In his article “Discourse and Manipulation,” published in the 2006 issue of Discourse & Society, Teun A. van Dijk describes language as an important tool for manipulation because the manipulator can make people think the way he wants them to: “Manipulation implies the exercise of a form of illegitimate influence by means of discourse: manipulators make others believe or do things that are in the interest of the manipulator, and against the best interests of the manipulated” (van Dijk 360). In other words, language is power. No one knows this better than O’Brien in George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984. During his torture scenes with Winston, he explains how language is the very means by which the Party manipulates the public: “Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing” (Orwell 220). This is the ultimate example of the ruling Party’s all-encompassing power, built largely on their ability to control the minds of the populace by manipulating language. They achieve this manipulation through the use of propaganda, Newspeak and media. In our own society language is used to manipulate citizens as well, in more subtle, yet no less alarming ways, through the use of advertising, media and politics. Could we be headed toward a totalitarian society such as that presented in 1984?