Psychological and Behavioral Effects of Newspeak and Doublethink

I have chosen to discuss the psychological and behavioral effects that doublethink and the development of Newspeak and how it influences Orwell’s society and its citizens. Newspeak is the language of Oceania that was created in order to remove any thoughts of rebellion. This means that since the words of rebellion do not exist and are eliminated from the language completely. The language was built around having no negative words or descriptions of any sort.
Double think however is the process of being able to maintain two contradictory thoughts or ideas at once and believe them both to be true. This as we know seems impossible to us, but it serves as a psychological mechanism in order to allow the citizens to remain submissive under the Party’s control over Oceania. This allows the people to accept the Party’s control over them without having the thought to rebel. The process of “doublethink” allows The Party to alter events that have happened in the past to what they want the people to believe. This masks the truth and ultimately hides reality. The people of Oceania do not recognize the thought of conflict or contradiction. Without contradiction there is no need to argue another side of a point or event. Double think brainwashes the people of Oceania and allows them to accept the Party’s version of anything as acceptable, even if the Party’s story changes from time to time. The normal person would argue if somebody’s story keeps changing from minute to minute because it allows room for the thought of contradiction which can cause rebellion. The creation of Newspeak and doublethink alters the normal functioning of a person’s instincts to sense when something isn’t right. There is no longer a thought process involved when making a decision, or even thinking correctly. This allows people to behave in a submissive and controlled fashion which is just how the Party wants its people to think. This is very important in how The Party controls Oceania.
Doublethink also affects Inner Party members as well as Winston. The Inner Party member convince themselves that they work for Big Brother, and are meant to serve Big Brother, even though in reality they all know that Big Brother is just a myth. When it comes to Winston he makes himself come to terms with loving Big Brother because he believes it makes him accept his torture that he is being put through as well as what the tortures are saying to him. He does this knowing that he hates Big Brother and knowing about the Party Traitors.
In conclusion doublethink and Newspeak alter how people behave towards things and alter their psychological functioning making it nearly impossible for people to lead normal lives.