Censorship In 1984 And Today's North Korean Government

In certain societies everything involved in one’s life is influenced by the government. A government with total control is known as totalitarian. One of the methods that these totalitarian governments use is propaganda. Propaganda is “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person” (Merriam-Webster). In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is influenced by the ideas presented by the government of Oceania. The totalitarian government in this novel, known as “The Party” ensures that the citizens’ minds are filled with propaganda and confusion so that thoughts of rebellion cannot be sustained. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, protagonist, Guy Montag, begins to question the society around him, and with the help of a few allies, changes his views. In this novel the government uses propaganda to promote certain things in society, such as burning books. An example of this technique in the real world, is carried out by the ruler of North Korea. In the country of North Korea, dictator Kim Jong Un uses propaganda to restrict his people from the world around them. For decades North Korea has been one of the world’s most secretive societies. It is one of the few countries still under formal communist rule. Throughout history, freedom of expression is often limited by the government, allowing them to use propaganda as a method of totalitarian

In 1984, Orwell talks about how language can be misused to deceive the people. Today, political precision and euphemism are equally inescapable and ridiculed. The novel also discussed the corruption of verbal progression under the direction of Big Brother. The formation of the Newspeak dictionary is mentioned very often in the book. The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a moderate form of expression for Oceania but to make sure that all additional methods of thought impossible. This is shown today by many public figures who speak on behave of the United States. For example, “Politically correct” language is a form of speech that stumps thought. Autocorrect and autocomplete functions frequently command our phrasing and the language of texting is a skill that has become increasingly more

Throughout history censorship has been primarily used to effectively repress a person or group’s opinion about a certain subject. Censorship is not only used in radical nations that are ruled by a dictator such as North Korea,

They make people believe in things aren’t real just like King Jong Un does to his population. An example in George Orwell book was that 2+2=5, Orwell stated (1949) “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows” (page 81). This shows how much the government controls you and how they can manipulate the way people think. Just like 1984, North Korea makes the citizens believe things are true when they are clearly to anybody else in the world.The government is very careful with what they let in and out of the

“1984” is a chilling dystopian novel written by George Orwell, set in the 1980’s, in London, in the continent Oceania. Oceania is ruled by the Party, and their dictator Big Brother. Big Brother controls Oceania through four ministries, Love, Truth, Peace and Plenty. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he changes the dates, articles and photos of things to match up with what Big Brother is saying. Big Brother watches everyone through telescreens, which are in every room, and anyone who speaks out, or thinks to rebel, or even doesn’t get to their house at the right time, vanishes. “Big Brother is watching you” is the Party’s slogan, and is plastered all across London. In their society, the ideas of individuality, freedom and opinions

George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 cautions against government having too much/excessive amount of power. Winston Smith lives in a society where a totalitarian government tracks their citizen's every move through telescreens and thought police. The government is divided among the four ministries; the Ministry of Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth. The excessive censorship in the society leads the citizens to be less individualistic and more alike to one another. Being in an environment where Newspeak is enforced, citizens are unable to express their originality. Orwell's 1984 is a very effective cautionary tale through its characterization of Winston who lacks heroic characteristics, its conflict of man vs society, and its use of dialect.

In North Korea, a totalitarian or dictatorial government prevails, where one “Supreme Leader” is revered and even worshipped. This government features a monolithic system, which plays “a crucial role in enabling the continuing monopoly of power by a sole leader” (Park 5-6). All components of life and society thus become fully oriented toward the goals of the head of state, Kim Jong-un, and the Kim dynasty. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the government-headed Korean Central News Agency heavily commands the “dissemination of information, and all papers are strictly censored” (Lee et al.). This control over the movement of ideas in the population not only fosters the spread of government ideology but also prompts citizens to remain ignorant regarding certain issues, such as government actions

This is another initiative used to keep the individual from there own truths to deprive them even more of an identity. "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. It's merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. (46)" Winston's coworker Syme believes that Newspeak will end the issue of thougtcrime, which it seems it is true. Newspeak is used by the Party to take away multiple meanings, expressions, individual thoughts to make the individuals more ignorant of individualism and other ideas that could ruin the ideas of the Party. With this language the people want be able to create thoughtcrime because they want have the knowledge to do so. Winston doesn't care for this aspect he only thinks of those who want be affected by the Party, the proles and at this point in time he thinks that no matter what kind of language they have now he will continue with his own ways.

Censorship in Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 shows an extreme example of censorship in a dystopian future. In this future firemen are employed to burn books and real information of any kind is banned. The main character, Guy Montag, is a firefighter who burns books, he eventually rebels and decides that information is important. The truly terrifying aspect of the world is that it is not just the government who censor but the people themselves who do no wish to learn anything.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a book that greatly explores the censorship of literature and how the government controls everything that reaches the communities’ ears. The government censors so much from its society that they do not know what truly happens outside of their community. The same censorship that happens in the book repeats itself in history. Both history and the book have examples of censorship in literature, news media, entertainment, communication, and the internet. Humans gain knowledge out of what they read, watch, or look up, the government in Fahrenheit 451 ban any access to these forms of awareness to prevent rebellion.

For a society to function, it requires a balance of control and censorship. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the government abuses its function as it disrupts this balance. The superintendent government does this as it controls the news media, entertainment, and communication. In this dystopian world, the government also censors literature and the internet. This theme of control and censorship also occurs in the verisimilitude the world presents today. Although this sounds far off, this government theme of censorship and control appears in countries like China, Cuba, North Korea, Germany, and even ‘the land of the free’, the United States of America. Sure some of these countries use their authority in control and censorship to regulate any top secret and classified documents,

In the book Fahrenheit 451 and the real world, publications are censored to control citizens of a society. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury takes place in a dystopian society where firefighters burn literature, as the book is trying to imitate how present day governments try to control their citizens. In present day society citizens are constantly being censored by the government world wide, by eliminating access to certain media and releasing very selective information to the citizens. In Fahrenheit 451 and in current day society people of power use censorship to control people. This also occurs in the real world with cases like government scientists in Canada and the elimination of worldwide internet in North Korea. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, and in modern day

“Newspeak was designed to. . .diminish the range of thought. . .by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum” explains George Orwell, the author of a dystopian fiction novel, 1984 (Orwell 300). Orwell designs a society in which a totalitarian government rules, depriving people of their thoughts. The story gives us a look into the life of the main character, Winston, who seems to face issues with reality control. Today, we will delve into the depths of this novel and explore Orwell’s views on the nature of language. In simple terms, Orwell suggests that language, if used in a certain way, has the ability to influence people and compel them to alter their thoughts. With this statement and supporting evidence, it can be concluded that the effective use of language can give individuals power to modify or reshape opinions that will allow for change in society.

Since without language thought is nearly impossible the party believes that by altering the language they can impose their untrue reality. They will be able to restrict it to the point that even a person’s thoughts are manipulated; things such as individualism and imagination will cease to exist. Which ultimately will give the Party total control over society. The newspeak engineer also goes on to state “ In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it.” (55) This quote proves how vital control of language is to the party, it is the key to becoming a controlled state. By creating the element of Newspeak in 1984 Orwell is warning against the potential consequences of manipulating language to benefit people in power and how this can eventually lead to a totalitarian state.

Whenever a person uses censorship they are trying to get control of something. In the novel 1984, the inner party has censorship over the people of Oceania by censoring the history, language, and thoughts. In 1984 the main character was named Winston worked for The Ministry of Truth where he was in charge of altering the writing records. Winston’s daily task at the Ministry of Truth was to destroy obsolete