In 1984, George Orwell presents a dystopia, the complete opposite of the perfect world. The setting is a post-war situation, based on reality after the world wars. The main character, Winston Smith, faces oppression everyday and is completely controlled by the media. Citizens are brainwashed and manipulated by the Party, the only political party allowed in Oceania. The situation Orwell describes is eerily similar to the one in Germany during the second world war. It seems that 1984 is meant to send out a message to make the public realise what exactly happened during the war, in order to prevent it from ever happening again. In this essay, I will analyze the main slogan of the Party and show how this slogan is used to manipulate the population of Oceania. The slogan is made up of three contradictory statements, which I will analyze each in
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This final statement can be seen as ‘Your ignorance is our strength’, from the Party’s part of view. The strength given by ignorance is a huge factor in our life, in Orwell’s world set in 1984, but also today. People should never question the law, legal institutions or school books. Especially in Oceania, this statement was of great importance. With a sole leader, a dictator like Big Brother, citizens should never doubt and protest against the government. This is seen in World War II. Protests against Hitler could even be punished with the death penalty. Orwell reflects back on World War II in 1984 and shocks the reader with how easy it can be to become a part of this mass. All people blindly following Big Brother have no idea what they’re doing. They trust their leader. Similarly, nazis followed Hitler. The ignorance of the people, who blindly trust their leader, is strength for the dictator. The bigger his following is, the more he can achieve. The people in Oceania are victims of Big Brother’s intelligent and effective propaganda, and just like Hitler did in real life, rebellions are severely
This final statement can be seen as ‘Your ignorance is our strength’, from the Party’s part of view. The strength given by ignorance is a huge factor in our life, in Orwell’s world set in 1984, but also today. People should never question the law, legal institutions or school books. Especially in Oceania, this statement was of great importance. With a sole leader, a dictator like Big Brother, citizens should never doubt and protest against the government. This is seen in World War II. Protests against Hitler could even be punished with the death penalty. Orwell reflects back on World War II in 1984 and shocks the reader with how easy it can be to become a part of this mass. All people blindly following Big Brother have no idea what they’re doing. They trust their leader. Similarly, nazis followed Hitler. The ignorance of the people, who blindly trust their leader, is strength for the dictator. The bigger his following is, the more he can achieve. The people in Oceania are victims of Big Brother’s intelligent and effective propaganda, and just like Hitler did in real life, rebellions are severely