WAR IS PEACE - FREEDOM IS SLAVERY - IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

This will be my last post to this blog. In 1984, propaganda is used to control. But each kind of propaganda I have explained so far is minute compared to this famous slogan;

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

These phrases, particularly WAR IS PEACE, are quite possibly the most extreme works of propaganda ever imagined. And in essence, this slogan is truly what 1984 is all about. You could consider this slogan the backbone of the Party. But what do the phrases mean? They do contradict each other. Don't they seem kinda silly? Through proper explanation, you will realize that they are not.



WAR IS PEACE



To me, this is the most terrifying of all Orwell's ideas. In his imagined future, the three super-states, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, are all perpetually at war with one another. But the battle they fight is a futile, eternal battle, where no one will ever emerge victorious. At one point in the story, Winston reads Goldstein's book about the inner workings of the Party. The idea behind war and peace is explained elaborately but thoroughly. The main point of their never-ending war is not against each other, but against the people of their super-states. By giving the people an incentive towards war, they constantly have a war-like mentality. This, in my opinion, is the ultimate feat of propaganda. Because people will pay more attention towards propaganda during war, Oceania remains in a constant war in order to keep the people under the influence of propaganda. This is the reason why all the history I've done of propaganda has been geared towards warfare. If all the citizens fight for the party, how can a citizen fight against the party?


FREEDOM IS SLAVERY



It is very clear how contradictory this statement is. In 1984, O'Brein reminds Winston that it can be said in reverse; SLAVERY IS FREEDOM. The Party knows that while every individual is in bondage to them, their is no freedom, no individuality. This means no defeat. If the individual is outside of the Party, he will die and life will go on. But if he is in submission to the Party, then he IS the Party, and therefore he is immortal. Power is collective. One cannot have power on their own. They must be a slave.


IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH



The meaning behind this statement is complex. Mankind has always had three classes: high, middle, and low. The high has always tried to remain the high. The middle has always tried to become the high The low has always aspired of world where all men are equal. This cycle has continued, leading to war after war, reform after reform, revolution after revolution. But the Party has put a stop to it. By keeping the proletarians entertained, they control them. The proletarians have the strength to rebel, but do not have the intelligence. This is where the slogan IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH comes in. The Part is infallible because there is no one smart enough to overcome it, not even the Party itself. This is why the Party cannot fall. The people of Oceania cannot possibly be educated past the point where they would feel unsatisfied with the state they live in, and therefore consider their current life the best life they could have, and any other life to be terrible and unsatisfactory. Through the constant barrage of propaganda, one slogan stands to the people of Oceania;


IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH