Use Of Propaganda In 1984 By George Orwell

“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing” (Orwell 336). The use of propaganda, destruction of language, rewriting of history, and brainwashing of the population are some of the ways a government may exercise their authority over the inhabitants. In the novel 1984, by George Orwell this is exactly how the totalitarian government uses its influence over its citizens. The extreme power and control the Party has over the population in the novel is parallel to that of Nazi Germany during World War II which can be seen in “Propaganda Techniques Within Nazi Germany” by Julius Yourman. One major technique of manipulation seen in 1984 was the deterioration of language, literature,
The methods of control found in 1984 can be seen in historical events such as the Nazi movement of Adolf Hitler. The level of power Hitler’s movement had over Germany and most of Europe during 1939-1945 was astounding. This control required the exploitation of the citizens through various techniques. One specific technique used by Nazis was the burning of books and destruction of literature to contain and restrict what were considered “dangerous thoughts” (Yourman 157). This ruination of literature is identical to the death of the language and literature in Oceania. Similar to 1984, information was withheld from the public to keep the people ignorant of possibly dangerous thoughts. “The misrepresentation of facts works in two ways. On the one hand, there is a rigorously enforced censorship… By this means the regime can suppress facts, prevent discussion and expression of discontent and opposition” (Yourman, 156). Another technique can be seen in both Nazi Germany as well as the government of 1984 by the replacement of derogatory terms with words that better support the cause they are trying to enforce: “Glittering generalities is a device by which the propagandist identifies his program with virtue by use of virtue words. Here he appeals to our emotions of love, generosity, and brotherhood” (Yourman 149-150). This procedure is used to force limited thought onto the citizens in an effort to guide their
In Oceania the prevention against rebellion is Newspeak, and the enforcement of the language is intended to prevent most other crimes. The implementation of Newspeak is stronger than other control techniques because it quite literally forces the people to think, speak, and communicate in the way which the government wants them to whereas other forms are not as assertive. For example thoughtcrime and facecrime is the criminalization of disagreeing with the Party. Joycamp is the punishment for crimes, but Newspeak deters the residents from even getting to that point. “If people do not have the means of talking or thinking about other possibilities - and so about the idea of possibility - they will be more likely than otherwise to accept the world as it is given to them. And this is, quite exactly, what a totalitarian system desires and commands from its citizens: that they should live entirely in the present, with no impulse to imagine alternatives to it…” (Lang