Analysis of 1984: Dystopia, Surveillance, and Language Control

This essay provides an analysis of George Orwell's novel, '1984,' focusing on the dystopian world, surveillance society, and the control of language. It examines the themes of societal control, manipulation, and the impact of language on thought and perception, drawing parallels with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'The Danger of a Single Story' and Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language.' The essay explores how the 'Big Brother' figure and the concept of Newspeak are used to suppress individual thought and maintain power. It also delves into the concept of a surveillance society, where constant monitoring and control are used to enforce conformity, ultimately arguing that the control of language is a key mechanism in shaping reality and maintaining a totalitarian regime. The essay concludes by highlighting the importance of individual experience and the dangers of a single narrative.

Running head: QUESTION AND ANSWER
Analysis of 1984 and exploring the theme of dystopia and surveillance society
Name of the student
Name of the university
Authors note

Question and answer
1984 is a novel written by GeorgeOrwell, which was published in June 1949. This
novel sets the tone for dystopian world where there is an omnipresence of the government. It
is a typical example for dystopian world where there is extreme control imposed to the citizen
of the country. The control is imposed by monitoring their micro action and the extremity of
control is so severe that even people fear to think. Every person has internalized the
systematic observation and they have started believing in it, such was the glory of the paroles
and the big brother. This is also an archetypical example of surveillance society. This essay
will analyze 1984 with by using two text, one Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of
a Single Story” and the other by George Orwell himself, in his piece of essay “Politics and
the English Language” (Orwell, 1946).
George Orwell in his essay, shows that the tendency of people to replicate the sae
word and the same thought without even pondering for a creative new thought. The
dishonesty is not just situated in the language of expression but in the political ploy. He has
reflected the same thing in 1984, where he clearly retells the importance of language. The big
brother whose power has already infiltrated in private sphere of their lives is also trying to
meddle with the language.Language is generally viewed as medium of expression and it
should not be used to conceal information. In this essay, he shows that how political power
has used half-hearted languagein order to gain popularity among their citizens (Orwell, G.
1946). This he stress on the decay of language because language has lost its potential of
communicating and expressing and has become means for the powerful people to distort
reality. Similarly, in the work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, there is focus on how
domination of single story can set aside the other possible realities of people (Adichie, 2009).
Thus it will decay the other possible reality and lead to stereotypes. However, the problem of
stereotype as Adichie is not about its archetypical nature but the rendition of it is incomplete.
This is because it does not include the stories of the parallel realities. She states that by

Question and answer
simply stating by how story telling can serve as presenting universal narrative. Stories uses
that language where the only half-truth is communicated thus there is decay of expression.
Thus language becomes a tool which is human controlled rather than natural process. The use
of language has got a huge potential to influence the belief-system of the people, this idea
was expressed in the “The dangers of single story” by Adichie and in the essay “Politics of
English language” by George Orwell. Even in the book 1984, he narrates how the big brother
is trying to invent language were for every expression only one term will be used (Orwell,
1984). In this way, the big brother is stealing the diversity which exists in one expression.
Good can be marvellous, mesmerising, splendid and so on but decoding it in good second or
third good is actually making people vey rational. The inclination is more towards making
people assert one dimensional language where the other variation will not acknowledge.
Creating a homogenous language will help the powerful people to assert their position firmly
because by then people will not be able to exercise independent thinking. They will use one
language and it is this juncture that dystopia will creep up. Orwell in his essay elucidates the
theme of surveillance as described in the book but in much more focused way. For instance,
the “Big Brother is Watching you”, or slogan like ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery
and war is peace, shows the mutual corruption of language and thought which is decentred
but internalized by all (Orwell, 1984). For him this is the decay of language because there is
no way out from it. Foolish thought is expressed in foolish language and the cycle of writing-
poor will lead to thinking-poor and thinking –poor will results in writing-poor (Orwell,
1946). In this essay he stats different examples that reflects the habit of thinking, these
examples shares two features named staleness of imagery and lack of precision. He narrates
how the metaphors have become rhetoric and do not resemble any new thought. He lists
numbers of familiar examples, including “toe the line” that he denotes as “tow the line”,
where he intends to show that the writer is unaware of the actual meaning that he or she is

Question and answer
attempting to deploy (Orwell, 1946). He shows how operators are used in place of verbs for
giving as stylistic-rhythmic sentences. The most important distinction that he made uses the
pretentious diction. Dictions were used in a pretentious manner for the political functions.
Certain pretentious words stand out to make scientific objectivity. These adjectives are
responsible in turning a crude political struggle to a glorifying war. Foreign words are
replacing the English in the touch of sophistication. Languages as a meaning-giver fail to this
ultimate purpose because there is a constant use of meaningless words. He shows how the
writers are not using the meaningful words due to sloppiness and vagueness. Again the
expression remaining incomplete and it can work as mass deception. At the he tends to put
these words in this writing and summarise as follows, “scrupulous writer in every sentences
will ask himself” before putting his thoughts into words (Orwell, 1946). He tries to emphasis
on the responsibility of the writer towards a greater whole.
Similarly, in the work, “The Danger of Single Story”, Adichi shows how single
narrative has worked against the heterogeneous reality. She narrates how he have victim of it,
in her Mexican trip. She shows how her roommate was devastated when she was unable to
provide for their tribal song. Thus this is problem of single story because story-telling is not
just limited to narration of fictitious images but it also works as shaping your mind to
homogenous reality. The use of abstract language to show the evasive use of modern
language where only single narrative gets rearrested over the heterogeneity of reality. Thus,
she shows the power of writing in shaping ones won discourse and also insists that these
grand narratives are not false but incomplete. Thus there is decay of language to decay of
expression and there is also decay of perception.

Question and answer
In his book, 1984, where he narrates a typical dystopian world is also a typical
example of surveillance society. Oceania is a society where there is three distinct class
namely, inner party, outer party and proles. Proles have their own system of upper, middle
and lower classes. The proles covered the 85 percent of the population, they have received
little education and they work as manual, live in poverty and usually die by the age sixty
(Orwell, 1984). Inner and outer party members are under constant television surveillance in
both private and public, however the prole are exempted from these. The party maintains its
power by manipulating with the language. Orwell has well presented the dynamic
relationship between language and power and the way it conditions and determines the sense
of reality and the experiences of truth. “who controls the past controls the future: who
controls the present controls the past”(Orwell, 1948/83, 232), is precisely what Winston, the
lead character in the novel object to. According to him, “the past though of its nature
alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true was true form everlasting to everlasting”
(Orwell, 1948/83, 32). Orwell tries to show, how the control of language in itself can result in
the control of history, in its synchronous mode.
Again, in another instance he makes Winston recall the last words told to him by
his mother “come back! Give your sister back her chocolate!” (Orwell, 1984). The mere
expression of this sentences show states the accuracy of the words exceed the meaning that it
delivers. Thus the question lies in deciphering the definition of truth, but the significance of
truth is that it cannot be realised in verbal veracity. Thus when he remembers the chocolate,
he left with the sensations which were a combination of actual fact and a factual relevance. In
the words of Orwell it is the sense that is existing in 1984 in a most subversive way by the
party and thus constitutes the heresy Winston.
It is important to understand the importance of truth, not what it signifies but what
is constitutes. According to Orwell, truth must contain the individual experience, which is

Question and answer
why it is very important to understand truth is not something, which exist in natural reality,
but it is something, which needs to be felt. Therefore, the ones who are at power are using the
language as a tool to distort reality, thus creating a single story, just as Adichi said. Since the
party controls the language it effectively controls the socio-cultural matrix of the fictitious
land Oceania. According to Winston, the lead character of this novel, the reality is
constructed and it is used as mass deception. As Orwell has rightly said that “foolish thoughts
results in foolish writing”, the people do not even try to believe other forms of reality
(Orwell, 1984). Thus, he is made fun of his statement and his self-question spirit. The party
actually uses the language and paints the reality in whatever version they like. The fictitious
story is just not limited to the story form, Orwell draws his analysis form the real-life super
heroes like that of Stain or Hitler, where they manipulates the reality in order to feel secured.
The party paints the reality in whatever way they want. This has becomes the
unchallengeable form of coercion. Newspeak thus precisely says that, the dictionary of
newspeak is a weapon to prevent communication and idea, where the ultimate aim is to
destroy the thought itself. “there will be not thought, as we understand it now”(Orwell, 1984.
Pp.49).
Thus, this novel by George Orwell presents us with the world, where there is
systematic thinking, which tends to permeate and dominate every forms of life. Here
humanity and arty has become synonymous to “we control life… at all its levels. You are
imagining that there is something called human value, which will be outraged by what we do
and will turn against us. However, we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable…
humanity is the party and other are outside are irrelevant” (Orwell, 1984. Pp 252). Here the
thinking becomes rigid to its own logic thus forming a closed-mindedness, which will
recognize no other perspective than theirs. This is The Danger of Single Story.

Question and answer
References
Adichie,Chimamandan(2009).https://www.ted.com/talks/
chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story#t-991282 [Accessed in
16/04/2019 2:00pm]
Orwell, G. (1946). Politics and the English language. Concepts in composition: theory and
practice in the teaching of writing, 221-231. [Accessed in 16/04/2019 2:34pm]
Orwell, G. (1984). New York: Signet Classic. [Accessed in 16/04/2019 3:00pm]