Comparative Commentary on Media Control and 1984

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Emre Çobanoğlu 11-G

Mr. Best

English

16.05.2009

Word Count: 708

Comparative Commentary on Media Control and 1984

“The truth of the matter is buried under edifice after edifice of lies upon lies”1 said Noam Chomsky. In the passage taken from the book “Media Control” written by Noam Chomsky, history can be perceived differently when there is a governmental effort to present the truth in a falsified manner. In the passage, falsification of truth is conveyed through the example of the manipulation of the statistical data on casualty rate in the Vietnam War. Based on the passage taken from the novel “1984” written by George Orwell, the manipulation of the truth are shown through some statistics such as the mortality rate and the literate rate of proles. In the passage, Winston thinks about the fact that their history has been erased and the erasure has been forgotten. In these two passages, political knowledge of people has been affected by the councils. To make this, history has been consciously and deliberately erased by the authorities and people have become to believe what was actually a lie. Therefore, falsification is the main idea in both of these passages. The historical matters may be manipulated by the authorities in order to make the community believe in the altered facts that are most beneficial for the government and for the society itself.

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        The manipulation of truth is the main theme of these two passages. Authorities are manipulating the truth in order to affect people and change their perceptions about the history. Chomsky stated South Vietnam War as an example. Kennedy employees tried hard to make people view the war as in a shape that war is something noble and right. Chomsky also mentioned that, this plan has worked and most Americans has become to believe in the death

1 http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/MediaControl_excerpts.html

rate of Vietnamese is less than the actual figures which shows the readers the authorities can re-arrange bad thoughts and restore good ...

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