The Use of Perpetual Paranoia on the People of Oceania

The Use of Perpetual Paranoia on the People of Oceania

In the state of Oceania, the party control people through perpetual paranoia. The party deploys the uses of the virtual leader of the state to monitor and watch over the activities of its members. They also use the thought of offensive police force to instill fear in people. In addition to the named mechanisms, the party has several slogans, which, if analyzed critically, aim at controlling the thoughts of the people. For instance, party slogans such as ‘war is peace; freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” are all aimed at controlling the way people think. The party imposes the named slogans on people’s daily lives as a means of doublethink. The party deploys the use of these tactics in order to retain control over the people of Oceania. Through the power, the party uses the ministry of love, and foist to keep the citizens under control through the confusion and induced perpetual paranoia. The tactics deployed by the party allows them to instill fear in the people, therefore, having total control over their lives.

The party also uses a surveillance mechanism to control the people. They conduct active monitoring of the daily lives of the people through online surveillance and by the dreadful police unit. The surveillance activities in Oceania are undertaken by the ministry of love, which uses big screens that are mounted in every part of the state to keep an eye on the people. They conduct such surveillance in order to identify any perceived threat to the regime and deal with them before they blow out of control. The thought of extreme punishment and torture forces the people to behave as stipulated by the regime. According to the regime, room 1001 is the most dreadful place in the entire universe. They enforce this way of thinking on the people, therefore, instilling fear in them. The fear felt by the citizens of Oceania forces them to act in any orthodox way dictated by the regime even if they do not agree with laws.

By encouraging the denizens to use Newspeak, the regime resumes control over the people through doublespeak. Doublespeak allows the regime to receive perceived loyalty from its people. Through the forceful criteria deployed by the state that every citizen learns Newspeak, the party can control people’s way of thinking and reasoning. Newspeak limits the thoughts of the people of Oceania. Through limited word choices, no citizen of Oceania can start any revolt against the regime. Doublespeak is used by the regime to control the people and make them have two contradictory ideas and believe in them at the same time. The narrow thinking under doublespeak and nonstop acceptance make the party reign over its people. For instance, the people of Oceania are required by law to accept and believe everything said by the ruling regime. They are denied the chance of freethinking and making their own decisions concerning their lives. Just as it is stipulated that human nature desires to acquire power and use it for their benefit, the ruling regime through the ministry of love’s primary purpose is to acquire power. The regime uses the power they get for their benefit rather than for the good of the people.

The party also uses propaganda as a control tool. They deploy tactics, which only depicts the ruling regime as in the people’s interest. Any form to challenge this notion is dealt with through brutal force and torture. The ministry of love uses propaganda to depict the ruling party as the savior of the citizens of Oceania. Any contrary idea or outside forces receive blockade through censoring. Through the control of media outlets and the virtual space, the ministry of love is capable of filtering and distorting information, which reaches the people. They only allow what they consider beneficial to the ruling regime; anything of contradicting nature is blocked from reaching the people.

From the discussion, it is clear that the party in Oceania deploys several tactics to control its people. Perpetual paranoia allows the party to maintain full control over the people. The party’s primary tool that drives the total control over the people in the ministry of love. The ministry of love uses propaganda, doublespeak, surveillance, and torture to control its citizens. Propaganda, doublespeak, surveillance, and torture are meant to instill fear among the people making them utterly submissive to the regime. Once a ruling regime has control over the flow of information, it will have power over its people. Control over information allows the regime to control the way its citizens think and react. Any information deemed toxic and dangerous is filtered from all sources of information. Fear is another primary tool used by the ruling party in Oceania to control its people. Once a regime instills a sense of fear in his people, the regime assumes control over its people. When people in Oceania think about the consequences of going against the regime, they are forced to remain loyal and obedient.

Work cited

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel. New York: New American Library, 1981. Print.