Propaganda in 1984

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Propaganda is almost like a form of false advertising. It’s making someone believe something else and change their opinions, using careful and thoughtful techniques. Propaganda appears throughout the novel, “1984” in several ways. It’s used through Big Brother and the idea that he is watching you, tele-screens, two minutes of hate, the incorrect slogans, these are just some of the many examples that are shown throughout the book. A big propaganda technique that is used is fear. The society that these people live in is scary and people are constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing something that the government and Big Brother would not approve of. Therefore, they will believe these posters and follow the rules because they are scared of what will happen to them if they don’t. Another technique that is used is bandwagon. In this society, pretty much everyone is the same. You might not have the same views or ideas as everyone else, but you’re going to participate and do the same things as them because everyone is doing it and you want to jump on the bandwagon. Lastly, I would say that the cause-and-effect mismatch is used. When reading the slogans in “1984,” they say things like “war is peace” and “freedom is slavery” which is obviously not true. But they’re making you believe these things through switching up their choice of words and how they put it. So, they’re only talking about the actual words and not everything else that happens in between, for example, the millions of lives that are lost to war every year.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqhyb9q/articles/zhw3jhv

 

1984 Political Spectrum

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The political spectrum is a system that classifies all the different political roles and jobs in relation to each other. It’s an ideology that puts the political, social and economic values upon one of the geometric axes and ranges from the left to right. The left and right side of the political spectrum is wildly different. The left side tends to be anything to do with equality, freedom, people’s rights and the trade unionism, while on the left, it associates with traditions, values and authority. The right-wing parties would include all the conservatives, classical liberals, Christian democrats and nationalists. The left-wing would be all the parties welcoming change such as, social democrats, communists, socialists, progressives and social liberals. Towards the right is more of an authoritarian government and this type of government believes that everyone should obey the “higher ups” and limits the citizens freedoms. They want everyone in society to be the same and need full control over their country. Whereas the left side, which is more of a libertarianism government believes people should be themselves and that personal freedom should be maximized as much as possible. The government still has power, but not so much that people have a fear of what will happen to them if they act out or say the wrong thing. A great example of an authoritarian government is in the novel, “1984” by George Orwell. In this book, the government INGSOC or the English Socialist Party, holds the most power and doesn’t let anyone speak bad about the government. Big Brother, who is the head and leader of London in this dystopian time is always watching what people are doing and will even go as far as to install cameras outside peoples houses and watch them from helicopters. People in this society, have no control over their own lives and are not allowed and can never disobey the government and their ridiculous rules and regulations. So, INGSOC would definitely fit on the far right of the spectrum, as this government needs the most improvements.

 

Winston from “1984”

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Winston Smith is a very opinionated character. He doesn’t share his opinions though, because just like everyone else, is afraid of the society they live in. He thinks that “Big Brother” always watching them is wrong and that they should have more freedom. He seems like a confident but shy person and wants to speak up, but can’t. In this case he is a follower and will do what others tell him to or copy them to not get in trouble. But I feel like he’s also not okay with people who are different, maybe because of the dystopian society making him believe certain things, but he seemed angry at the simple fact that some women, don’t want a relationship. This also shows that Winston is quite misogynistic, and he objectifies women who he finds attractive because the society has influenced him and made him believe that these things are okay. We also know that he only has these feelings about certain women, “he disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones” (Orwell 12). He is asked by his neighbour to help her with something and he sees it more as a chore and describes her as having dust on her face because she is older and Winston is not attracted to her in anyway. Winston works in the truth pyramid, which is in charge of all news and entertainment, and this is where he meets the “pretty” girl, Julia. Winston isn’t really a violent character, but there is definitely some violence in him that has perhaps been put on him by the dystopian society and the idea of big brother.