Censorship throughout 1984

Thesis Statement

Censorship is seen throughout most of the book "1984" by George Orwell. The main character, Winston Smith, lives in a totalitarian society. The government controls everything and everyone, making the people believe that their government system is perfect in every way. There are branches of the government whose soul job is to edit newspapers, books, songs, pictures, plays, any sort of media or entertainment, to make sure that they support what the government officials predict.


Censorship is "the official prohibition or restriction of any type of expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order."

In the book 1984, the whole government is based off of lies and deception, making it seems stronger than it actually is. From the beginning, the government trains people to believe that, as the book says on page 26, "war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength." That one statement, their motto, goes against everything that we in the present day have been taught. Everything the government teaches its people is based on lies in order to mold the peoples minds to think the same so that everyone supports the so called, "Big Brother."

Another example of censorship is where Winston worked. He worked in a branch of the Record Department called the Ministry of Truth. His entire job was to rewrite newspapers and historical documents so that they backed up everything "Big Brother" predicted. On page 35 it says,..."Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day, had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in North Africa. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command had launched its offensive in South India and left North Africa alone." Because Big Brother had predicted wrong, Winston had to rewrite Big Brothers speech so that it fit what actually happened. The old speech was therefor destroyed so no proof remained that Big Brother was every wrong.

Another example of censorship is Comrade Ogilvy on page 41. As the book says, "...who had recently died in battle, in heroic circumstances." Comrade Ogilvy is a fake person that was made as an example for everyone else to follow and mimic. This is just another way that Big Brother can mold your mind into making you think that you have to be just like people like Comrade Ogilvy to be happy and successful in life.

On page six it says, "...it was even conceivable that they watched ever body all the time." This is showing that the government is scaring people into making them behave a certain way. They do this by making the people believe that they are being watched everywhere, all the time and if they do something wrong they can be imprisoned or killed. The telescreens are the governments way of always keep an eye on everyone.

As page 192 says, "'Thoughtcrime!' said Parsons..."You don't think they'll shoot me, do you?

This is showing that the government, or Big Brother is always watching and knows when you think against the government. In this example, Parsons is terrified because he thought something that the government did not like. He might be killed or imprisoned forever. This statement is just backing up what I have already said above.

Star Rating

I would give this book four stars because it gets you involved with the characters life but not too much. It contains good events and is and exciting read. The ending has an exciting plot twist that I was not expecting.

Censorship throughout 1984


"Online Activists Tap Tools to Escape Censorship." PCWorld. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

"Government Censorship." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.