Propaganda in George Orwell’s 1984
“Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.” as said by Eric Hoffer, unintentionally depicting the world of George Orwell’s 1984, in which propaganda leads people to deceive themselves into believing usually false concepts. Propaganda can be traced back to 1622, where Pope Gregory XV defined it as “convincing large numbers of people about the veracity of a given set of ideas”, according to a website titled A Brief History of Propaganda. This technique was later used by Hitler and the American Army in order to convince people to believe their concepts. Propaganda is still used today, especially by government parties. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses propaganda in order to gain power and control over people …show more content…
The use of language, torture, and propaganda gives the party a direct control over the people of Oceania. The party’s use of language has a great impact on how the people of Oceania are brainwashed into showing devotion towards Big Brother. In Orwell’s 1984, the clever use of words compel the citizens of Oceania to think about two contradictory statements at the same time. This is known as the concept of Doublethink which was introduced in Part I. The party’s main slogan, “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (Orwell, 4) is repeated throughout the book, and is one of the few examples of Doublethink. The party’s goal is for the citizens of Oceania to think that they have everything they will ever want. War is the only way to get peace, so wishing for peace is wishing for war; a slave who wishes for freedom already has all the freedom he could have; and ignoring unnecessary things will only strengthen one. These contrasting statements are easily believed by people of Oceania because of the fear and trust of Big Brother, who was a major part of 1984 without making a single appearance in it. With another astute
“Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.” as said by Eric Hoffer, unintentionally depicting the world of George Orwell’s 1984, in which propaganda leads people to deceive themselves into believing usually false concepts. Propaganda can be traced back to 1622, where Pope Gregory XV defined it as “convincing large numbers of people about the veracity of a given set of ideas”, according to a website titled A Brief History of Propaganda. This technique was later used by Hitler and the American Army in order to convince people to believe their concepts. Propaganda is still used today, especially by government parties. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses propaganda in order to gain power and control over people …show more content…
The use of language, torture, and propaganda gives the party a direct control over the people of Oceania. The party’s use of language has a great impact on how the people of Oceania are brainwashed into showing devotion towards Big Brother. In Orwell’s 1984, the clever use of words compel the citizens of Oceania to think about two contradictory statements at the same time. This is known as the concept of Doublethink which was introduced in Part I. The party’s main slogan, “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (Orwell, 4) is repeated throughout the book, and is one of the few examples of Doublethink. The party’s goal is for the citizens of Oceania to think that they have everything they will ever want. War is the only way to get peace, so wishing for peace is wishing for war; a slave who wishes for freedom already has all the freedom he could have; and ignoring unnecessary things will only strengthen one. These contrasting statements are easily believed by people of Oceania because of the fear and trust of Big Brother, who was a major part of 1984 without making a single appearance in it. With another astute