George Orwell’s 1984 presents a dystopian future where the manipulation and control of language has led to a society that is void of freedoms and values. Language is used to manipulate the mind of the oppressive Party and its members. As Winston Smith and Julia fight for knowledge freedom, they encounter themes like manipulation, surrender, or ardent rebellion. The new “Newspeak” language is used to control semantics. It gives new and unscrupulous words like “Doublethink”, meaning complete mental submission. The role that language plays in 1984 defines themes related to control and how people decide whether they want to rebel against the party or not.
It is only when the power elite realizes that language control can be used to influence thoughts that their influence over language becomes essential for the Party. A person’s ability to control their vocabulary can be used to encourage or discourage certain thought processes. Newspeak for example does not include the word “science”. Science and technology-related thoughts are suppressed to keep the Party at power. The language used by the Party to influence its members will be altered to encourage the desired motivations while discouraging the opposite. The word “science” is removed when the Party wants to remove the desire for advancements in the science. The easiest way to control a person’s thoughts is by limiting their vocabulary and giving them meanings and reasons for the words they use.
The Party uses language manipulation to create a theme of submission. This is called “doublethink”. It is also known as “reality control” and has many other meanings. The term is often used to describe mental compliance with the Party. The language used in the mind can be changed to completely change a person’s values and thoughts. Doublethink has the power to transform a person’s mind and alter their loyalty. Newspeak calls a person who uses Doublethink “Goodthinker,” which means they are safe from being tortured or executed. Language manipulation is the Party’s way of capturing the thoughts of people. Oceania’s people will follow the Party’s orders because they are undefeatable. The power of language in people’s minds and the cycle it creates is a powerful force.
The theme of rebellious language is introduced with the surrender. Julia represents the rebellion by protesting the use Newspeak in protesting the government. In her novel, Julia says that they can make you say whatever you want, but not make you believe. She tells Winston they cannot get inside of you. One can resist the Party’s mind-control attempts by retaining one’s private thought processes and using one’s own language. Orwell writes in “The Principles of Newspeak,” the goal of Newspeak, Orwell claims, was to “make all other modes of thoughts impossible”. The rebellious idea is that Newspeak won’t make people think in this way and they will still be free to do so. The use of language to manipulate thought is the basis for revolution.
Language is a powerful tool, as 1984 demonstrates. The words that are used to describe a thought can be changed, and the thoughts will change as well. Over the centuries, conquerors ruled lands and influenced people’s actions but not their spirits. It is through manipulating language that one can be so subjugated to the extent of losing the desire to fight for freedom. Julia only has her spirit and life. She uses both to protest against the Party, and the Party also takes both. The dystopian world of 1984 is so successful because it has captured not only humanity, but the human spirit.
References
Original: The average human heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute
Paraphrased: Generally, a human heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats a minute.
Dean, Mike, George Orwell. 1984. Harlow’s 2003 book, published by Pearson Education, is a reliable source. Output
