In George Orwell’s 1984, the Party controls the people through the media in a variety of ways. The first technique is having such control over the media that the past and present can be changed almost immediately. This, in fact, is Winston Smith’s job at the Ministry of Truth. In his cubicle, Winston edits news stories to fall in line with the Party’s version of reality. Old versions of the past go in the...
In George Orwell’s 1984, the Party controls the people through the media in a variety of ways. The first technique is having such control over the media that the past and present can be changed almost immediately. This, in fact, is Winston Smith’s job at the Ministry of Truth. In his cubicle, Winston edits news stories to fall in line with the Party’s version of reality. Old versions of the past go in the "memory hole," a chute that takes the truth, or an earlier forged version of the past, to the incinerator.
Julia’s job also reveals how the Party uses media to control the masses. Part of Julia’s job includes printing crude pornography to pacify the Proles, an uneducated group of people who make up the vast majority of Oceania’s population. With the Proles kept complacent, the Party has nothing to fear from them.
Finally, media itself acts as a form of surveillance. The telescreens present in the homes of all Party members not only play propaganda 24 hours a day, but the Thought Police use the screens as a means to watch and listen for any act of rebellion against Big Brother.
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