Justin K. MacGregor INTL 3111-001 Mr.

Robert Arnold 11 October 2011 Microtheme: 4 In George Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four were introduced to a world, our world gone mad. It was a fictitious, parallel Earth, where government was all seeing and doing. Control was one of the main underlying themes throughout the storyline. Big Brother and the INGSOC Party were in control of virtually every aspect of the lives of those in London and throughout the country of Oceania. Make no mistake, it was a totalitarian government; they were the news, the police, the army, the employer, the healthcare, and education. The Party slogans were WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Newspeak redefined the typical meanings of words and ideas in order to confuse and oppress. Other methods of control, used by the Party were propaganda, war, surveillance, and fear. Propaganda is defined by Websters as, the spreading of ideas, information or rumor, for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. You can see examples of this strewn throughout the book, but none so blatant than that of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People. Goldstein, is the scapegoat of the Party and Big Brother, considered the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Partys purity. The people are conditioned into believing, all subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies,

deviations, sprang directly out of his teaching. The Party promotes and reinforces this idea and rhetoric with the Two Minutes Hate, a program in which the people yell and scream their displeasures at giant screens, flashing images and clips of Goldstein and other enemies, like the armies of Eurasia or Eastasia. Oceania was constantly at war with someone according to the Ministry of Truth, or a version of state-run media; the Minitrue, as it was referred to in Newspeak, consistently flip flopped stories of the war fronts between the aforementioned Eurasia and Eastasia. War was but a diversion, that kept people thinking times were tough. For instance, following a battle victory against Eurasia in a newsflash, came the announcement thatthe chocolate ration would be reduced from thirty grams to twenty. If times were tough, then the Party could push the people farther without their expect of investment in more pressing issues at home, like the food rations or deteriorating conditions of the slums known as Victory Mansions. The Party kept a close eye on the people too, as they were constantly reminded, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!. At home, at the office, nearly everywhere were screens/cameras, that allowed people to be seen and monitored. The Party watched for facial expressions or misdeeds, which they called thought crimes. Not only were people electronically monitored, children through school, were encouraged to look for the same signs and to report people suspected of such thought crimes and treason against Big Brother. That created situations were children turned in their parents. If you were caught by the Party, it is likely youd be taken to Room 101 in the Ministry of Love. The Miniluv was the ministry that basically enforces loyalty and love of the Party and Big Brother through torture. The Party relishes the idea, that Room 101 is the worst thing in

the world. By that, its different for everyone, in Room 101, a person is subjected to their own worst fears in order to break their free will and defiance. By creating this extreme world, George Orwell made us think of our own lives, the power we entrust in others, the privacy that we take for granted or that is so easily breached, and to what extent the media and government controls what we know. The potential for all of those abuses and controls can and at times does happen to an extent. Like Room 101s intent though, its the destruction of free will that is the most damming; and its that free will that separates us, the reader, from them, the controlled people of Oceania.