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Hypocrisy of the Party

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1984
Hypocrisy of the Party The novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1948, is a prophetic look into the world that was being shaped by rapidly growing superpowers bent on the destruction of their rivals. The world that Orwell depicts is an earth divided into three massive super states, Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania, all in a continual state of war and changing alliances. Throughout the novel, the Party, which is the main governing power of Oceania, is constantly falsifying documents and rewriting history to fit past predictions and political promises of the government. These lies and double standards are illustrated by the Party’s three slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.
The doublethink of War is Peace is exemplified in these words, "The very word 'war', therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous, war has ceased to exist...War is Peace" (Orwell 164). In the novel Oceania is in a perpetual state of war with ether Eurasia or Eastasia. Whenever a new alliance is made or a new enemy obtained, the Party revises past publications to make it seem that they have always been at war with the same foe. These contradictions go unnoticed by the vast majority of the population, and those who do take note are easily swept up in the frenzy of war.
The Party slogan, Freedom is Slavery; even in itself contains two opposing viewpoints that conflict with each other. This process of doublethink is basically the “power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them” (Orwell 155). The Party enslaves the people of Oceania, not literally, but in every action they perform from their morning “jerks” to walking down the street. They are constantly under the watchful eye of the Party and Big Brother. When the population of a nation becomes enslaved to its government, they no longer possess the means to oppose the government. Consequently the only logical step for the Party is to remove the freedoms of the people of Oceania and inhibit their ability to rise up. Thus the individual is powerless, and the absence of personal freedom weakens the population by making it impossible to do anything of great achievement. Therefore, freedom is slavery.
By keeping the population of Oceania in a state of unawareness, the Party is able to control any information, news, and education given to the people. The result is a society that is so ignorant that they do not question what they are told, so no weaknesses in the government’s plans, policies, or decrees are ever discovered. In effect, it was good to be ignorant of the facts, and bad to be ignorant of the current political spectrum. In the world of 1984, ignorance had become power, whether it existed in Oceania or in its adversaries, it could be used for gain in controlling the population. Ignorance is strength.
Throughout the novel these three dichotomic views continue to be prevalent in the Party’s plans to circumvent any resistance to their control of Oceania. By manipulating and falsifying basic truths of human society through torture and mind control, they create a civilization that is ignorant, enslaved, and willing to support a continual war, without knowledge of the cause. The Party physically, mentally, and spiritually exert their power over the “party members” and the “proles” of Oceania, while allowing “inner party” members many extravagant privileges. Using the hypocritical standpoints: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength, the Party “seeks power entirely for its own sake. ... We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, but it is an end. ... How does one man assert his power over another ... By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own?” (Orwell 217) These three phrases seem to resound with truth in many ways, but the irony lies in the fact that though they bombard the masses into belief, to no one are the phrases truer than to the government itself.

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