nothing else, everyone else must be eliminated or brainwashed. The use of technology in this novel is very important because it is the main way in which justice is carried out. Telescreens, microphones and cameras cover the whole nation. Every conversation is recorded and every action is taken note of. The government will make anything to keep their power.

    Read More

More about Absolute Control in the Novel 1984 by George Orwell

Open Document