George Orwell 1984

By: Rabia Husain

News writing and Reporting

9-13-2018
 George Orwell in his book 1984 predicts an enthralling Stalinist communist totalitarian

government where the entire life of the dispensable citizens is dedicated to work for the party

and fight the never ending vicious cycle of war and massacre with rather brainwashed citizens

that work like party puppets. Also constant surveillance with telescreens, control over language

and media, fabrication of history, propaganda, abolition of connection and lack of laws are the

main characteristics of the totalitarian regime.

Propaganda as we read is an epidemic in Oceania mostly in the form of psychological

manipulation, an example of this is of the “ubiquitously placed telescreen” representing the

parties constant supervision and otherwise seen presenting party slogans and congratulating the

party for its victories against enemies. The party also often draws parallel between how bad

things were during capitalism leaving huge and simple question, ‘Was life better before the

Revolution than it is now?’ to convince the citizens that their situation cannot get any better.

The party mainly retained control by manipulation and distortion of history which is another

parochial representation that “All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and re-inscribed

exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was

done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.” We also get an insight into Winston’s

propaganda work as he writes a news story to replace another story in the Times as he has been

instructed to rectify. Winston’s fabricates replacement story about the fictitious Comrade Ogilvy

with the intent to propagate a values message. He “reports” that Ogilvy “denounced his uncle to

the Thought Police after overhearing a conversion which appeared to him to have criminal

tendencies”. Also the government ensures that information about the past is erased or substituted

with falsified records in their place, to keep people in the dark and feed them with information

that lacks basis and credibility. This way to control the present it largely depended on how well
the past had been altered by the system of power in place and such levels of biased and

diversionary leadership are depicted in 1984.

Sex or other sexual activities are also forbidden as intimate bonds and family creates private

loyalties apart from the government. When there are private loyalties, it is more likely for there

to be rebellion against them. It was prohibited and the government caught those participating in

the act, and punished. "We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man

and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend

any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Procreation will be an

annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our

neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the

Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother." The Junior Anti-Sex League is

one of the propaganda organizations used to control desire and teach sexual orthodoxy.

Goldstein and the brotherhood is also shown as a symbol of hate. Goldstein went against the

Party and tried to bring people to his side to overthrow them and created brotherhood for others

to revolt and be on his side. The Party made him a monster and used him as a sense of fear to the

members of The Party. They encouraged people to get angry towards Goldstein and to want him

dead. But it’s still doubtful and unclear to really know whether the party made Goldstein and the

brotherhood up or if they were real.

Winston works as one of those people whose job was to make the changes in the historical

record that make it appear as if government never lies or contradicts itself however he commits

thought crime he doesn’t forget. On one instance as Winston notes, “it appeared that there had

even been demonstrations to thank big brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty
grams a week. And only yesterday he reflected it had been announced that the ration was

to be reduced to twenty grams only” and Winton was consciously aware of these

contradictions as he was the one who changed the facts on the chocolate rations to make the

reduction seem consistent with past pronouncements. This is how the government of Oceania

fooled its people. Like it’s quoted in the book, “In the end the Party would announce that two

and two made five, and you would have to believe it”.

George Orwell also highlights how “the children were systematically turned against their

parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations. The family has become in

effect an extension of the thought police” the children were rewarded with public

acknowledgement and the government honored them as hero whose selfless act helped protect

their nation.

Orwell was well aware of the political power that language possessed and in 1984 he

developed the ideal archetype of a political language. Newspeak which was the official language

of Oceania and was designed to limit the thought and make unorthodox political concepts

inexpressible. An example of this from the book is;

“Newspeak to be implemented as planned, supplanting English completely, there would

literally be nothing that its users could read, write, hear, or say that wasn't a reinforcement

of a pervasive nationalist propaganda”

“Don’t you see the whole aim of newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we

shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to

express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word,

with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten.
 In 1984 war whether external or internal functions to create a society of malleable individuals

that can easily be controlled and led in whichever direction the party desires. It establishes a

mental atmosphere that perpetuates the existing social structure.

“In Oceania it doesn’t matter whether the war is actually happening; the only thing that

matters is that a state of war should exist (Orwell 2008,). It is quite possible, as Julia

remarks to Winston, that the rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably just

fired by the government itself ‘just to keep people frightened”.

War is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength, these paradoxical statements

established the concept of double think, which was another form of manipulation used by the

government with regards to shaping the current agenda depending on their interests by instilling

contradictory thoughts to people and reinforcing leadership and power on a global scale, For

example, a government can convince people on turning an enemy into a friendly nation as long

as the interests of those in power are met. By brainwashing people, powerful figures are able to

control agenda on various issues that affect society. People are led to believe that the proposed

agenda is better for them and the future of their nation. Patriotism is the tool used for rallying

people behind a given cause that sincerely speaking cannot be justified. For example, invading

another nation can be reached by a government and assure people that going to war would

promote peace. How people are tricked is one thing and how the government accomplishes these

objectives is another. Orwell shows instances of double think in various parts of his book and

shows how the government can influence societal agenda.

Orwell defines doublethink as, “To know and to not know, to be conscious of complete

truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions
which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to

use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that

democracy is impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy. To forget,

whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment

when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same

process to the process itself.”

1984 serves as a warning of what happens when people are not paying attention as it says in

the book, “When the white man turns tyrant, it destroys his own liberty” and when the

agenda of the Party overcomes facts and data. It is a warning for citizens, for the news media,

and for politicians. It has been my belief that George Orwell was trying to warn us about how

technology can be used to subtly and not so subtly control an unaware citizenry and also of how

government controlled journalism affects the society in a way where there’s ultimate totalitarian

sovereignty.

References:

https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/1984.pdf

http://www.gmj.uottawa.ca/1002/v3i2_yeo.pdf

https://melaniegallant.wordpress.com/written-projects/reviews-i-have-writtenfrom-books-to-

video/nineteen-eighty-four-and-beyond-media-control-and-propaganda/