Saturday, May 27, 2017

What is "thoughtcrime" in 1984?

George Orwell, in his futuristic dystopian novel 1984, creates a language called "newspeak" which epitomizes the style and manner of thinking of totalitarian regimes. The goal of "newspeak" within the novel is to create a language in which it is impossible to think subversive thoughts that might destabilize Big Brother and the government of Oceania. Syme, a friend of Winston, the protagonist of the novel, states:


Don't you see that the whole aim of...

George Orwell, in his futuristic dystopian novel 1984, creates a language called "newspeak" which epitomizes the style and manner of thinking of totalitarian regimes. The goal of "newspeak" within the novel is to create a language in which it is impossible to think subversive thoughts that might destabilize Big Brother and the government of Oceania. Syme, a friend of Winston, the protagonist of the novel, states:



Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.



"Crimethink" is any form of criminal or subversive thinking. A "thoughtcrime" is a thought which is forbidden. By means of a system of ubiquitous cameras and microphones, Big Brother monitors not just what people say and write, but also their facial expressions and tones of voice for any possible subversive thoughts. Simply having such thoughts is a crime. In a sense, the notion of a thoughtcrime is an apocalyptic vision of technologically enabled totalitarianism.


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