The Linguistic Revolution:The Relation Between Class, Language, and Ideology In 1984

While almost all novels contain some sort of political allusion or connotation, few novels are as directly political as George Orwell's 1984. From beginning to end, the novel is an epic and shocking piece, a strong precautionary tale against the ills of extreme totalitarianism. In it, Orwell paints a dismal future, one where individualism ceases and citizens are held in rigid class structures by the government with the threat of physical harm and, more importantly, through powerful mental conditioning, particularly through the reduction of nuances and shades of meaning within language. Indeed, the manipulation of language plays a vital role in the social stratification of the masses, since without the proper tools of language and thought, the mentality for rebellion is not possible, even if there was enough physical power to do so. According to Louis Althusser, writer of `Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,' people place themselves into this imaginary mentality, or ideology, to explain their `reality,' in which they may not even be aware of. Using Althusser's idea, we can see the Party in 1984 maintains control of the masses through the minimization of meaning and interpretation of words, particularly through Newspeak, forcing people into a sort of ideology where even `subversive' thought would not be subversive towards the government.

From the onset, the simplification of language plays a significant role in keeping class structures and preventing rebellion. By placing synonyms and antonyms under the same umbrella of a single word (for example word good entails synomyms like spendid and excellent, and where the antonym of good will be ungood), Big Brother attempts to create a dialect where there will be no ambiguity...

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...ewspeak, the citizens of Oceania are placed into a sort of ideology where there could be no subversive thought towards the government, since the language cannot convey such thought. Without the mentality for rebellion, Big Brother is able to keep control over a large populous. The citizens of Oceania are not oppressed by physical means, but rather they are oppressed through their minds, which proves to be a much more powerful tool in controlling the masses.

Works Cited

Althusser, Louis. "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses." ENG 320

Course Packet. Paul Lyons, ed. Manoa: UH Press, 2002.

Gottlieb, Erika. The Orwell Conundrum. Ottawa-Canada: Carleton University Press, 1992.

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Penguin Books, 1949.

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English Language." ENG 320 Course Packet.

Paul Lyons, ed. Manoa: UH Press, 2002.