In 1949, George Orwell wrote one of the most influential and relevant scientific fiction books of modern time. The book critiques the rule of totalitarian governments using subtle and not so subtle satire. The book reveals the dangers of a government gaining too much power over its citizens. The government can abuse its abundance of authority by controlling all of the media available to the citizens. In 1984, Orwell fears government control of media because it helped brainwash and control the citizens in Nazi Germany and the USSR and today it continues to inhibit free will and thought in areas such as China and Russia.
Several times throughout 1984, Orwell emphasizes the dangers of the government having total control of the media. The government holds a tight rein over the large population of the proles by producing all of the media they have access to. When referring to the Party’s control over the media he says “the primary job was not to reconstruct the past but to supply the citizens of Oceania… with every conceivable kind of information (Orwell 43).” Orwell fears that this control over the supply of all information, which is announced and broadcasted through the media, leads to mindless citizens and brainwashed children. Winston’s work in the Ministry of Truth makes “it is now impossible for any human being to prove by documentary evidence that the war with Eurasia ever occurred (Orwell 183).” The governments control over history leads to citizens easily believing what they hear in the media and even if someone does not believe there is nothing they can do to disprove it. This control of history reveals the powerful truth that “who controls the past control the future (Orwell 248).” When the government is able to control t...
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...is to advance the freedom of thought.
Works Cited
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Orwell, George. 1984. NewYork: Signet, 1950. Print.
“"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.
"The United States and the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.
Having studied George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', I intend to discuss the type of Government envisaged by Orwell and to what extent his totalitarian Party, 'Ingsoc', satirises past regimes. I will also discuss Orwell's motive in writing such a piece and how his writing style helps it become clear.The main theme of Nineteen Eighty-Four concerns the restrictions imposed on individual freedom by a totalitarian regime. Orwell shows how such a system can impose its will on the people through manipulation of the press, the elimination of democracy, constant supervision (courtesy of the Telescreens) and more. Orwell also shows how the state has more subtle methods for imposing its authority, such as the manipulation of language and control of the media.
ade Manifest: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Virginia University, 10 Mar. 1997. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
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.
In the dystopian text, 1984, by George Orwell the reader is exposed to an environment where the government or ‘party’ exerts complete control over the public. They maintain this power through the use of technology and depriving the public of any privacy or personal opinions. Throughout the novel we experience different character’s views and uses of technology; O’Brien’s use of technology to establish control, Charington use of technology to prevent rebellion against the party and Winston and Julia’s avoidance of technology to try to establish their own lives, away from the control of the government.
“The United States and the Holocaust.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Martin; Hilberg, Raul; and Yahil Leni. "Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2010. Web. 14 Nov 2013http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
In George Orwell’s political satire, 1984, Big Brother’s totalitarian regime controls the dystopian society in which Winston Smith, the protagonist, is part of. The Party, the name of the government, controls people through oppression, psychological manipulation, and the use of technology to suppress individuality.
The year 1984 has long passed, but the novel still illustrates a possibility for the future of society. It still remains a powerful influence in all sorts of literature, music, and social theory. George Orwell envisioned a nightmarish utopia that could have very easily become a possibility in 1949 ? the year the novel was written. He managed to create such a realistic view of humanity?s future, that this story has been deemed timeless. There will always be the threat of totalitarianism, and at some moments civilization is only a step away from it. Orwell hated the thought of it, and 1984 shows that. From his work, readers who live in prevailing democratic society have a chance to consider about these very different political systems, democracy and totalitarianism.
Rakesh, Kumar. "Free speech at risk as Government plays humourless cyber cop." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 17 May 2012. Web. 8 May 2014.
George Orwell’s novel, 1984, depicts a dystopian vision of the future, one in which its citizens thoughts and actions are controlled by Big Brother government. This novel relates the ruthless surveillance and lack of privacy of the citizens to government actions today. Totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy may all be common themes in Orwell’s novel 1984, but are also prevalent in modern day society and government. Many people today have and will continue to dismiss the ideologies mentioned in 1984 as unrealistic predictions which could never occur in the democratic run system they live by today. But, are Orwell’s ideologies completely implausible, or have his predictions already played a hidden role in society?
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)