1984 Close Reading Analysis

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1984-Close Reading Written Assignment The passage I have chosen to analyze from the novel 1984 spans from the last paragraph of page 28 up until the midway point of page 29. This section introduces the reader to the three mantras of the reigning political party of Oceania, which are “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery”, and “Ignorance is Strength”. This gives us insight into the oppressive utopian society depicted by the author, George Orwell, and emphasizes the fact that the citizens are induced into believing entirely illogical propaganda. These contradicting and paradoxical slogans decreed by the government convolute and overwhelm the minds of the civilians, resulting in a systematic reduction of independent thought. In addition, we are …show more content…
In Oceania, the appointed enemies, Eastasia or Eurasia at any given time, are the cause for a unification of its inhabitants. The presence of an opponent eliminates any thoughts of rebelling against their own state and shifts it to a form of patriotism and wanting to protect yourself and nation from this perceived threat. Subsequently, “Freedom is Slavery” refers to larger themes of independence and collectivism (SparkNotes Editors). As implied by the party, those who think for themselves or differently from the party are doomed to fail, so in this sense, we are able to acknowledge that those who are freethinkers will never achieve anything by themselves, so they must suppress these personal freedoms in order to succeed in a collective. In addition, we are able to reverse the slogan to “Slavery is Freedom” in order to acquire a different perspective on this topic, so instead of viewing it as acquiescing to collectivism, we can interpret this as safety and freedom from danger in numbers. This most certainly can be applied to the utopian society of 1984 because essentially one of the major objectives of the party is to have its …show more content…
In order to better appreciate this passage, we must understand the deeper meaning of such principles. First and foremost, Newspeak refers to the adopted language of Oceania which contains a limited vocabulary and serves to remove the possibility of any rebellious thoughts by consisting of only simplistic positive terms and eliminating all references to science (SparkNotes Editors). In the passage, the protagonist, Winston Smith, concerns himself with the future of the party and whether it is bound to stay in existence forever, which can be directly associated with how they govern the state and which methods they employ to do so. If the implementation of Newspeak is successful, then the chances of rebellion or ousting of the party would diminish drastically. The next principle, doublethink, is, as previously mentioned, the ability to hold onto two contradictory opinions or beliefs at the same time and not be troubled by their opposing connotations, and to be able to express either side in accordance to the party’s desires. This grand aspect of society is the most influential in psychological manipulation in the way that it is able to revoke all of your individual thoughts and beliefs on what is logical and not make you question matter that is contradictory. The final principle, mutability of the past, refers to the government’s ability to

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