1.
War
is Peace
-“It is for the possession of
these thickly populated regions, and of the northern ice cap, that the three
powers are constantly struggling” (187).
Oceania,
Eastasia, and Eurasia are constantly at war with each other, but the motive for
the war is more geographical than economic. The countries try to gain control of
regions with supposedly lesser populations that serve as a labor force for the
country.
-“Goods must be produced, but
they need not be distributed. And in practice the only way of achieving this
was by continuous warfare” (191).
The
countries needed to determine a way to keep their citizens from attaining too
much wealth without having the citizens turn against their country. After all,
wealth precedes knowledge and power. With the three countries in constant
warfare, the citizens remain loyal to their countries even when they do not
have a sufficient amount of goods.
-“What is more remarkable is that
all three powers already possess, in the atomic bomb, a weapon far more
powerful than any that their present researchers are likely to discover” (194).
The
atomic bomb destroyed the need for science, and thus the need for researchers
and scientific intellectuals. The destructive power of the atomic bomb also
means each country has the power to destroy the others, but they will not. The
war is literally never ending.
-“The war is waged by each ruling
group against its own subjects, and the object of war is not to make or prevent
conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society in tact” (199).
The
above quotation summarizes the entire objective of the war. War keeps society
as a
whole angry at the enemy;
therefore, the anger is directed away from the Party. This collective anger
keeps the Party safe from overthrow and the society together. Thus, war is
peace.
2.
Ignorance
is Strength
-“But the purpose of
[perpetuating unfreedom and inequality] was to arrest progress and freeze
history at a chosen moment” (203).
The
Party chooses to take away freedom from its citizens for the safety of the
Party. Without freedom and free thought, the citizens are unable to rebel
against the Party.
-“The possibility of enforcing
not only complete obedience to the will of the State, but complete uniformity
of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time” (206).
Technology
and media lead to the Party’s ability to control the thoughts of its citizens.
It is through print and television that the Party is able to alter the past.
The thoughts of the citizens are no longer their own, and they are forced to
believe whatever the Party tells them.
-“Admission to either branch of
the Party is by examination, taken at the age of sixteen” (208).
This
examination determines the intelligence of the person who takes the test. Those
who lack intelligence become Proles and are granted free thought. However,
granting free thought to the Proles is not dangerous to the Party because the
Proles are not intelligent enough to do anything to rebel against the Party. Those
who are intelligent are admitted into the Inner Party where they are not given
free thought. The Inner Party is most greatly influenced by the Party because
the Party is only safe if they keep the Inner Party seemingly ignorant to the
Party’s lies.
-“Ultimately it is by means of
doublethink that the Party has been able-and may, for all we know, continue to
be able to thousands of years-to arrest the course of history” (215).
The
illusion of ignorance by the members of the Inner and Outer Party is what keeps
the Party in power. This ignorance is achieved through doublethink for the
citizens know a concrete truth, but choose to believe the Party’s lies instead
because the Party must always be right. Doublethink takes away freedom of individual
thought from the citizens, which is the ultimate goal of the Party.
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