MKujava
10-29-2009, 04:57 AM
It's not hard to see the strong connection between George Orwell's book, Nineteen Eighty-Four to topics in Mass Communications. The main story is about how the government or "The Party" are using the media, in every form, to control the minds of all the people in the country. Not only do they use the television and other forms of current media to send out current events and send messages to their people, but they also go back and change the newspapers and other past forms of media to make current events to show what they want. It was kind of hard for me to keep along with all the different forms of conversation and time keeping the book goes by, but once I caught up it was very interesting how Orwell had the ability to think up a world like this, way back in the late Forty's.
Winston Smith is a man living in the year 1984, in Oceania, one of the three main power states left in the world. The country is ran by a government called, "The Party." This government wants complete control of all it's citizens, but Smith is one of the people in the country that doesn't agree with how things are, so he joins the rebellion. He has a love for a female member of his community named Julia and falls in love which is forbidden by the government. The party uses media like television, radio and news papers to control the information the citizens receive. Most people work in one of the 4 divisions of the government, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Truth or Ministry of Love. Smith works in the Ministry of Truth in the Records Department (RecDep) were his job is to go through old newspapers, like the New York Times, and change old stories to what the government wants them to be. His job gives the government the ability to change the stories of the past to what they feel would better serve the government in the present.
All the people of Oceania are separated into three different groups, “the Proles,” which are the poorest and have the largest population, the “Outer Party,” which Smith is a part of, the “Inner Party,” which is like the upper class and finally the leader, “Big Brother.” The outer party, the party Smith is a part of, is like the middle class. They make up the bulk of the working people in the government and are given jobs in the media like Smith.
The government uses a form of police called the “thought police” to also watch everyone and make sure they are doing exactly what they want. The children of this government are brain-washed from their first days, to be taught how to be one of the thought police. The government uses all the different forms of the media to brain-wash them, so they feel everything about the government is true and everything they do is right. During Smith and Julia’s relationship, which was against the law, they were constantly avoiding the thought police and trying not to get caught in their rebellious actions. They finally do get caught and you find out exactly how the government uses different forms of influence to try get Smith to change his view of the party and it’s leader, Big Brother.
The book is incredible, informative and very astonishing considering all the things Orwell wrote about way before anyone even thought them up. When talking about media and the influence it can have over the people of a country, this book is something to really look into.
Winston Smith is a man living in the year 1984, in Oceania, one of the three main power states left in the world. The country is ran by a government called, "The Party." This government wants complete control of all it's citizens, but Smith is one of the people in the country that doesn't agree with how things are, so he joins the rebellion. He has a love for a female member of his community named Julia and falls in love which is forbidden by the government. The party uses media like television, radio and news papers to control the information the citizens receive. Most people work in one of the 4 divisions of the government, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Truth or Ministry of Love. Smith works in the Ministry of Truth in the Records Department (RecDep) were his job is to go through old newspapers, like the New York Times, and change old stories to what the government wants them to be. His job gives the government the ability to change the stories of the past to what they feel would better serve the government in the present.
All the people of Oceania are separated into three different groups, “the Proles,” which are the poorest and have the largest population, the “Outer Party,” which Smith is a part of, the “Inner Party,” which is like the upper class and finally the leader, “Big Brother.” The outer party, the party Smith is a part of, is like the middle class. They make up the bulk of the working people in the government and are given jobs in the media like Smith.
The government uses a form of police called the “thought police” to also watch everyone and make sure they are doing exactly what they want. The children of this government are brain-washed from their first days, to be taught how to be one of the thought police. The government uses all the different forms of the media to brain-wash them, so they feel everything about the government is true and everything they do is right. During Smith and Julia’s relationship, which was against the law, they were constantly avoiding the thought police and trying not to get caught in their rebellious actions. They finally do get caught and you find out exactly how the government uses different forms of influence to try get Smith to change his view of the party and it’s leader, Big Brother.
The book is incredible, informative and very astonishing considering all the things Orwell wrote about way before anyone even thought them up. When talking about media and the influence it can have over the people of a country, this book is something to really look into.