Blog #26: “1984 and Thin Gruel”

“Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.”

After reading both Part I of 1984 and the “Thin Gruel” articles, I must say that I do see a connection between the Newspeak of 1984 and the actual censorship that has and still is taking place in our literature and language. The main principle of Newspeak is that if all the words that describe controversial topics are removed, then so are the controversial topics themselves, since no one has the words to describe them anymore. With today’s world of censorship, controversial topics are removed, and in a sense, also disappear from the minds of the children. If certain controversial topics are dropped from textbooks, and the students don’t learn them, then perhaps they will never learn them.

The article, on page 6, defines censorship as “the deliberate removal of language, ideas, and books from the classroom or library because they are deemed offensive or controversial.” In fact, certain textbook publishers, such as Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, deliberately censored their own material in order to try to please angry parents before they had a chance to complain. In 1984, Big Brother eliminated certain words (most of them, actually) to eliminate the chance of a revolt, and in a sense, created stability. This was also what the textbook publishers were trying to achieve—stability. However, even after many, many rounds of censors and re-writes, people were still upset and unsatisfied. You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. The publishers learned this the hard way, and had many textbook sets fail because they appeared too feminist, sexist, racist, or contained vulgar or inappropriate material.

Both 1984 and “Thin Gruel” deal with censorship enacted to create stability and peace. While 1984’s was more successful (at the beginning), both have weaknesses that deal with the inability to please everyone, everytime.

Blog #25: “1984: Blog 1”

The concept of “Newspeak” is present in George Orwell’s 1984. Defined as the official language of Oceania, it has eliminated the majority of controversial words and topics. The main goal behind it is that if the people can’t say it, then they can’t think it. In this way, The Party controls what everyone does and thinks, by what they can say.

The expressions of thought throughout Part One of 1984 are altered as a result of newspeak. Because this is the official language of the area, everyone has to use it to communicate with each other. All words referencing freedom and democracy have been removed to eliminate the chance of a revolt. The people all behave like robots—each assigned to certain jobs and forced to do them and live the same life everyone else lives. Everything is uniform, and through ignorance, strength and stability are achieved.

With newspeak, The Party, which is the government that controls everything and everyone, is able to force the people into doing and speaking without actually thinking. With the shortened and abbreviated words, there is no time for people to think about what they are actually saying, and as a result, enter into a state where they are unable to contemplate the real meanings behind the words and sentences they speak.

Certain leaders of our world today have used this same type of concept—limiting what the people are allowed to know and essentially think. A prime example is in North Korea. Dictator Kim Jong-Il has restricted the media flow into and out of the country. The country has one of the most tightly controlled media systems in the world. This has impacted certainly the citizens of North Korea, as well as everyone throughout the world. No one really knows what the real North Korea is like, and the majority of the population of North Korea have no idea what the rest of the world is like.

Another example of the concept of newspeak in our world today is a little closer to home. The internet and text messaging “lingo” that has exploded in the past couple years has pushed closer and closer to Orwell’s newspeak. Expressions such as “laughing out loud” and “by the way” can be simplified into LOL and BTW. Along with that, is the immense number of abbreviations and acronyms that exist in our world. From watching television and seeing “CSI,” “NCIS,” and “Law and Order: SVU” to attending a high-school class and seeing “SAT,” “ACT,” and “APUSH,” acronyms and abbreviations are just one step away from newspeak. The problem is that when an acronym is used, like newspeak, the original meaning is lost. Soon people start to think only of a useless sting of letters instead of the words behind the letters that stand for what the thing actually is. Whatever the case, newspeak is present in today’s world, as well as the world George Orwell imagined when he wrote 1984.