Wednesday 11 July 2012

In the novel 1984, the three party slogans on the side of the building are paradoxes. Explain why.

In
, the three Party slogans are as follows:


  1. War is Peace
  2. Freedom is Slavery
  3. Ignorance is
    Strength

They are paradoxical,
meaning that they are contradictory but still can be true at the same time. Upon first reading,
they seem to just be contradictions: obviously, war and peace are opposites, as are freedom and
slavery. Ignorance and strength, though not exact opposites, can be contradictory ideas because
ignorance is often tied to mental weakness.

On one hand, these statements
can be true in the world of 1984 . With Oceania at
constant war with external enemies, its citizens are likely to focus on that conflict and not
focus as much on the oppressive actions of the Party, which would lead to rebellion. Therefore,
Oceania's war (with others) is also Oceania's peace (internally)....

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