1984
Jerry Ding
Mr.Brinton
ENG-3UO
December 5th 2012
Why is censorship integral to control?
The freedom of information is something that North Americans take for granted. However, is it possible that we are actually concealed from the complete truth when it comes to certain matters? Does censorship exist even here, in a continent where freedom is considered to be a fundamental right? The surprising answer is yes, which brings one to ask; why is censorship integral to control? The reason why the dystopian society present in the novel 1984 by George Orwell was able to function was because of censorship, in the form of sanitizing and withholding information, along with supressing opposing ideas. In the real world, all of the aforementioned can be observed, and albeit similar, it is not as extreme. An example would be America’s War on Terror.
The war in Iraq has been continuous for over a decade. That is largely due to the fact that certain pieces of information have sanitized the war and reaped support from the populous. For example, according to the article Iraq: The Unseen War, out of the 1,868 US troops who’ve been killed to date, only a miniscule fraction of their photographs have been on the media. Moreover, in the entirety of President George W. Bush’s presidency, he never attended a single funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. (Kamiya) Similarly, in 1984, IngSoc glorifies the war by showing on the media their victories, but never their defeats. This is shown with an announcer reporting “Our forces in South India have won a glorious victory. I am authorized to say that the action we are now reporting may well bring the war within measureable distance of its end.”(Orwell, 28)By showing images of victory, support can be gained. To do the opposite would risk eroding that support.
Furthermore, by withholding information from the public, people are exposed to only what the government wants them to see. This is illustrated in 1984 with Winston’s job. “Winston’s job
Mr.Brinton
ENG-3UO
December 5th 2012
Why is censorship integral to control?
The freedom of information is something that North Americans take for granted. However, is it possible that we are actually concealed from the complete truth when it comes to certain matters? Does censorship exist even here, in a continent where freedom is considered to be a fundamental right? The surprising answer is yes, which brings one to ask; why is censorship integral to control? The reason why the dystopian society present in the novel 1984 by George Orwell was able to function was because of censorship, in the form of sanitizing and withholding information, along with supressing opposing ideas. In the real world, all of the aforementioned can be observed, and albeit similar, it is not as extreme. An example would be America’s War on Terror.
The war in Iraq has been continuous for over a decade. That is largely due to the fact that certain pieces of information have sanitized the war and reaped support from the populous. For example, according to the article Iraq: The Unseen War, out of the 1,868 US troops who’ve been killed to date, only a miniscule fraction of their photographs have been on the media. Moreover, in the entirety of President George W. Bush’s presidency, he never attended a single funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. (Kamiya) Similarly, in 1984, IngSoc glorifies the war by showing on the media their victories, but never their defeats. This is shown with an announcer reporting “Our forces in South India have won a glorious victory. I am authorized to say that the action we are now reporting may well bring the war within measureable distance of its end.”(Orwell, 28)By showing images of victory, support can be gained. To do the opposite would risk eroding that support.
Furthermore, by withholding information from the public, people are exposed to only what the government wants them to see. This is illustrated in 1984 with Winston’s job. “Winston’s job