Power of Language

Recently, I’ve been reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. In the book's dystopian setting, words such as “freedom” and “liberty” are completely removed from society as part of the government’s propaganda machine to maintain control over the population. Due to these measures, the population no longer had the concept of freedom. This was an incredibly powerful tool as it allowed the population to be essentially subdued without any actual control. If people have no word to describe the concept of a free world or having individual freedom, it becomes very difficult for them to have a desire for these values, much less to be able to organize and rebel against a government for those values.

This highlights a very interesting human phenomenon. We are only able to understand concepts that we can put a name to. This is something I’ve also explored in previous blogs, such as my blog about blue and green and how some cultures don’t have a separate word for blue and, therefore, can’t distinguish between the two colors.

Because of this, governments in real life have also taken steps to try to control or manipulate language. In Nazi Germany, words that were from foreign roots were changed to sound more German. More recently, the Italian government referred to the Gulf War as “International Police Activities,” and the United States has referred to its actions in Guantanamo Bay as “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.” All of these are attempts to control societies' perceptions of the actions of their government and the world around them, showcasing the power of language and its impact on societies.