Rhetoric as an instrument for manipulation and distortion of truth an analysis of Orwell's 1984

Title

Rhetoric as an instrument for manipulation and distortion of truth an analysis of Orwell's 1984

Creator

Sharmila

Description

Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, points out that all individuals indulge in rhetoric to demonstrate the truth or righteousness in what one wants to say. Problems arise only when rhetoric is used to appeal to emotions, rather than reason. In the current times, when rhetoric is used by leaders for propaganda, to whip up emotions in terms of nationalism and racism, George Orwell's remark that "political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable,"6 sounds relevant. The author examines Orwell's 1984 to demonstrate how rhetoric is a powerful tool in the hands of political leaders that can control the thoughts of individuals, to the extent of reducing them to non-entities. In an era where manufacture of consent is possible, the paper highlights how the quality of rhetoric has vitiated over time and the concern that the abuse of language prevalent in fascist regimes of Hitler and Stalin is slowly creeping into democracies too. A peaceful and harmonious existence is possible only when political leaders engage in responsible rhetoric and are willing to dialogue with dissenting voices. 2017 Journal of Dharma: Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies (DVK, Bangalore).

Source

Journal of Dharma, Vol-42, No. 1, pp. 9-28.

Date

2017-01-01

Publisher

Dharmaram College, Centre for the Study of World Religions

Subject

Doublethink; Language; Newspeak; Propaganda; Reason; Rhetoric; State; Totalitarianism

Coverage

Sharmila, Christ University, Bangalore, India

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 2537222

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85033794170&partnerID=40&md5=dfee8a704576e4403f1bd1a899c1813a