The Impact of Propaganda and Control in George Orwell's 1984

This essay provides an analysis of George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984, focusing on the ways in which the Party uses propaganda to control the citizens of Oceania. The essay begins with an introduction that sets the stage by discussing how political leaders use lies and misinformation to control citizens, with propaganda as the primary tool. The thesis statement argues that the author effectively conveys the problem of propaganda by illustrating its impact on people's thinking and the introduction of fear. The essay then delves into specific examples of how the Party manipulates the populace through slogans, constant surveillance, and the suppression of independent thought. It explores the themes of freedom, power, and the law, and how these elements contribute to the oppressive atmosphere of the novel. The essay references quotes from the book and relevant sources to support its arguments, highlighting the Party's control over language, thought, and the very fabric of society. The conclusion reiterates the impact of the political situation in Oceania and highlights the loss of freedom experienced by its citizens.

Running head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Draft hook:
In the book 1984, by George Orwell it is found that the political leaders used lies and
non-existent information in order to control the citizens. Propaganda was the main key point
that the politicians used for controlling the citizens.
Draft thesis statement:
The author very convincingly discussed the problem of using propaganda for
controlling the citizens by showing how it had changed the thinking of the people in 1984
along with adding fear to the people’s lives.
Draft topic sentence:
Propaganda made the people lose their own power of thinking and made them think
that whatever actions or activities the party is performing is always right and cannot be
questioned.
George Orwell depicted a dystopian world in the novel 1984. He depicted such a world
that had no freedom, influenced citizens and people working for party. Orwell depicted that the
politicians in 1984 used to suppress the thoughts of people and implemented strict laws and took
away the freedom of the people (Dorosz pp 57). The slogan of the party as shown in the book
was ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength’ clearly made the people
convinced that they are looking for something that they already have and the slogan seemed to
change the meaning of the truth that was under cover at that time. The slogan said that only war

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had the ability to bring peace to a country and hence peace interrelates to war (Fox). The slogan
described that when a slave is asking for freedom he must know that he already has one and
being ignorant about certain things will help an individual to be strong (Mercado). The slogan
installed the fear in the citizens that if their wishes vary from that of the government then it will
not be good for them. This can be made more precise by adding another slogan of the party,
which said, ‘Big Brother is always watching you’. This slogan was presented in a poster form in
every places of the town and this made the people think that the Big Brother always watched
them and this slogan even made the people feel safe and secured. Though the party makes the
people believe that they have the security from the Big Brother but they did not understand that it
was totally because of the party that put the lives of the people in danger (Mercado).
Draft topic sentence:
Oceania seemed to be fully covered by cameras and people were always grounded back
at that time.
For monitoring, the people and setting their propaganda intact the party installed the
cameras and with the help of that, they kept an eye on the people even the facial expressions of
the citizens were judged (Mercado). The cameras were in 24 hrs surveillance charge but the
members of the party had the right to dysfunction those cameras for some time for their own
purpose. The party used children to get update of what the citizens were doing. This can also be
précised with the help of a quote, “The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned
against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations” (pp 76). The party
made the citizens unable to have any negative thoughts about the party at all. The people were
unable to think critically as the party controlled their thoughts. Wrong facial expressions led the

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citizens to punishment. This is why the use of proper Language was very important part of
propaganda used by the party.
Draft topic sentence:
Bob Dylan, once said, ‘No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky’.
Though Bob Dylan did not know about the fact, still it is totally related to George
Orwell’s 1984. Orwell showed the readers the world that is never free for anyone, everyone
present in the world is somehow chained or tied to something and this is the thing Orwell
depicted in the book by showing the party politics (Mercado). The story revolves round Winston
and while reading the book many times the reader feels that they are emotionally feeling the
same thing that Winston’s feels and the readers feel so much related to the character that it was
sometimes hard to understand that whether the reader is reading the story or they are present in
the situation. Orwell offered us a fresh and clear notion about power, politics and struggle
through the system of Oceania and also by the character of Winston (Hammond).
Draft topic sentence:
The law was the other barrier that took away the freedom of people and made them live
the lives of a slave.
The book shows that laws forbidden everything in Oceania and made the people live a
life covered in chains but the rules were not marked as laws because it was nowhere written in
the system (Orwell). In the year of 1984, Oceania seemed to have no laws, no constitution and
this made the citizens live their life in full uncertainty. This can be ascertained by using a quote
from the book, “And yet it was a fact that if Syme grasped, even for three seconds, the nature

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of his, Winston’s, secret opinions, he would betray him instantly to the Thought
Police”(Orwell`pp 30). This quote describes that in spite thought crime was not defined by the
law then still Winston would have been arrested but as there was, no written law the party had
every right to change or implement laws (Lang). However, Newspeak was an implemented law
that helped the party gather more control. The citizens back then did what they were told to do
and had to follow the party’s commands.
Conclusion:
Orwell very precisely showed the readers the social and political situation of Oceania and
exaggerated the loss of the citizens living there (Goldstein 84). The story is not written in any
highlighted way but the political situation of Oceania is highlighted in such a manner that looked
like a policy. Orwell depicted political situation of the place as a policy and this is because the
people were very much restricted and had no other option that to listen to the party and follow
their instructions (Huber). They were also surrounded by an external power and they had nothing
to do with the imprisonment.

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References:
Dorosz, Beata. "George Orwell’s 1984." Polish Review 61.4 (2016).
Fox, Richard. "Book Discussion: 1984, by George Orwell." (2016).
Goldstein, Emmanuel. "THE WORLD ACCORDING TO EMMANUEL GOLDSTEIN:
GEORGE ORWELL AND NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR." THE POLITICS OF WORLD
POLITICS (2015): 84.
Hammond, John. A George Orwell companion: a guide to the novels, documentaries and essays.
Springer, 2016.
Huber, Peter. Orwell's revenge: The 1984 palimpsest. Simon and Schuster, 2015.
Lang, James M. "The Poor of 1984: The Roots of George Orwell's Final Novel." (2015).
Mercado, Sabrina. "George Orwell’s 1984 Becoming a Reality." (2015).
Orwell, George. Politics and the English language. Penguin UK, 2013.