Nineteen Eighty-Four By George Orwell: Language As The Ultimate Weapon

Sammy Lee
8/26/2014
Period 4
Language as the Ultimate Weapon Language is the ultimate weapon. In the novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell proposes that the corruption of the English language during modern times enables anyone to mask reality and misguide the truth. He implies that the power to evaluate thought and express emotions is the power to apply words to actions. Citizens of Oceania obey their government and mindlessly accept propaganda simply because that is the action inhibited within them. The diminished language of Newspeak represents not only the destruction of word but the destruction of human beings. Orwell demonstrates how words can deceive and manipulate people by negating the beauty of language with a tool that obliterates
the freedom of will, thought, and imagination. Where in most societies people strive to broaden their vocabulary, the government of Oceania deems to slice their terminology.
The design of Newspeak naturally narrows the range of thought. It is imposed upon people to live an orthodox reality where natural thought or thoughtcrime, will eventually be rendered obsolete. Orwell slyly parallels the capacity to hold thought with the capacity to hold memories. In the novel, memories begin deteriorating when the language is shortened. If one is robbed of words to express their feelings, their conception of past memories will then be reformed. Therefore, when the minds of humans are modified, the absoluteness of history and the past could just as easily be converted. The more people adapt to these conditions, the more power that is handed to the Inner Party. They are “cutting the language down to the bone”; they are reconstructing the world to reflect a twisted, yet so startlingly possible society where expressing language will inevitably cease to exist. People of the future can never commit thoughtcrime “because there will be no words in which to express it.” Words will gradually disappear as will the eager to live and survive. Humans will forget why they are alive and will be given no excuse to experience happiness and joy. They will forget the difference between an enemy and an ally; they will forget the difference between love and hate. Orwell proposes a future where humans unknowingly annihilate their abilities to produce any
coherent thoughts: a future where applying words to actions is unneeded. The Inner Party wouldn’t be able to fulfill their totalitarian role if people could produce their own thoughts without any harm.
In a society where every individual is constantly watched, the immersing fear of being tortured or vaporized is enough to silence a person. However, it is not enough to prevent them from assembling their own thoughts. The Inner Party maneuvers psychological tactics to shape the community. The propaganda broadcasted by the Party is instilled within each citizen. No one is forced to speak or read Newspeak; the mere pressure is enough to employ it. The Party thrives on power; they thrive to control thought by erasing words and inflicting pain. They believe they are “immortal.” Winston, however, believes that his way of thinking is morally superior to that of a Party member’s. He believes that “freedom is freedom to say two plus two make four.” Winston is physically and mentally tortured until he, himself, believes that two plus two can, in fact, equal any number the Party wishes. The Party doesn’t slightly care for anything else besides the power of power. The power to control language opens the door to control everything. They hold the power to create a world of pure hatred and language is the key to unlock a universe solely fixated on
pain.
Orwell’s intention upon this contorted vision of the future was directed to increase awareness about the potential damage language can lead. In this instance, language can control minds, misguide people, and guard the truth. Orwell illustrates a disturbing picture of a totalitarian government gone extreme. The Inner Party arrests people for making inappropriate movements or gestures that pose as a possible threat. The Party eliminates crime by eliminating the source. They convert the criminal’s minds and change them into an entirely different person: a product of Big Brother. Although in the novel, the effects of language may be exaggerated, Orwell doesn't stray from pressing the potential power it can have. He stresses how words can shape an individual's reality and conceal what’s truth. As time passes, vocabulary is thinned and the power of the Party is enlarged. The freedom of imagination and creativity are contorted; the freedom of speech diminished. Orwell uses Newspeak to send a message warning the future generations of the capabilities language can pursue. Words can dominate the human mind without knowing. It can corrupt the way people view the world. And most importantly, it can alter the past and destroy the future.
Language traditionally expands the way the world is seen and expands the knowledge to explain how the world really is. It is a source of intellect and a source of catastrophe. Orwell maliciously demonstrates the damaging product of the English language. He constructs a future where universal hatred is ordinary and love and lust in unconventional. Each individual is at war with their own mind. They are tugged by what is morally right and what is politically right. Language could become the product that drives human beings to turn against their government and it could just as easily drive the human race apart. Language is the barrier that divides reality with deceit, beauty with pain, and living with surviving.