Jacqueline RIzkallah

Mr. Lopez
AP Lit. and Comp.
11/4/15
1984 Commentary #1: Language and Thought Control
He picked up the childrens history book and looked at the portrait of Big Brother. The hypnotic eyes
gazed into his own. It was as though some huge force was pressing down upon you-something that
penetrated inside your skull, battering against your brain, frightening you out of your beliefs, persuading
you, almost to deny the evidence of your senses. In the end the party would announce that two and two
made five, and you would have to believe it (Orwell, 80).

Winston experiences the Party controlling his innermost thoughts and feelings on a daily
basis and the language contributes to the entire race of people having limited intellectual
abilities. Winston observes a portrait of Big Brother, the face of the controlling government, in a
childrens history book and notices his harsh features. Big Brothers eyes are used as visual and
tactile imagery to control the people. Winston feels the huge eyes on him to the point where they
are pressing him down so much and messing with his brain. These eyes are constantly watching
him and are used as a thought control device. Winston can almost feel the eyes inside his head,
hitting his brain and invading his personal thoughts. This shows how strong of an influence Big
Brother has over the people, they dont even feel comfortable in their own bodies anymore.
Orwell describes the eyes with strong diction such that they were hypnotic and penetrated
inside your skull to show the extremity of Big Brothers influence in society. Hypnotizing is
being in an artificially induced trance and this demonstrates how the government uses mind
control to break the citizens. Also, your skull is supposed to be strong; however, the dictating
eyes of Big Brother are strong enough to penetrate it and control the peoples thoughts.
The mood is confining and hopeless due to the large amount of negative phrases like
frightening you out of your beliefs. The government uses fear mongering to scare people to the
extent that they will lose their beliefs and morals, forcing them to follow the Partys rules. This is
so confining for the people, knowing that they can never have their own belief system. In

addition, the mood is hopeless because Winston claims that if the government tells the people
that two and two adds to five, they would have no choice to believe it. The government is
limiting their education and intellectual abilities which also limits their language as a human
race. The people dont have the knowledge or mind capacity to figure out two plus two so they
are forced to believe in a lie told by the Party. The language is corrupt and the government is
using mind control to limit their education.