Psychological Control In George Orwell's Novel '1984'

In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, the reader explores the dystopian state of Oceania through the eyes of Winston Smith. Smith is an Outer Party member and is thus part of the bureaucracy that controls every aspect of life in his country, Oceania. The Party monitors every citizen of Oceania to ensure its power remains absolute, and employs psychological control to do so. The three primary aspects of this control are the utilization of fear, hatred, and propaganda. This type of control over a population was also used by the Nazi’s in Germany in the earlier part of the 20th century, and there are striking similarities in how psychological control was used by both the Nazis in Germany and the Party in 1984. The use of hatred
In George Orwell’s novel, a large portion of the Party’s control comes from its use of fear. While the vast majority of citizens of Oceania are complacent with the rule of the Party, anyone who isn’t as accepting is unlikely to dissent due to fear. The Thought Police scrutinize every citizen day in and day out for even the smallest sign of dissidence, acting on subtle indications such as a look of anxiety on one’s face. Those who are found to have committed ThoughtCrime (the act of having an unorthodox thought) are “vaporized”. This means that an individual disappears from society and any evidence of their existence is erased. The person themselves is taken to the ironically named Ministry of Love to be tortured and ultimately killed. The fear of this fate keeps the population of Oceania in line with the doctrine of the Party. At the same time, the Party fosters fear of foreign enemies who might at any time threaten to destroy all of Oceania. Oceania is alternatively at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, although it is understood by the citizens that whichever nation they are currently at war with they have always been at war with. There are constant news bulletins describing massive military advances by the enemy that put Oceania at risk of being conquered which are always followed by more bulletins describing the overwhelming defeat of the enemy by
In 1984, every form of media is propaganda produced by the Party. All books are written by machinery and carefully edited by members of the Party. Movies generally depict military victories by Oceania and atrocities committed by its enemies. Music is purposely produced to be about vague ideas that do not relate to any of the real problems of the regime but to general happenings in everyday life. This same theme is applied to any and all forms of entertainment, which are all produced by the Party. Also, telescreens are installed in every Party member’s home and cannot be turned off. These devices constantly blare statistics about how the Party is continually improving life for all the citizens of Oceania. The party has also created a new language called Newspeak, which tries to eliminate all words that convey any meaning that does not adhere to Party doctrine. The most influential component of the Party’s propaganda is the constant rewriting of historical facts. In the Ministry of Truth, innumerable party members toil every day to change records of the past that make the Party seem fallible. Any prediction made by the Party that was incorrect is made correct by destroying any evidence of the original prediction and replacing it with new evidence of a prediction that fits the situation that was actually realized. In this way, the Party prevents there from being any