In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Party, a totalitarian type government, seeks solely

power in its purest form, encompassing complete control over the masses. To attain this control,
the Party utilizes a variety of tools to ensure and tighten their grip over the actions, thoughts, and
even beliefs of the citizens of Oceania. The advanced technology they have at their disposal is
used to not only monitor peoples movements via surveillance, but to truly reveal slips in loyalty
towards the government. The laws that they create, as well as the punishments they employ, act
as enacted restrictions upon (as well as tools to modify) movement and thought. The Party also
uses history, or more accurately alters it, to deceive the citizens into believing that they are
infallible, so as to eliminate thoughts differing form those of the Party. They also literally
manipulate what people can or cannot say by implementing Newspeak, a controlled language, as
well as by ridding the words of the past, ones capable of letting people express with. With no
real barriers stopping them, the power hungry Party efficiently and effectively utilizes
technology, history, laws, and even language itself, to maintain absolute control over the citizens
of Oceania.
One of the major tools the Party uses to oppress and control its citizens is technology.
Cameras, telescreens, and microphones are installed everywhere, ranging from peoples homes
to coffee shops, so as to allow the party to constantly be able to watch over the citizens. The
most prominent and important device of all of these is the telescreen, which is a fictional device
that acts as a mix of a television, a camera, and a sensitive microphone. These omnipresent
devices are present in every party members home, as well as in public places, are constantly
turned on, and through them members of the Thought Police or government can monitor
everything that is within the devices range. With constant eyes watching every movement, no
matter how small, the Party manages to eliminate all privacy and can thus differentiate between
those who are loyal and those who are in need of correction. Due to this, there is no feasible way
for anything to be said, done, thought, or planned without the party knowing. Just as how
Winston says, It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any
public place or within the range of a telescreen. (Orwell 65), no one knows when theyre being
observed and become wary of their words, actions, and even thoughts. As these conditions are
prolonged, people start to conform to those behind the telesceens, the government, seeing as how
they really have no other choice. All of this is of course done under the guise of protecting the
citizens and is truly no different from the ways real dictatorships, such as the Nazis Gestapo
have used surveillance to eliminate political opposition (VIllines, Zawn). As well, Programs such
as the Two Minutes Hate and other Party supporting media are broadcast through them, meaning
there is always something reminding you at home of how righteous the Party is. Considering that
the majority of people arent allowed to turn them off, there is constantly something being
hammered into your mind about how the Party is so just or doing so very much for the nation.
The party can utilize the principles of repetition for psychological control over its citizens this
way, as when youre being told something over and over, you (consciously or not) eventually
start to believe it (Pomeroy, Ross). In this way, the party can detect any resistance and stamp it
out while its still in its early stages, making sure they can always maintain control as rebellion
loosens their grip on the citizens lives, and brainwash the citizens at the same time. Of course
with the ability to see everything, comes the ability to determine whether an offense against the
Party has taken place or not, and essentially if a law has been broken.
The laws and punishments that the Party enacts restrain not only actions of individuals,
but even thoughts. To control everything a human being is capable of is the power that the party
seeks, and the laws they create simply make it that much easier to attain such power. Aside from
the conventional laws that even our society has, such as the outlaw of murder, the Party has
laws/rules that restrict you from open acts of rebellion, but more importantly ones that outlaw
acts such as thinking anything negative about Big Brother or any thoughts that arent completely
loyal to the party. This thoughtcrime concept helps the Party control the minds of the citizens as
it works hand in hand with the concept of Doublethink, which is essentially a form of reality
control in which two contradictory beliefs are held and accepted by an individual. Due to the fact
that the Party can find out if thoughtcrime has been committed, people are constantly employing
Doublethink to avoid thinking of what they know is just/fair and instead allowing the thoughts of
the party to occupy their mind. This action of supressing what one believes is right, resulting
from the enactment of thoughtcrime laws, is exactly how the Party controls the people of
Oceania. Due to these laws, the Party doesnt even have to lift a finger to brainwash the citizens
into thinking like them. As well, the obedience to such laws is of course done simply because no
one wishes to be punished nor tortured. The forms of punishment handed down by the Party are
matched accordingly to the law broken and the more important the law, the harsher the
punishment. Such punishments range from torture, to public executions, or even vaporizations
(where one is erased from history itself). By the Partys standards however, there is no larger
offense than thoughtcrime, and that is dealt with via Room 101. What OBrien meant by saying,
We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them. (Orwell 265) is that Room 101 is not
a punishment by which one is shown the error in their ways, but instead is a form of torture
through which an offenders will is broken and mind is altered. As this is something no one
undoubtedly wants, the citizens obey the laws and do whatever it takes, even lying to their own
emotions, to avoid such punishment. With the ability to dictate what is right or wrong through
laws and the ability to not only eliminate, but also to assimilate through punishments, the Party
can easily maintain order and control over the lives of the citizens. Laws, as well as punishments,
can change in any society to bend to certain conditions, but in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the
government can even change history itself to do the same.
History is power and power is control. The Party thoroughly understands this concept and
modifies history to bend the actions and thoughts of the citizens. A prime example of this is
when they declared that Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia, even though not long ago
they were at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia. What Winston figured out after working
in the records department of the Ministry of Truth for so long, altering history to fit in with the
declarations of the Party, was that The past not only changed, but changes continuously.
(Orwell 83). The darkness behind this was not that the Party lies to its citizens, but that it utilized
such lies to direct their actions, thoughts, and emotions. By telling people that they were at war
with one nation, they could easily drive the people to despise that nation and work to destroy it.
What they truly accomplish by modifying history to say such a thing is the redirection of
peoples hatred/discontent of the Party unto a target of their choosing. Aside from directing and
controlling hatred/emotions through the falsification of history, they also use it to deceive the
masses into thinking the party is infallible. By altering the records of boot production into
showing there was a surplus, the Party managed to convince the people that everything was
going well and that the boots produced far met the expectations, even though there was a great
shortage. Being told that everything is supposedly fine eliminates curiosity and gives the citizens
a false sense of safety, as well as trust, which is exactly what the Party wants. It is this ability to
change whatever they wish into becoming truth that allows them to convince people they are
always right. Of course what follows is mind control and the elimination of thoughts that go
against the Party, because if the Party is always correct in everything they do or declare, then
why would there be reason to think anything else or any other way? It is exactly as the Party
slogan puts it, "Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the
past" (Orwell 37), and since the party controls the past, they can control the people. Of course
even the alteration of history itself doesnt display the extent of the partys power to control, as
they can even manipulate language(s).
In modern day society, words are timeless tools we use to express ourselves with. In
Nineteen Eighty-Four however, they are destroyed to do the exact opposite. The Party destroys
and alters the variety of words people are allowed to use by introducing a controlled language
known as Newspeak. This language is developed by members of the party, such as Syme, and
does not include words that can be used to describe concepts that go against the Party. It is
important to understand that it is contrary to modern day English, as words arent constantly
being added to help increase the range of words that can be used to express something, but
instead decreased, exactly as how Syme says that in the final version of Newspeakthe whole
notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words (Orwell 54). In this way
Newspeak physically restricts the citizens abilities to express and think by eliminating words,
the only tools people can use to break out of the Partys chain of oppression/manipulation, as it
disables them from expressing or understanding anti-Party thoughts. When you think of a
concept such as freedom, you undoubtedly relate it to words/phrases, but if those words/phrases
didnt exist or meant something completely different, then the concept, freedom in this case,
could not possibly exist, be communicated, nor understood. If a concept like rebellion or
freedom cannot be communicated to others, then there is no feasible way for any threatening
opposition to arise against the Party. The reality exists that thought is dependent on words, and
words are dependent on thought, and since the Party can control words, they can easily control
thoughts. If it ever reaches the point where Newspeak is finalized, humanities last hope of
expression may very well be sealed.
The Party is nothing short of a power crazed oligarchy that holds numerous ways to
solidify its control over the citizens of Oceania. They watch over everyones actions and monitor
even thoughts through technology. The laws of the world, as well as the punishments that tie into
them accordingly, are made for the purposes of thought, action, and belief manipulation, as well
as elimination and assimilation. The past/history itself and even words are nothing but mere tools
for them to bend at their will to restrict the masses from thinking for themselves or expressing
themselves. The day the citizens are free to believe that two plus two equals four may never
come, if Winston is correct in saying hope, it must lie in the proles (Orwell 72), as against
an enemy that completely controls its citizens, hope cannot possibly exist. Through the use of all
these methods, the party is capable of maintaining absolute and perpetual control over the
thoughts, actions, and even beliefs of all the citizens of Oceania.









Citations:
1. VIllines, Zawn. "Watch Out: The Psychological Effects of Mass Surveillance." Goodtherapy.
Goodtherapy.org, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/watch-out-
psychological-effects-of-mass-surveillance-0910137>.
2. Pomeroy, Ross. "Repetition: The Key to Spreading Lies | RCScience." RealClearScience.
RealClearScience, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/03/say-it-like-you-mean-it-how-lies-can-easily-trump-
facts.html>.