I would suggest that Orwell's main "tradition target" is
our willingness to accept whatever we hear about the past/present as true just because
it is said or common knowledge. Thus the key phrase who controls the present controls
the past; who controls the past controls the future. Orwell was very concerned about the
manipulation of the past through selective information "creation," especially through
the use/misuse of language. He thought much of our modern writing wasn't intended to
enlighten, but rather to obfuscate, that much of what pasted for information was
propaganda (cf. "Animal Farm"). Since the past doesn't exist, our only knowledge of it
is through verbal and written records. When the information in these is created for
control purposes, you have propaganda. We seem to become more and more taken by this,
especially with the Internet flooding us with information that is almost impossible to
verify.
He influences his readers by showing where such
slavish following of misinformation leads ... people put their faith in a government to
protect them, even if what they are protect against isn't real. All countries carry on
Wars against the others, not because they are angry at them, but because the ongoing
nature of War makes the people dependent on their government for security, and makes
them more willing to make whatever "sacrifies" are demanded for that security. Sound
familiar? Orwell may have been on to something ....
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