...One’s Ignorance is Another’s Power Power is something that everyone seeks. It plays a vital role in our society, as well as Winston’s society in 1984. Whether it is beneficial or malicious, it is something that one must acquire to lead and take control over followers. Some say that it comes in the form of money and riches, and others say that it is intangible. However, there is one form of power that proves to be the most effective and cruel; it is ignorance. George Orwell could not have said it any better in his book 1984. “Ignorance is strength,” Orwell wrote in 1984 (Orwell 4). As stated, ignorance provides power to the foul government in Winston’s society. No one is educated about the truth of the past or the rights they have as a human...
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...the metaphor for ignorance, as the problem he confronts, how he and supporters of monarchic rule use it, what the metaphor does, and its inaccuracy. By inaccuracy I mean that it is merely the preferred image of those intending to exclude the people from holding power. It contributes to preventing people from changing the political status quo and renders the possibility that ignorance is anything more than a violent force threating political order unthinkable. At the same time, the caricaturing of a growing population of those who do not neatly fit the monarchic political order as a monstrous abomination limits the scope of potential remedies. The monarchic distribution of ignorance and the problem it supposedly remedies come through in King James I’s own words in the “True Law of Free Monarchies” (1598). Written by the King of Scotland just five years prior to becoming the King of England and Ireland, this treatise rationalizes unequal distribution of ignorance that sets the monarch apart from others. This...
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...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...
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...The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in its first article that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Humans are born with intrinsic natural rights. As further described in Article 28, social and international orders must be enacted so as to allow everyone to utilize their rights; however, there are several occasions where human rights are sacrificed for peace, order, or authority. The book The Journey of Ibn Fattouma by Naguib Mahfouz and the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell illustrate challenges and obstructions in the pursuit of human rights, the two primary ones of which are ignorance among the oppressed and struggles for wealth and power among oppressors. Ordinary people’s ignorance is a major...
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...The government of Oceania uses doublethink to brainwash their citizens into believing whatever is suitable to the government at the time. Orwell portrays doublethink as a real concept achievable by the residents of Oceania to show to the maximum degree, the dangers totalitarianism and human ignorance. Orwell exaggerates the extent to which humans can be ignorant to warn the reader about the dangers of this blind uniformity. In the very beginning of the story, the citizens of Oceania are forced to believe that the chocolate ration has been increased to be 20 grams, when the ration has actually...
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...The novel, the narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass was written by Fredrick Douglass himself to help the audience better understand slavery. What I found amazing is that within the novel Fredrick Douglass broke down the essences of slavery by putting in assorted details on how it effect both blacks and whites, Knowledge was the key for freedom and that the use of ignorance as a tool for power is still being used today. In the context of the novel, the author is trying to tell the reader that white slave owners used ignorance as a tool of slavery. During the time Douglass wrote his narrative, many people believed that slavery was a natural state of being. In the narrative the author explains the strategies and procedures that whites...
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...The Interlopers and The Consequences of Ignorance The Interlopers depicts a deadly feud, bound to end in bloodshed, that in some unseemingly way ends in not only the friendship of the two nemesises, but ends in the irony of an unexpected death of something that the quarrellers both disregarded. Within the Interlopers, the conflict of a feud is the driving force between the actions of both Ulrich Von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym. In an immeasurable amount of times in history, many have been blinded by rage and desire, from power-thirsty monarchs to common folk experiencing road rage. Saki, raised in a rigid household, uses his background and hatred of the house he was raised in as inspiration. Between the two families, the feud has continued...
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...A.R. Bernard once said, “The ignorance of the oppressed is strength for the oppressor.” When people are ignorant, they can be mistreated or be manipulated easily because they are unaware of what is right and wrong. George Orwell’s book Animal Farm talks about how the political obtuseness contributes to political persecution. People’s ignorance contributes to their political and social oppression because the leader will not support the people, abuse their authorities, and brainwash the working class. First, the governor will not treat the uneducated commoners properly nor treat them fairly. In the book Animal Farm, most of the farm animals were illiterate. The pigs, who could read and write, became the leader of the revolution and the farm. Napoleon, Squealer, and even Snowball mistreated the animals as “one...
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...Plato’s Allegory of the Cave presents a dialogue between Glaucon and Socrates that discusses human awareness simultaneously with human ignorance. Plato concludes that humans think and act on assumption, rather than knowledge. In Allegory of the Cave, Plato argues knowledge gained through sight is an opinion of an individual’s imagination, and in order to find the holistic truth and education, an individual has to rely on more than just sight. The Allegory of the Cave divides man into two groups:those who perceive surroundings by sense or those who perceive the world by spirit. Those chained in the cave base their “knowledge” on sensory perception through sight. This is what Plato deems as falsehood, as “the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images,” (Plato, 267). The cave itself represents misunderstanding because man is only able to gain from observational evidence. The shadows seen from the puppeteers is the evidence man uses to support the idea that observational evidence provides knowledge. The prisoners talk in terms of the shadows they see, rather than the actual objects; reality is impossible to investigate through the senses. Humans should attain concepts from physical objects through the senses, but should not rely on them fully....
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...Maren J Lee English 27/10/2014 – 11/11/2014 Brain Washing – Brave New World Brain Washing is an interesting concept. Manipulation can be use to inspire or as a powerful weapon. The United States of America uses soft power and propaganda commercials to promote patriatism. One nation for one purpose. On the other hand, Hitler brain washed the citizens of Germany, making them believe that he was creating a better society. In this situation, brain washing becomes a weapon. Alclous Huxley brings brain washing to the extreme in his novel Brave New World. Citizens of this world are taought to think less. Ignorance is Bless. Huxley Creates a wrold with a few powerful people have complete control of the whole nation. In this essay, I want to discuess the brain washing technique they use, and how they maintain the power. Huxley’s Brave New Wrold setting is at year 2050. Children are made in a science lab with no parents. Ever since the children are born, the government natural condition them: “Family is a horrible idea.” “Everyone belongs to everyone else.” “Ending is better than mending…” (p.43) Many different unique concepts are constantly reminded in this soceity. Saying any idea millions time and listen it millions times would make it true. The governemnt of Brave New World reinforces each concepts into a human’s mind from the moment they are born. As the children in brave new world grow up, each individual is assigned to one specific job that he/ she is design for...
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...arrogant actions and ignorant choices. Although Oedipus brings Apollo’s curse to fulfillment and ultimately his own downfall, Oedipus is not to blame for his miserable life. He is an innocent man unlucky to have been born into a father’s curse. King Laius, Oedipus’s father, brings upon a curse on himself but also on his own son, Oedipus, even though Oedipus was not born yet. The fact that Oedipus had nothing to do with his own fathers curse exculpates Oedipus from creating his own demise. Oedipus could not control the fact that the curse was going to be fulfilled: “If you cannot be free of the gods, then you cannot be made free” (DOC A). The fact that Oedipus is a human and Apollo a god, shows how powerless the king Oedipus is. The power of Apollo’s ability to manipulate peoples’ thoughts leads Oedipus to make rash decisions and to ignorantly curse himself. The curse that King Laius gives to Oedipus shows how guilty Laius is and not his son. Oedipus does not realize that he is the king’s son and the husband of his own mother. After receiving a prophecy to kill his own father and marry his own mother, Oedipus runs away, and blindly kills the king of Thebes without realizing the fact that he has killed his biological father. Not knowing that he is adopted causes confusion and fear to Oedipus. After receiving such a shocking and unbelievable prophecy Oedipus could not control his own emotions of anger and confusion which led to the killing of King Laius. After the killing...
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...People often say ignorance is bliss, however that doesn’t apply to Caesar. It is because of ignorance that Caesar is killed by the conspirators in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. However it is not only ignorance that leads to Caesar’s death, fatal flaws also play a role in Caesar's demise. Caesar has his fair share of fatal flaws affecting both his private and public life. Caesar’s public pride, stubbornness to those close to him, and constant naiveness and nobility ultimately led him to his doom. In Caesar’s public life, his pride runs his life. For example, Calpurnia had convinced Caesar not to go the Senate after having a terrifying dream about Caesar’s death. In her dream, Calpurnia saw Caesar's body in a fountain of blood with Romans...
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...Referring back to the tragedy that took place in the United States, not only have Americans been reacting to those in a negative manner, Canadians have been as well. The ‘reaction’ has taken form in profiling. “Racial profiling is the use by the police of generalizations based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin, rather than individual behaviour, specific suspect descriptions or intelligence” (Delsol, 2015). It becomes difficult to understand how profiling in this case reflects the ignorance of society; however, to judge someone based on physical appearance/characteristics without understanding who they are or without ‘knowledge’ proves incompetent. Considering 9/11 was a result of the lack of airport security, there has been an increase of security at the expense of Arabs/Muslims (Bahdi, 2003)....
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...Animal Farm Essay: Topic 9 The novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory that highlights the weaknesses of the human nature through the telling of a story about the rebellion of animals on Manor Farm. These weaknesses are the sources of all malignity throughout the novel, causing most of its major conflicts and poisoning the minds of its characters. Specifically, Orwell’s writing focuses on the greed of the pigs and the ignorance of the rest of the farm animals. Together, these traits establish the totalitarian society that the farm becomes. Orwell considers the traits of greed and gullibility to be the most detrimental human attributes to hopes of an equitable society. Orwell considers greed to be one of the most dangerous faults...
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...nothing has no such need to hide itself.” And “I am better than thou art now. I am a fool, thou art nothing.” Nothing becomes a double symbol for King Lear’s ignorance to the truth and inability to perceive nothing. It also symbolizes King Lear’s paranoia which is brought on by his ignorance and short shortsightedness. This is due to the fact that power under King Lear has consistently been contended, highlighting its fragility and vulnerability. Nothing also symbolizes the fear of becoming insignificant and destitute. Nothing is symbolic of a way to perceive reality where the fragility, dynamism and human nature’s obsession with power obscures. The idea of nothing symbolizes King Lear’s paranoia. Shakespeare explores the idea of nothing by implying the common characteristic of chasing away things that people don’t understand or things that are different by having King Lear banish his favorite daughter due to his inability to comprehend the fact that she wants ‘nothing’ from him. King Lear is so unable to accept this unusual and probably new idea of not wanting the power and fortune that he has, that he becomes suspicious. Not wanting anything is seen as a strange thing in the play just as it is seen in today’s society. There is usually and exterior motive when doing something to benefit other people. Man’s desire for power, ‘for something’ makes an inherent and unchangeable truth in King Lear’s perception. Not being able to perceive nothing is one of King Lear’s fatal flaws. He...
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