Thursday, 23 August 2012

What is doublethink in 1984?

In
, "Doublethink" is reality control:  the power to hold two
completely contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously.  It's a kind of , a conscious
lie, by the government: the ultimate form of propaganda.


That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once
again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand
the word doublethink involved the use of doublethink.

The
best examples are, of course, the mottoes of the dystopia:


War is peace.  Freedom is slavery.  Ignorance is strength.


These are used...

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