1984 Thought Crime

“War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength,” (Orwell 26). In George Orwell’s book, 1984, the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in mind and being forced to accept them, is “doublethink”. The government of Oceania, also called the Party, uses psychological operant conditioning to brainwash their citizens to keep control over them. The truth can only be proven by consensus of majority meaning if millions believe it , they too should believe it. The act of thinking freely is considered rebellion by the authorities and anyone that does this is captured and punished.

As much as we citizens want to deny it, government corruption exists everywhere, whether it be a small group of greedy politicians or the system entirely. Is it shouted at the top of the mountains? Of course not, because it defeats the whole purpose of being corrupt, which is to quietly sweep away one’s imperfections and present themselves as honourable people. An appalling level of corruption and political power is described in the book 1984 written by George Orwell. Ingsoc, a political party, runs a totalitarian society, and with no resistance from their citizens, the government deceives them by changing the past and announcing fake news. Ultimately, they limit the thoughts and emotions of their citizens. Although 1984 tells a fictional

Many countries believe that propaganda helps to institute a necessary level of patriotism in their citizens. Most authoritarian governments, the type of government that Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell illustrates, use propaganda. However, the use of propaganda also limits the freedom of people since propaganda can control thought and speech. Propaganda can influence people to believe that their country is the best country by either exaggerating the positive events that are happening in their country or by showing negative events that are happening in other countries. Nineteen Eighty-Four is more about the dangers of the government controlling people’s thoughts by propaganda than the dangers of an authoritarian government system.

Thought Police could be anyone, they can follow someone for months and arrest them without trial. They drive people to think dramatically, as in the case when Winston believes he is being followed by Julia. “He could keep on her track until till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a piece of cobblestone” (Orwell 101). This quote represents Winston’s fear of Julia, who he suspects is a member of the Thought Police. On the other hand, the seemingly overactive thought process of a suspect may seem completely justified in relation to the punishment they will receive if arrested. After being tortured for days or even weeks, a criminal may find themselves in the desolate “Room 101”. Simply the mention of Room 101 is enough to strike fear in the heart of any criminal, but being summoned to it is enough to make a man sacrifice his family to avoid his fate. “‘Do anything to me!’ he yelled. ‘You 've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years. Is there somebody else you want me to give away?’” (Orwell 237). Room 101 is individually tailored to every person who crosses its threshold, using their greatest fear against them. In Winston’s case, he has a cage of rats placed on his head and is forced to betray Julia. He loses his ability to love and retain his own ideas, key aspects of what makes him a human. Not only do the

The social structure of George Orwell’s 1984 is based on Freud’s map of the mind and the struggles between the id, the ego and the super ego. The minds of these individuals living in this society are trained to think a certain way. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can be applied to Orwell’s 1984. Using Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, 1984’s main character Winston Smith is portrayed as the one who goes against the ideas of the Party. In a Freudian point of view, Winston’s character represents a mind where the id is the driving force and where the ego and superego are ill developed in the views of the Party. Freud describes the psychoanalytic process as something that is normally used to treat patients with

Throughout 1984, there is always the mention of the Thought Police. The title of ‘Thought Police’ refers to a group of individuals that monitors society's thoughts and actions throughout their everyday lives. The civilians of Oceania never know when they are being watched, considering the Thought Police are able to connect into any network and see what the citizens are doing at any given point. Even though there is heavy mention of the Thought Police, one would not be able to describe what they look like; however, one would be able to describe the consequences caused by the Thought Police. For example, a negative consequence caused by the Thought Police could be considered the event of Winston talking about seeing Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford,

George Orwell’s book 1984 is a very interesting novel. The novel is set up in Airstrip One. In George Orwell’s book 1984 it has many situations. One of the many situations are that some people refer society as “Orwellian.” What does Orwellian mean? Orwellian means, of or related to the works of George Orwell ( especially his picture of his future totalitarian state.) People believe that Orwell is realistic and say his work part of our society now. George Orwell was a writer in the twentieth century. He wrote about totalitarianism. What is totalitarianism? Totalitarianism is of or relating to a system or government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. Also he wrote about dystopias. What

Imagine a world where the government, also called The Party, controls everything the citizens do. The Party monitors their every move by the telescreens that are in every home. Thoughtcrime is the act of thinking something that goes against Big Brother or threatens the Party’s power. If one does commit thoughtcrime, then the Thought Police will capture them and give them consequence. There is no essence of humanity in this world. Everyone is stripped of their own thoughts and told what to do and what to believe. This is the world portrayed in novel

Imagine a world where the government, also called The Party, controls everything the citizens do. The Party monitors their every move by the telescreens that are in every home. Thoughtcrime is the act of thinking something that goes against Big Brother or threatens the Party’s power. If one does commit thoughtcrime, then they Thought Police will capture them and give them consequence. There is no essence of humanity in this world. Everyone is stripped of their own thoughts and told what to do and what to believe. This is the world portrayed in novel

In this passage located in the first paragraph of 1984, the reader immediately gets a sense of contradiction. April is usually filled with cloudy weather and rain but here, it is cold and bright, directly contrasting the perceived weather of April. In addition, clocks only have twelve numbers, but the clock was striking thirteen. In the same paragraph, Orwell writes that "Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him" (5). The “gritty dust,” along with the previously described conditions of this setting in this quote shows that it is not safe for human life.

What is doublethink? Orwell describes doublethink as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.'; In 1984, doublethink is the normal way of thought, and as a result everyone understands it and practices it. Doublethink is different from changing ones mind, lying, and self-deception in many ways. Doublethink involves believing in the two contradictory ideas at the same time. This is different from lying because lying is saying something that is wrong and knowing that it is wrong but still saying it anyway. For example lets say you broke a vase. When your mother asks you who broke the vase and you say the dog did it that would be lying. The reason it is not

What is real? This is a question that many of us don’t ask ourselves, we spend our days believing what we see as truth, but that is not always the case. In George Orwell’s book 1984 and in No One Died in Tiananmen Square an article by William Lutz, what we perceive as reality is put to question. Our reality exists in our own minds each one of us perceives life a different way, but since the mind can be manipulated the so our reality. One of the various (and most used) ways our reality can be manipulated is with propaganda.

not being human. He says that "the only thing that can keep you human is to not

“ War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength,”. The following quote originates from the infamous novel, 1984 by George Orwell. The significance of this popular quote was to display an example of the action of doublethink. Doublethink is the act of having two contradictory thoughts at the same time and believing both are true. Doublethink plays an influential role in the novel, 1984. The novel takes place in a super-state by the name of Oceania which covers the entire continents of our America in reality. The main character of this novel is Winston Smith, a thirty-nine year-old Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth correcting “errors” in past publication who has a

Why do people that hate each other so much work better together than people who love each other? People who love each other never get the job done it seems, but people that hate each other get the job done fast and efficiently, have you ever wondered why? You may say maybe they get it done so fast just to get it over with so they don’t have to work side by side anymore, but maybe it might be because they take their work seriously and rather work together side by side rather than do it alone and fail. In George Orwell’s Novel 1984 the society they live in is based on hate yet it survives because they hate their ruler so much they end up confusing it with love and they become loyal under Big Brother's watchful eyes, fighting to please him and continue with his bidding. If any one person in the society is to express their hate for him they are sent to a place like a prison or more like a reform center to learn to disguise their hatred again by basically confusing the people into thinking they love him they manipulate their minds and they create a loyal subject once again, this is why I believe a society based on hate can survive because can easily be confused for love and hate can make a loyal person besides their negative feelings for the society.