Manipulation and Misdirection

Today I would like to touch a bit on the tactics the Party uses to misdirect the people’s hate and disapproval away from them. Throughout the book we see the many ways the Party accomplishes this, most notably the Two Minutes Hate. The Party uses this daily ritual to work the Party members into a frenzy against their enemies and to establish a sort of patriotism in them towards the Party. In addition, the Party uses war as a way to unite the public against a common enemy, which is exactly why they always seem to be at war with one country or another. War is a smart tactic to use because while it unites the public against an enemy, it also successfully cuts off the public from communicating with other countries, thereby preventing the exchange of ideas. We also see earlier in book two that the Party uses the convoy to take the public's disdain and direct it towards carefully chosen political enemies of the Party. 

All these tactics the Party employs seem to be very effective as the public blindly follows anything the Party says is true. If you were to put yourself in the shoes of a citizen in 1984, do you think you would fall for such tactics?

Comments

  1. L. MoffittFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:33 AM

    I imagine I'd be a lot like Winston -- at first I'd be putting on an act, and then, horrifyingly, I'd find myself swept up in it. Depressing.

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  2. Anna ParkFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:37 AM

    I think I would fall for it pretty quickly like the gullible person I am. If everyone around me is doing something it's natural to follow.

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  3. LynetteFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:37 AM

    Humans are innately social animals, so I think it would be very easy to go along with the crowd once enough people got riled up.

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  4. Elliot GenglerFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    I think someone who has spent their entire life under the control of the party would have no choice but to behave exactly as the party expects. It seems like for the massive majority of people, there is no free thought. They just follow the crowd, which is directed by the party.

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  5. Mayahuel MalikFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    i think we kind of do this already so I think we would definitely be sucked into it, and I think it would take us some time (as it does now) to kind of 'wake up'

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  6. Olivia TaylorFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:41 AM

    I want to say I'd be like Winston or Julia, but it's hard to say what would happen if I grew up in the society of 1984. As a generally more passive person, I'm scared that if I were to grow up in the world of 1984, I would just go along with what I was being taught, and even if I questioned it, I might still eventually accept the ideas.

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  7. IsabelaFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:43 AM

    I want to say I would be too curious to not wonder about the outside world and what the past was like, but I also think my curiosity was in part socialized into me. Without this socialization, would I still be that curious? Or fall victim to the tactics of 1984- I honestly can't say.

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  8. BronwynFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:44 AM

    I think that we would all like to think that we wouldn't fall for it but really most people would. The complete control that the party has over history and education would make it very difficult to not fall for the Party tactics.

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  9. Zachary's History as Fiction BlogFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:46 AM

    I would of course love to think that there is no way I would fall for this. I would really like to think I am much more free thinking and lack straight obedience to authority, but it would be extremely hard mentally over time.

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  10. JoelFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:50 AM

    There would need to be some form of press release the likes of which Trotsky produced while in Mexico. Huey P. Newton also worked with Eldridge Cleaver to produce publications to the Bay Area community about material conditions in an effort to raise consciousness among the community about their power in their numbers and how they can advocate for change through collective action

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  11. HaleyFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:51 AM

    I think I would probably get caught up in what everyone else is doing, especially if I grew up under the Party, but I think at some point it would be likely to question or rebel against something, though it may be something very small and insignificant.

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  12. Maher AdoniFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:53 AM

    i probably would. i think i'd get caught up in what people were doing enough to blindly follow it myself, but given enough time, perhaps i'dbreak free? maybe thats giving myself too much credit

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  13. EliasFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:56 AM

    If I was suddenly cast into the society of 1984, I would obviously never fall for these things, and I doubt anyone raised in the real world would either. However, I feel like the concept of someone living their entire life in this society and breaking free of the manipulation is pretty unrealistic, unless they were given too much information about what's going on behind the scenes.

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    Replies
    1. DemitriusFebruary 23, 2021 at 8:10 AM

      Would you really not fall for these? If you didn't then the party would find you. They might not have the resources to watch all the proles but they still could catch you.

      Delete
  14. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2021 at 8:03 AM

    Considering the immense impact of peer/social pressure in our society, I think it would be inevitable for us to eventually fall prey to the manipulative tactics presented in 1948.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2021 at 8:05 AM

      Although, it definitely depends on our education prior to filling the shoes of a character in 1984; are we suddenly transported from our lives in 2021 or have we grown up under the Party rule?

      Delete
  15. Noel ChiMarch 1, 2021 at 1:35 PM

    I think that I'd probably get "swept up" by fear & the crowd, and I certainly wouldn't have the courage to rebel against or subvert the regime.

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  16. rakeMarch 6, 2021 at 5:41 PM

    I thought this post was going to be about Brave New World because manipulation and misdirection are precisely the core facets of World State society. I find it ironic that despite the massive difference in the structures of the two dystopian nations, each comes back to M&M.

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