Totalitarian Control In 1984: A Dystopian Society

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There are thousands of books written about the future. Some of them predict a utopian paradise; others believe the earth will end in ruin; Many are written about a dystopian society, where a super power of some sort (usually the government) has complete totalitarian control over the people. George Orwell’s 1984 is a novel about just that. Published in 1949, Orwell writes about a totalitarian government called The Party that controls everything: media, education, reproduction, employment, commerce; even the thoughts of men are under The Parties power. With the use of propaganda, fear, control, and telescreens watching your every move, The Party has complete rule over everything, giving way for nothing to stop. The story line is about Winston …show more content…

That is control that The Party gains in 1984. They began developing “Newspeak”, a language that limits the thoughts of men, introducing new words and destroying old ones. How can someone question Big Brother if they cannot formulate the words to do so? Introducing new language and terms is the governments way of normalizing their abstract ideas, forcing anyone who disagrees to obey. There is no longer a forum in which they can argue against the government or a method of communicating their message. Change the language and you can change what people say, literally. Facebook was scrutinized for this. In 2014 they introduced 58 gender options for their accounts. Now instead of male and female, there are 56 other terms that someone can “classify” as. Again, normalizing new ideas through the introduction of new words. The Alberta Teachers Association recently did this as well. They recently came out with a 150-page document outlining how to address students who think they are a different sexual orientation. They recommend the term “comrade” instead of boys and girls; the same term used to address others in 1984. Language means everything, and if we cannot call a spade a spade, people will start believing it’s a

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