Governments of totalitarian states often impose extreme control over information and language, as this ensures the maintenance of the status quo within their societies. The governments in the worlds of 1984 and Brave New World implement these strategies to good effect, thus strengthening their positions as the supreme authorities. Oceania’s citizens suffer heavily, living impoverished lives at the hands of their governments, while the World State severely limits the freedom and autonomy of its citizens. However, as a result of their control, the power of these governments remains entirely unchallenged. In both 1984 and Brave New World, the governments control information and language to maintain totalitarian societies, by limiting access to
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Limiting the freedom of media to this extent ensures that the population of Oceania remains unaware, and thus does not challenge the government. Although the World State in the novel BNW does not edit, erase and produce media like in Oceania, it still limits citizens’ access to media to maintain control. It does this primarily by only promoting specific media, as well as conditioning citizens to not consume other media. This is done by shocking kids when they are around books, so that they avoid them in the future. A hatred for books is ingrained in them at a young age, as “there was always the risk of them reading something which might undesirably decondition one of their reflexes” (Huxley xxx). By conditioning children to have a seemingly natural aversion to books, the World State ensures that they remain uneducated. As they are uneducated, they do not realize how messed up and dystopian their world is, so they do not challenge the government. This is a tactic used by modern dictators, such as Victor Orban and Lee Hsien Loong, where “in the place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate …show more content…
The World State also uses the Feelies, where people can watch movies where they can also feel the physical sensations, rather than just audiovisual ones like usual. The Feelies are one of the only, and most popular, forms of media in the World State. The media available to the citizens is limited to this as it contributes to the government’s aim of encouraging polygamy and sexual freedom, through which it controls pleasure. In a similar strategy to modern-day dictatorships, the World State maintains control over its society by manipulating the media. It keeps its power and authority by encouraging certain media and discouraging others, so that the population remains happy and does not turn on it. In 1984, Oceania’s government shaped public discourse by controlling language. This is done through a new language called Newspeak, the constant repetition of slogans and the concept of thought crime. The aim of Newspeak is described as being “to narrow the range of thought”, as “in the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it” (Orwell
Limiting the freedom of media to this extent ensures that the population of Oceania remains unaware, and thus does not challenge the government. Although the World State in the novel BNW does not edit, erase and produce media like in Oceania, it still limits citizens’ access to media to maintain control. It does this primarily by only promoting specific media, as well as conditioning citizens to not consume other media. This is done by shocking kids when they are around books, so that they avoid them in the future. A hatred for books is ingrained in them at a young age, as “there was always the risk of them reading something which might undesirably decondition one of their reflexes” (Huxley xxx). By conditioning children to have a seemingly natural aversion to books, the World State ensures that they remain uneducated. As they are uneducated, they do not realize how messed up and dystopian their world is, so they do not challenge the government. This is a tactic used by modern dictators, such as Victor Orban and Lee Hsien Loong, where “in the place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate …show more content…
The World State also uses the Feelies, where people can watch movies where they can also feel the physical sensations, rather than just audiovisual ones like usual. The Feelies are one of the only, and most popular, forms of media in the World State. The media available to the citizens is limited to this as it contributes to the government’s aim of encouraging polygamy and sexual freedom, through which it controls pleasure. In a similar strategy to modern-day dictatorships, the World State maintains control over its society by manipulating the media. It keeps its power and authority by encouraging certain media and discouraging others, so that the population remains happy and does not turn on it. In 1984, Oceania’s government shaped public discourse by controlling language. This is done through a new language called Newspeak, the constant repetition of slogans and the concept of thought crime. The aim of Newspeak is described as being “to narrow the range of thought”, as “in the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it” (Orwell