Manipulation In 1984

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the overbearing government of Oceania, Big Brother, controls and monitors everything its citizens sees, hears, and believes. In order to gain absolute loyalty from its citizens, Big Brother has control over every aspect of their lives, prohibiting them from using their own minds and causing them to fully depend on Big Brother. Through the use of manipulation and fear, Big Brother and the Party are able to decide what is real and what is not real. Big Brother believes that in order to gain absolute loyalty from its citizens, it must control everything, from the spread of information to media. Through the manipulation of media, Big

Brother can create any event and have the media cover it, even if it's not

In doing so, Big Brother is forcing its citizens to believe that these people are criminals, even if they never did any of the things they “confessed” to. Throughout 1984, Big Brother also utilizes different methods in order to change or “create” the public’s perception of reality. Through the use of fear and repetition, Big Brother is able to alter what many see as “reality.” As O’Brien interrogates Winston, O’Brien continually asks

Winston what two plus two equals. Winston, knowing it as the truth, answers four. However, within Oceania, Big Brother has already established that two plus two equals five, not four. As a result, O’Brien electrocuted Winston. He continues to do so until again he asks Winston what two plus two equals. Winston began seeing five. Through the use of torture and fear, O’Brien was able to change what Winston believed to be reality. Instead of using his own mind, Winston succumb to believing what O’Brien had told him, that two plus two equals five. In order to stop the pain, Winston’s mind believes that two plus two does , in fact, equal five. When in reality,

The final method that Big Brother uses in order to control “reality” is through the changing of history by getting rid of books and history. Winston worked as within the Ministry of Truth, and his job was to burn things in the newspaper that Big Brother does not want to be in the newspaper. By burning the real stories and how the events unfolded, Big Brother is able to construct a completely new story and change the outcome of an event to favor their need. This is an effective method of controlling reality because the public never saw the “real” events or read the actual story, but they are “fed” stories that Big Brother conjure up, which will lead the public to believe that is true. In addition, by getting rid of books, Big Brother is able to control reality because people would not know of the past and history. They would only know what Big Brother tells them. As a result, the citizens knowledge of everything is limited to what Big Brother deems as the “truth” and “reality.” George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 depicts of a future where a totalitarian government completely controls the public’s perception of reality. By controlling reality, Big Brother is