Ministry of Truth
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The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. As with the other Ministries in the novel, the Ministry of Truth is a misnomer and in reality serves an opposing purpose to that which it's name would imply, being responsible for the falsification of historical events; and yet is aptly named in a deeper sense, in that it created/manufactured "truth" in the newspeak sense of the word.
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[edit] Description
The Ministry of Truth is where the main character of the book Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith, works. It is an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete rising 300 meters into the air, containing over 3000 rooms above ground. On the outside wall are the three slogans of the Party: "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," "Ignorance is Strength." There is also a large part underground, probably containing huge incinerators where documents are destroyed after they are put down memory holes. For his description Orwell may have been inspired by the Senate House at the University of London, although it is also possible that this building could have been the basis for the Ministry of Love[citation needed][clarify].
[edit] Role in information
The Ministry of Truth is involved with news media, entertainment, the fine arts and educational books. Its purpose is to rewrite history and change the facts to fit party doctrine, for propaganda effect. For example, if Big Brother makes a prediction that turns out to be wrong, the employees of the Ministry of Truth go back and rewrite history so that any prediction Big Brother previously made is accurate. This is the "how" of the Ministry of Truth's existence. Within the novel Orwell elaborates that the deeper reason for its existence is to maintain the illusion that the party is absolute. It cannot ever seem to change its mind (if, for instance, they perform one of their constant changes regarding enemies during war) or make a mistake (firing an official or making a grossly misjudged supply prediction), for that would imply weakness and to maintain power the party must seem eternally right and strong.
[edit] Departments
The following are the departments of the ministry mentioned in the text:
- Records Department (Recdep in Newspeak)
- Fiction Department (Ficdep in Newspeak)
- Propaganda Department (Propdep in Newspeak)
- Tele-programmes Department (Teledep in Newspeak)
- Research Department (Resdep in Newspeak)
- Music Department (Musdep in Newspeak, may not belong to the Ministry of Truth)
[edit] Cultural References
- Keith Olbermann on his nightly show Countdown with Keith Olbermann, frequently refers to Fox News as the "Ministry of Truth."
- The Rick Emerson Show refers to its noon newshour as "Ministry of Truth", with Tim Riley.
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