Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi propagandist, once reveals, “A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.” Through literature, deception can turn thoughts into a favourable weapon. In the novel 1984, George Orwell approaches this concept of manipulating speech, with the eyes of Winston and Julia, the protagonists. Situate in Oceania, a socialist superstate, freedom of speech and thoughts are bound by the big brother’s draconian rules. With the assistance of technology, the couple’s aspiration to find love and to be more “human”, is eventually stop by the party. Through observing language, rewriting history, and manipulating trust, the party is able to deduct power and control the nation.
Having the ability to speak,
Employed in the ministry of truth, Winston emerges as an observer of the party’s reality. Every day, Winston will overhear the slogan of the department, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past”. (Orwell, 37) This quote defines the psychological of the human instinct, as people make judgement based on previous experience. Established on this fact, by lying about the past memory, the party will be able to control the future mentality of the people. Considering the circumstance, the leader can benefit from lying, by setting falsely goals into the memory of the crowd. As the society will crave to model the propaganda as an objective. Consequently, an ironic slogan such as “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” (Orwell, 6) can be used to lay the foundation of every citizens’ mind. Buried deep in mind, even such contradictable slogan can become so-called truth. As many individual obey this motto, propaganda will no more be false. Revising history will ease population management.
In 1984, Orwell scrutinize the effect of manipulating trust. Having faith in family members may seem essential to most readers. Nevertheless, in Oceania, loyalty should be exclusively paid to the party. Subsequently, O’Brien, a reputable inner-party member has