In 1984, Ingsoc Or English Socialism State Employed Newspeak, A... Essay - 1,134 words

In 1984, Ingsoc or English Socialism state employed Newspeak, a language meant to mislead and control its people. Even single words seemed to lose their meaning: peace meant war, love became hate and freedom referred to slavery. Orwell envisaged a disastrous and shocking consequences to a society where hypocrisy rules supreme. Doublespeak is not an innocuous euphemism meant to alter harsh realities for the sake of compassion or humorous disposition, doublespeak is an expression of duplicity that distorts and bents perception, allowing control and manipulation. Orwell has warned us against acceptance of doublespeak, showing terrifying state of suspicion, mistrust and dumbness it leads to. We all used to hear "substandard housing" instead of slums, "unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life" in place of murder, or more recent air support that really means bombing. Doublespeak in politics gives us the most concern, since political life is most permeated with this dangerous vice. The most recent example is the war on terrorism September 11 has not only exposed physical vulnerability of American democracy, but also revealed duplicity reflected in double speak of key official and political leaders including the president; George Orwells gloomy 1984 comes alive as a warning that we should care for our spiritual freedom no less than we mind our physical well-being.


In the year 1984, people of Ingsoc have not yet communicated solely in Newspeak, but it was the language widely employed by party members and media, and by 2050, the Newspeak was to wipe out the last traces of Oldspeak or standard English. Newspeak was more than a perfect tools to express the party dogmas and mind frame, it made free thinking impossible. Newspeak was a mental jail, prohibiting any deviations from correct thinking. Any language is inevitably a reflection of human existence, but Big Brother employed Newspeak to make live of Ingsocs inhabitants appropriate. In this sense Newspeak is not an entirely fiction, but an everyday reality of every American citizen exposed to the flurry of press conferences and political speeches of official figures. Rather than allowing individual understanding, double speak of these speeches push public opinion in the right direction. Big Brother mistrusts your thinking, he wants you to like what he does without thinking and Newspeak is a way to achieve this goal.


The underlying message is simple look at this as I tell you to. While Newspeak as a language of Ingsoc took control to extreme, eliminating words or stripping them of all but desirable meaning for example, word free could only be used in sentences like The dog is free from like or This field is free from weeds, double speak most frequently substitutes direct meaning with some obscure phrase like collateral damage. 1984s counterpart of double speak is B vocabulary, a part of the Ninth and Tenth Editions of Newspeak dictionary. Interesting fact that B vocabulary was used mainly by official and political elite and was aimed to created desirable mental frame for every citizen of Ingsoc. In many ways B vocabulary parallels double speak. Moreover, both noticeably share the same purpose: they seek to destroy meaning rather than convey it(Source). B vocabularys compound words obscure meaning as efficiently as double speak cliches do.


B vocabulary cares little about the meaning; uncritical support matters most. It ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: newspeak, 1984, george orwell, big brother, english socialism

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