If a person or a group of people has the right tools, manipulating large masses of people can be easily and simply accomplished. This is very evident in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. In this novel, the masses of people are heavily controlled by their government. They must have unconditional support to the party that is ruling them, and they are constantly being surveyed by the government to make sure that they are following their laws. The party even goes as far as to control their food supplies. The manipulation of the past and limitation of language can easily influence masses of people to believe and do anything for several reasons, including: severely limiting the thoughts one person can have, preventing people from formulating original
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There are fantastic examples of this in 1984. For instance, if a citizen has even a thought that is negative in any way towards the party, this is considered a thought crime. These are very serious offenses, as shown in the quote about Winston, “He was already dead, he reflected. It seemed to him that it was only now, when he had begun to be able to formulate his thoughts, that he had taken the decisive step. The consequences of every act are included in the act itself. He wrote: Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death” (Orwell, 42-43). So, the people in this book not only are limited in their ability to think against the party, it is also a serious crime to do so, and most people who do are severely punished in some way, or just completely vanish, such as the character Syme. Syme’s disappearance was quoted as “Syme had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work: a few thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody mentioned him” (Orwell, 147). This shows how blindly people go through their lives in the novel. They are entirely focused on their day to day activities and appeasing the party, that they do not even pay attention to details such as a vanished …show more content…
For instance, the party changes many events in history in favor of the party, to make themselves look better. They also trick their citizens into making them seem more generous and caring. However, the main character in the novel sees past this when he remembers “It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grams a week. But only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was being reduced to twenty grams a week” (Orwell 58). The government had tricked the citizens into thinking they were being generous and giving the people more chocolate. The people celebrated this raise in rations. However, in all actuality, they were just being raised back to the normal level after after their reduction. The party also pushes slogans onto their citizens to make sure they are always obedient to them. The most popular slogan that is constantly pushed in the novel is “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” (Orwell, 6). Sayings like this and many others lead the citizens of the novel to unconditionally devote their loyalty to the party. They blindly follow all advice the party gives them, as they are manipulated into believing that the party is a caring and generous group. This is a prime example of the citizens in the novel being
There are fantastic examples of this in 1984. For instance, if a citizen has even a thought that is negative in any way towards the party, this is considered a thought crime. These are very serious offenses, as shown in the quote about Winston, “He was already dead, he reflected. It seemed to him that it was only now, when he had begun to be able to formulate his thoughts, that he had taken the decisive step. The consequences of every act are included in the act itself. He wrote: Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death” (Orwell, 42-43). So, the people in this book not only are limited in their ability to think against the party, it is also a serious crime to do so, and most people who do are severely punished in some way, or just completely vanish, such as the character Syme. Syme’s disappearance was quoted as “Syme had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work: a few thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody mentioned him” (Orwell, 147). This shows how blindly people go through their lives in the novel. They are entirely focused on their day to day activities and appeasing the party, that they do not even pay attention to details such as a vanished …show more content…
For instance, the party changes many events in history in favor of the party, to make themselves look better. They also trick their citizens into making them seem more generous and caring. However, the main character in the novel sees past this when he remembers “It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grams a week. But only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was being reduced to twenty grams a week” (Orwell 58). The government had tricked the citizens into thinking they were being generous and giving the people more chocolate. The people celebrated this raise in rations. However, in all actuality, they were just being raised back to the normal level after after their reduction. The party also pushes slogans onto their citizens to make sure they are always obedient to them. The most popular slogan that is constantly pushed in the novel is “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” (Orwell, 6). Sayings like this and many others lead the citizens of the novel to unconditionally devote their loyalty to the party. They blindly follow all advice the party gives them, as they are manipulated into believing that the party is a caring and generous group. This is a prime example of the citizens in the novel being