Daniel Gehrin

Hoey
English 4
12/13/14
1984 Propaganda
In the novel "1984" by George Orwell, we are introduced to a society where the
government has control of all aspects of life. They control what people say, how they live, and
even how the people think. On top of all of this, there is constant propaganda being thrown upon
the people. This propaganda is something to be concerned about because it influences how the
people think. This is why people should be wary of propaganda for it may change how the
common person may view the world.
In "1984" we see three main slogans : War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and
Knowledge is Ignorance (Orwell). Orwell fears that a government can gain enough power to be
able to give these slogans to the people and they would believe it. There is reason to believe
that this fear came from Germany during World War II and how Hitler used propaganda and
mind control to influence the thoughts of the common folk.
Orwell was concerned about the use of propaganda because recently in his time
Hitler used propaganda to mold the minds of the Germanic people. One of the first uses of
propaganda Hitler used was the book Mein Kampf (Nazi Prop). This book promoted the values
of the Nazi Party. Along with speeches to promote Nazi views, the book promoted ideas of antisemitism and racism.
In modern times, propaganda is still widely used to convince peoples opinions.
Unfortunately, sometimes people or groups take advantage of this to change minds in an
immoral way. One culprit of this is Fox news. Fox will do whatever it takes to share their
message. These things include using scapegoats, bringing religion into arguments, and even

changing history to prove their points(Boaz). This causes concern because this means that
mainstream media can change any bit of information and get away scott free.
For the most part, Orwell was right about propaganda and how it would be used to a
mind controlling way. He was right how the a higher power can change information as they see
fit. Where orwell was wrong is with to the extent of how propaganda would be used. He thought
that people would be force fed these ads and people would eat up every last bit of it. When in
reality, people are wary of information and know when not to believe it. In the end, it is true that
propaganda has been used to mold the minds of people in the past but in the present it is less
likely to happen.

Work Cited

"Nazi Propaganda." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust
Memorial Council, 20 June 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
Boaz, Cynthia. "Fourteen Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans."
Truthout. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
Orwell, George, Thomas Pynchon, and Miguel Temprano Garcia. 1984. Barcelona: Debolsillo,
2013. Print.