ash99
10-07-2007, 03:10 PM
what do you think?
i need a conclusion
Select 3 aspects of INSOC and discuss how effectively the party has used social agencies to control the populous. Assess to what extent those same agencies have been effective in socialising you.
George Orwell’s 1984, written in 1948, is a novel about what he predicted life could be like in 1984. Although the novel acted as a warning to society, it has been wrong in some respects. However, there are many social agencies used in 1984 which are similarly used by people in power today, in order to socialise me.
In 1984, news and literature plays a big part in the character’s lives, as media does today. The news in the novel is written in newspeak on small pieces of paper and old news is destroyed and updated, so that everything agrees with the party, so that they appear to always be right. This is brainwashing the people into potentially trusting Big Brother and believing everything the party says. The party has also completely changed the way things are written into their own language, into ‘newspeak’. This involved “eliminating undesirable words and by stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings.” Once the population’s vocabulary is controlled, you can control and limit the number of things that a person can express and define. This limits the chance of rebellion, thus meaning that the population conform to what Big Brother wants them to be.
The media is used in a some what similar way today. Media is used to brainwash people into conforming to what is seen as ‘socially acceptable’ or what is fashionable at the time. There is also censorship involved in the media today, as there was then, such as the 9 o’clock watershed. There are editors who pick what is acceptable to write in the newspaper, in respect picking what information they want us to know. Language is also changed today by the population as a whole, for example different slang words that come into fashion, but also by the government. There are often new dictionaries made adding new words that the government want us to use, for example ‘eco-friendly’. A few years ago this would only be a phrase used amongst scientists, but this is a topic which the government want us to be thinking and talking about. It has been drummed into our minds so we use it in our everyday conversations and it is often seen in newspapers and on TV, it is now part of the dictionary. Media and news have played a great part in socialising me. Magazines and TV basically govern what I wear, as they persuade me that some things are fashionable and some things are not. Sadly, the media has taught me to conform to the ‘norms’ that they portray e.g. fashion and size. Big brother tried to take away the peoples personal identities by taking away their language and showing them what to believe. I believe that this is happening today and Festingers theory of ‘deindividuation’ is taking place to some extent, with the help of the media.
Similarly, family also plays a big part in socialising the people in the novel. Big Brother wants to control the population in every way. They want the people to be completely dependent on them and believe everything they say; they do not want them to rebel in any way either. The party believe that people will rebel if they form allies, they therefore don’t want there to be any family or friendship ties. Family is not important to the party; the people say that ‘once you are in the grip of the party you feel nothing’. Big brother wants to cut links between the families until eventually there will be no family at all. For example, in the novel, Parsons has been turned in by his own daughter, but he is proud of her as she is loyal to Big Brother. Big Brother is acting as all of the people’s parents and socialising them by telling them what is right and wrong and what to believe, so that they become loyal to him and not their own families. The party is governing what the people believe, what they eat and drink e.g. victory gin and chocolate rations and what they do e.g. evenings at the community centre. This is essentially what a family does in order to socialise us today. My parents feed me so they are deciding what I eat to some extent. When I was at a younger age, they would also tell me what I could and couldn’t do, for example I couldn’t go into town alone or play out after dark. This has helped to socialise me as they have given me a routine and taught me what is right and wrong, just as Big Brother has. My family and friends have taught me how to fit into society in a way that is socially acceptable.
Health and fitness is used in the novel to control the populous. Everyday, the people have to exercise copying the woman on the telescreen in a ‘systematic’ ‘military style’ way. However this is ironic as there are many unhealthy things that Big Brother does to the people. For example giving them victory gin and cigarettes regularly. Not only is health affected by these, but also by the food they are given. The are given chocolate rations, which is most likely seen as healthy now, but they are given ‘gristly grey stew’ and ‘black bread.’ This means that the people are very malnutritioned, not only this, but food is used as a weapon. When the people are imprisoned and being punished, their food is taken away from them, often until they die of starvation. This means that the people stay loyal to Big Brother and keep in line as they do not want to be deprived of food. People in the novel were not healthy even though they tried. Food is thankfully not used as a weapon in my life. However health and fitness has rapidly become an important topic today. For example, the government are making healthy food in schools compulsory. Parents are also being persuaded to buy fresh and healthy food for their children. Sport is also compulsory on the national curriculum. Health and fitness has played a small part in socialising me. My parents, government and media have, to some extent, persuaded me to live a healthy lifestyle as it is becoming more unacceptable to be unhealthy today.
i need a conclusion
Select 3 aspects of INSOC and discuss how effectively the party has used social agencies to control the populous. Assess to what extent those same agencies have been effective in socialising you.
George Orwell’s 1984, written in 1948, is a novel about what he predicted life could be like in 1984. Although the novel acted as a warning to society, it has been wrong in some respects. However, there are many social agencies used in 1984 which are similarly used by people in power today, in order to socialise me.
In 1984, news and literature plays a big part in the character’s lives, as media does today. The news in the novel is written in newspeak on small pieces of paper and old news is destroyed and updated, so that everything agrees with the party, so that they appear to always be right. This is brainwashing the people into potentially trusting Big Brother and believing everything the party says. The party has also completely changed the way things are written into their own language, into ‘newspeak’. This involved “eliminating undesirable words and by stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings.” Once the population’s vocabulary is controlled, you can control and limit the number of things that a person can express and define. This limits the chance of rebellion, thus meaning that the population conform to what Big Brother wants them to be.
The media is used in a some what similar way today. Media is used to brainwash people into conforming to what is seen as ‘socially acceptable’ or what is fashionable at the time. There is also censorship involved in the media today, as there was then, such as the 9 o’clock watershed. There are editors who pick what is acceptable to write in the newspaper, in respect picking what information they want us to know. Language is also changed today by the population as a whole, for example different slang words that come into fashion, but also by the government. There are often new dictionaries made adding new words that the government want us to use, for example ‘eco-friendly’. A few years ago this would only be a phrase used amongst scientists, but this is a topic which the government want us to be thinking and talking about. It has been drummed into our minds so we use it in our everyday conversations and it is often seen in newspapers and on TV, it is now part of the dictionary. Media and news have played a great part in socialising me. Magazines and TV basically govern what I wear, as they persuade me that some things are fashionable and some things are not. Sadly, the media has taught me to conform to the ‘norms’ that they portray e.g. fashion and size. Big brother tried to take away the peoples personal identities by taking away their language and showing them what to believe. I believe that this is happening today and Festingers theory of ‘deindividuation’ is taking place to some extent, with the help of the media.
Similarly, family also plays a big part in socialising the people in the novel. Big Brother wants to control the population in every way. They want the people to be completely dependent on them and believe everything they say; they do not want them to rebel in any way either. The party believe that people will rebel if they form allies, they therefore don’t want there to be any family or friendship ties. Family is not important to the party; the people say that ‘once you are in the grip of the party you feel nothing’. Big brother wants to cut links between the families until eventually there will be no family at all. For example, in the novel, Parsons has been turned in by his own daughter, but he is proud of her as she is loyal to Big Brother. Big Brother is acting as all of the people’s parents and socialising them by telling them what is right and wrong and what to believe, so that they become loyal to him and not their own families. The party is governing what the people believe, what they eat and drink e.g. victory gin and chocolate rations and what they do e.g. evenings at the community centre. This is essentially what a family does in order to socialise us today. My parents feed me so they are deciding what I eat to some extent. When I was at a younger age, they would also tell me what I could and couldn’t do, for example I couldn’t go into town alone or play out after dark. This has helped to socialise me as they have given me a routine and taught me what is right and wrong, just as Big Brother has. My family and friends have taught me how to fit into society in a way that is socially acceptable.
Health and fitness is used in the novel to control the populous. Everyday, the people have to exercise copying the woman on the telescreen in a ‘systematic’ ‘military style’ way. However this is ironic as there are many unhealthy things that Big Brother does to the people. For example giving them victory gin and cigarettes regularly. Not only is health affected by these, but also by the food they are given. The are given chocolate rations, which is most likely seen as healthy now, but they are given ‘gristly grey stew’ and ‘black bread.’ This means that the people are very malnutritioned, not only this, but food is used as a weapon. When the people are imprisoned and being punished, their food is taken away from them, often until they die of starvation. This means that the people stay loyal to Big Brother and keep in line as they do not want to be deprived of food. People in the novel were not healthy even though they tried. Food is thankfully not used as a weapon in my life. However health and fitness has rapidly become an important topic today. For example, the government are making healthy food in schools compulsory. Parents are also being persuaded to buy fresh and healthy food for their children. Sport is also compulsory on the national curriculum. Health and fitness has played a small part in socialising me. My parents, government and media have, to some extent, persuaded me to live a healthy lifestyle as it is becoming more unacceptable to be unhealthy today.