Freedom Of Speech In 1984

In 1984, George Orwell introduces his idea of what the future holds for humanity. He portrays a very dystopian society with limited freedom of speech by Big Brother, the government, through the eyes of Winston in many ways. The book introduces the idea of Newspeak which is a language that tries to limit thoughtful communication by degenerating the language over time as Syme states to Winston in 1984. Winston purchases a diary knowing the consequences of expressing self-thought even when directed to no one. Telescreens always monitor outer party members such as Winston, and they can never be turned off which limits Winston's speech. The concept of working in the ministry of truth and rewriting the history of the past causes for the framework
of speech limited to what the government has to say as the truth. George Orwell’s dystopian novel of 1984 portrays a society of limited freedom of speech by their means of wealth and power, the surveillance of government, expected social conformity, and the bombardment of poor low-grade knowledge. Our freedom of speech is still limited to this day to a lesser degree, however, the government is not necessarily the primary source of this restriction.
Winston must conform to society’s beliefs and regular norms throughout the novel. The poem, “The Beginning of Speech”, demonstrates communication with silence and with oneself much like Winston’s situation in 1984. Winston attempts to express his dire need to express himself by purchasing a diary and writing what comes into his mind. Adonis shows a state of remembrance and remorse of the past in his poem when he states, “The child I was came to me once, a strange face… He said nothing… Child who once was…. what do we have to say?”. The poem’s situation here is similar to when Winston remembers when he had stolen the chocolate from his sister and had run away from home and came back to only find himself a sense of guilt leaving his mother. His freedom of speech is only his mind when he remembers this memory and this drives him to insanity since he can only communicate to Julia and through eye contact with O’Brien and Julia prior to this. Social conformity similar to this in 1984 still occurs in our society to some extent. Expressing one’s opinions and feelings of remorse is looked down upon these days. The shutdown over the slightest bit of communication over anything that has to do with religion and politics causes us to keep our speech to ourselves.
Wealth and power limits freedom of speech in our society and in 1984’s society.
The Weeping woman, by Pablo Picasso, indicates a very similar situation to that of Julia and to that of much of the thought-criminals of Oceania. The woman in the picture is sad with a sort of distortion in the picture. In the picture, she attempts to make use of the materials that she has to make herself happier, but the hat and the flower on the top of her head and the way she tries to dress herself does nothing to help the way she feels. She is by herself when it comes down to her goal of getting rid of the situation of being at the bottom of society. Julia in the book is a rebel in society that tries to get around the party rather than try to destroy it at its roots which makes her different from Winston. She obtains real chocolate, coffee, and makeup throughout the story. This has made her happy temporarily, but this had done nothing to stop the inevitable outcome of getting caught by the Party. After Winston and Julia’s encounter with the party, their relationship had not been the same. Julia wants to distance herself away from Winston. Even though the party had given her the smallest of commodities, and she had tried to obtain her own goods in defiance of the party; the material gain had not destroyed the Party at its center which is what the true goal should have been, but could never be attained. They were doomed from the start and should have realized that wealth and power controls the
world. They had limited means from the start and should have realized that they would be caught. We should realize in our lives that power and money allows for influence on the world and this limits the freedom of speech of the poor.­­­­
Our sense of freedom is also limited by the surveillance we are under.
The song “Under Surveillance” demonstrates the sense of freedom one has when knowing that you are under surveillance when it states, “ But they’ll still find me anyway… ‘Cause I can run but I can’t hide… The fear and pain I feel inside I can’t escape their prying eyes”. This situation is similar to that of Winston’s when he had purchased his diary and had written, ”DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER….” and had an immediate sense of regret and worry for him being caught by the government. As soon as he had written this, his door was knocked by Mrs. Parsons and he was filled with agitation. Winston mentions several times throughout the book that he would be killed when he least suspected because of his this thoughtcrime. His freedom to express himself is limited while under constant surveillance. This is much like our society today as well. We are always under surveillance through the internet. There are many accounts of people hacking online bank accounts and medical information. It is as if we must cocoon ourselves from society to protect our privacy from people who may be
watching. Our freedom to communicate is also limited by the pressure that society places on us on cheap activities and knowledge. In 1984, the government makes the people of Oceania go through mindless activities such as Hate Week and degenerative communication. Newspeak is designed to make people speak more primitively to get rid of meaningful conversation and give less freedom. The constant flow of party ideas through telescreens can never be turned off to the public. The information assumed as the sole truth from the telescreen leaves everyone at the will of the Party's changing information. Newspeak is a degenerative language as Syme states in the book. This situation in 1984 is similar to what our current situation in society is today. Sabrina states in “Media’s Influence on Social Norms and Identity Development of Youth”, that adolescents spend “6.5 hours per day” engaging in internet media that designed to give constant impulses of small bits of information. Driving people to think less deeply about information makes people look at knowledge at the surface. Taking away the critical thinking of the human mind limits our freedom to whatever whoever wants us to think.
Orwell’s dystopian novel of 1984 demonstrates a society where freedom of speech is limited.It is done through the use of the limited power and wealth, the constant surveillance by the government, peer pressures from society, and the constant streams of cheap information. The freedom of speech we have today is limited to a lesser degree in a slightly different manner but still definitely has its presence today. Society still peer pressures from people expressing their opinions Power and wealth leave the poor without a voice. We have no privacy in our world today. Our brains are more easily able to be manipulated than ever before.