Examples Of Doublethink In 1984

Ironies Within the Party’s Slogan in 1984
In the science fiction novel, 1984, George Orwell illustrates a dystopian society in which the Party inspects every human action with the prevailing figurehead Big Brother. In Oceania, the Party controls every aspect of life-- including thought-- primary through the concept of doublethink. Doublethink is “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them” (Orwell 176). The slogan of the Ministry of Truth, “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength” uses the concept of doublethink as propaganda against the citizens of Oceania. These paradoxical slogans are the mere essense of everything the party represents especially when their audience

is a brainwashed population open to accepting virtually anything the party decides to deem absolute. “War is Peace” illustrates that by keeping the population in a state of propaganda-induced fear, it is a way of maintaining peace because war elects great patriotism and encourages devotion to their government. “Freedom is Slavery” represents the idea that virtually nobody in Oceania has freedom because to be free means to submit to the rules and regulations of the Party. To the Party, ignorance of the people is their greatest strength. People like Winston work to essentially rewrite history and keep the ignorant people oblivious to reality otherwise if the people knew the true state of Oceania, feeling betrayed, they would rebel against the system.
“War is peace” highlights the idea of doublethink through the citizens of Oceania believing they are in a constant state of war and at the same time, believing there is peace. Subsequently, while Oceania is at war, the people remain united through a common enemy being Big Brother. Goldstein is an integral part of the party and he essentially binds the people together, which in turn, strengthens the party as a whole. The doublethink concept of “war is peace” emphasizes that war is no longer the desperate struggle it was in the early twentieth century due to the sheer equity between combatants that subsequently results from no material cause for fighting and no divide by ideological difference. However, the contrasting side to this argument is the nature of war itself is continuous and universal. Since the superstates are so evenly matched with great natural defenses, war between them would virtually never end, which demonstrates the irony of this statement. The main reason for this war is to keep people feeling the same emotion of constant apprehension; although the war is not necessary, it serves as a catalyst to control the people. The slogan is true the standpoint of the party because when everyone is concerned with the war, no one questions the motives of the party because without war, the citizens believe fear for their security.
The people of Oceania are oblivious to what freedom actually so they cannot know what it means to be free.

While Winston commits doublethink by writing in journal concerning the future and the past, he writes, “thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death” (27). Winston’s message highlights the extreme level of control the party has over the people. The telescreen and frequent Thought Police searches remain as a constant reminder that not only are the actions of the citizens constantly monitored, but their most personal thoughts and memories are subject to that same surveillance and invasion of privacy. If the Thought Police even had the slightest suspicion, a member of the party was contradictory to their regulations, they could be at risk of being vaporized- where the history of individual disappears as if their existence never existed. Another party slogan states, “Who controls the past controls the future (...): who controls the present controls the past”, which highlights the concept behind rewriting false history to demolish the psychological independence and individuality of the people (33). Those who control the past control the future in the sense that the party has the power to illustrate a past of immense pain and suffering which subsequently forces people to believe the party’s aims of ultimately saving the human race as absolute. This propaganda compels people to follow the goals and order of the party by controlling how people perceive and

interpret the past through forbidding the possession of personal documents and photographs. Later in the novel, Orwell uses the statement 2 + 2 = 5 as a motif which connects to the theme of individuality and Winston being the Last Man in Europe. Subsequently, the irony within this statement lies in the pure nature of mathematics which seems like the subject least likely to be altered by political manipulation, and how O’Brien claims this to be true in order to demonstrate the totalitarian control the party had over every aspect of objective reality.
Subsequently, the doublethink concept of “ignorance is strength” encourages the citizens of Oceania to accept everything stated by the party as true which represents the aims of the three class groups.

The most notable example of this concept is the characteristic of the Low class which is that “they are too much crushed by drudgery to more intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives” and that their aim is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which equality is paramount (191). In Goldstein’s book, the Low are constantly deceived into thinking they are fighting for liberty and justice, when in reality, the Middle enlist the Low through false claims of a better future. In this sense, the doublethink concept applies to the Middle, who recruit the Low by pretending and creating false hope. This cycle of power struggles between classes only applies to the Middle and High, however, the Low are never successful in achieving their aims. The four ministries are another example of irony within the slogan: the Ministry of Peace concerns itself to war, the Ministry of Plenty with starvation, the Ministry of Love with torture, and the Ministry of Truth with lies. Winston finds the Ministry of Love to be “the very frightening one” and describes the building covered “barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests” with “gorilla-faced guards in black uniforms, armed with jointed truncheons” (6).
Winston and Julia’s betrayal marks how the

party corrupts the minds of two very radical individuals who care for eachother; in retrospect, only caring about the party is caring about yourself which examines the idea that collective thinking can be individualistic. The end of the story marks Winston as the Last Man in Europe and winning his victory over himself which displays the great lengths the party will take to ensure its totalitarian control over the people.
Winston depicts the excessive presence of the slogans being inscribed on stamps, books, inside cigarette wrappers-- virtually everywhere, as a constant and tedious reminder of the party’s presence. Up until the third stage of Winston’s reintegration, he manages to not betray Julia despite the his dehumanization and torture. Room 101 marks the first instance where of their betrayal after his biggest fear serves for Big Brother’s purpose of their ability to overcome every obstacle.
The party’s slogan serves as an all-encompassing piece of propaganda than enables the population into believing that the aims of the party are enforced for their own safety and well-being. The significance of the slogan lies in the underlying purpose of the party’s technique which portrays their values into a mantra that is constantly embedded into the minds of the people. Even Wiston, an exception to the system, frequently has the Thought Police and the consequences of ownlife and doublethink on the back of his mind. These catchphrases symbolize the sheer control and power of the party alongside their paradoxical ideals.

Bibliography
Orwell, George. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1949.