Thursday 2 July 2015

I need help comparing newspeak and doublethink and how they are alike. I need to back this up with a quote for each in one paragraph; Also, I need...

For one thing, "doublethink" is itself a Newspeak word. It means, in short, to hold two contradictory beliefs at the same time, recognizing that they are contradictory, but accepting both. But before exploring the concept of "doublethink," one has to understand what Newspeak is. It is, in short, the language promoted by the Party, one which is intended to eliminate shades of meaning and words that are deemed unnecessary. The point of this, as Syme,...

For one thing, "doublethink" is itself a Newspeak word. It means, in short, to hold two contradictory beliefs at the same time, recognizing that they are contradictory, but accepting both. But before exploring the concept of "doublethink," one has to understand what Newspeak is. It is, in short, the language promoted by the Party, one which is intended to eliminate shades of meaning and words that are deemed unnecessary. The point of this, as Syme, a Party philologist, makes clear to Winston, is mind control. In short, the Party wants to eliminate the possibility of "thoughtcrime," or intellectual heresy, by eliminating unorthodox concepts. One can't commit treason if there are not words and concepts to imagine it. As Syme says, with every edition to the language, "the range of consciousness grows smaller and smaller," to the point where any ideas not in line with Party orthodoxy will be eliminated. It is the ultimate form of mind control. "Doublethink" will be impossible once Newspeak is completely established, but it demonstrates the success of the Party in essentially brainwashing the people. For an example, one might look at the Party's slogan: "WAR IS PEACE," "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY," and "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." People can recognize that these statements are contradictory, yet they know they have to accept them as truth. Similarly, the people are told they have always been at war with the likes of Eurasia or Eastasia, though most of them have lived at a time when they were not. The point really is to call everything into doubt––the very nature of truth itself––to the point where people simply have to accept the Party's version of truth. So Newspeak and "doublethink" are each methods of mind control or brainwashing, methods that are really more effective and insidious than the brute force and terror that the Party also employs.

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