Ignorance In 1984

Ignorance is defined as a lack of information or knowledge. Society often looks down upon those who are ignorant or less educated because they consider themselves to be better. Even though we do this, society as a whole is often misled or kept ignorant about meaningful issues in the world, especially in the news. However, almost no one is actually aware of this because their main source of information is the one that is probably leaving out information or lying to them. Some governments even block out all sources of news altogether. One might wonder why governments would do this. By using the novel, 1984, George Orwell establishes the theme that governments use ignorance as the most powerful means of control, conveyed by the use of fabrication

of the truth and limiting the intelligence of followers.
George Orwell proves that the fabrication of truth, a form of ignorance, is one of the most effective forms of control. To stay in control and retain their power, the Party must prevent its citizens from rebelling and overthrowing their government. In the novel, 1984, the government rules over its citizens and keeps them in utter submission by lying and using propaganda. As a result, the loyalty the citizens have for the Party is forced. Part of what encourages this forced loyalty is how the Party changes history to its own advantage. The main character, Winston, starts out as a fairly loyal Party member, but then moves on to commit large acts of treason. He is eventually caught and tortured by a former friend, O’Brien, who explains that “‘who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past,’” demonstrating how because the Party is in power at the moment, they are able to change the past so that they may stay in power in the future (Orwell 248). To make themselves seem more knowledgeable and powerful, the Party ‘changes’ the past by erasing records and news from before to favor them, and cast them in a better light. An example of them changing the records is when the Party says that the enemies (whoever they are at the moment) are attacking the proles when in fact, it is the Party. The citizens of the Party may not like the way the Party rules, but since it is so intelligent and strong, they feel protected, as opposed to the proles. They believe that even though their freedom is limited, if they had more, they might end up like the proles. Also, since they think the Party is so superior, they are afraid to fight back and rebel because they think that any efforts to rebel will be futile, discouraging any future revolutions. If they knew what the Party was genuinely like, they might have been able to overthrow it. Additionally, to make Winston fear the Party, O’Brien persuades Winston to believe that the Party is omniscient by mentioning that “‘whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth,’” portraying how easily the Party can control the minds of its citizens, by making them believe whatever would be in the best interest of the Party (Orwell 249). Using propaganda and threats, the Party reinforces their claim that they control the truth and brainwashes its citizens. When Winston began questioning what the Party designated was the truth because it didn’t match what he thought was true, he was found and tortured and his public death sent the message to fellow citizens that if they followed in his footsteps, the same would happen to them. Because of the consequences, most of the time, the Party and say or do whatever they want and be trusted blindly. Having the people’s trust is beneficial for the Party because there is no questioning, which can easily lead to rebellion, which is also prevented, keeping the Party in power. Fabricating the truth, a part of ignorance, is what George Orwell believes to be the most powerful form of control.
Furthermore, keeping people ignorant by limiting their knowledge, is also a way George Orwell believes is the most powerful way of staying in control.

Some of Winston’s acts of rebellion included questioning authority figures and asking about history and not blindly believing whatever the Party told him. After contemplating actions against the Party leading to his torture, Winston realizes that to stay alive in the Party, “Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain,” illustrating how if citizens are intelligent, curious, and question too much, they will be punished by the Party (Orwell 279). Although numerous, the proles could never rebel as long as they were not smart enough and not educated by the party. Their lack of intelligence may have been the only factor holding them back. Fabricating information is also easier when a society only knows as much as a government wants them to know. If the people's knowledge is not within the government's control, then from other sources, they will realize that the information and news they're hearing are lies. People don't react well to being lied to and they might call the government out on their lies, which can lead to rebellion. Along with intelligence, people gain confidence from education and knowledge. Winston lacks this confidence and is absorbed in his self-doubt, which may have led to his capture. By limiting their knowledge, the Party makes it impossible for citizens to rebel. Moreover, the

citizens would have supposedly no reasoning behind a potential revolution. Disguised as Emmanuel Goldstein, the fictional leader of the rebels, the Party wrote the Book explaining the history and actions of the Party. Winston reads the Book, including the part that explains, “so long as [the people] are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed,” referring to how the Party eliminates all outside contact and historical records so that people are unaware that there is an alternative to their way of living (Orwell 207). With nothing to compare the Party to, other than false historical documents, which depict other ways of government to be ineffective, many citizens probably think that what the Party is the best way to maintain order Most of the Party members only know their own lifestyle and can only dream of a seemingly impossible better world. People are more likely to stick with what they know, even if they aren’t satisfied with it. They may not like the way the Party dictates over them, yet much of them may prefer it to the chaos that could be unleashed from a revolution. Unlike people of today, they could not look at history books and base their democracy on that of Athens’s. The citizens couldn’t look at the government of a neighboring country and strive to be like it, either. Even if the people of the Party who are discontent with the Party did succeed with a revolution, they would have nothing to look off of. The fact that they wouldn’t know what to do after a possible victory would probably discourage most citizens and scare them into not rebelling. Unaware that there is a positive outcome to rebelling, the people don’t even make an attempt to do so, leaving the Party in power indefinitely. Limiting knowledge, a method of ignorance, is what George Orwell believes to be the most powerful form of control.
Throughout his novel, 1984, George Orwell communicates the theme that governments use ignorance as the most powerful means of control, as indicated through the use of fabrication of the truth and limiting the intelligence of followers.

One of the motto’s in 1984 is “ignorance is strength.” After seeing what the Party does with ignorance, it is reasonable to assume that ignorance makes the citizens stronger because with it, they can’t rebel, keeping them away from any consequences, and keeping the Party in power. Because ignorance is unhealthy for a society or nation, when people discover that they are being kept in the dark, they are outraged. In places with censorship similar to the Party’s, like Burma, people riot against the government in an attempt to end the censorship. News can be modified or based on a bias to make a nation seem better to its citizens, similar to what the Party does, albeit less exaggerated. Considering the fact that George Orwell wrote this over 60 years ago for a world over 20 years ago, he did very well in predicting what our world would turn out to be, which is alarming because it is supposed to be a gross exaggeration of the world. Looking at his world, in 1984, gives us an idea of what is wrong with the world and what will get even worse so that it can be

fixed.