"War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" Part of the time-tested meaning built into George Orwell's masterpiece, 1984, is its ability to display various ways that human psychology can be manipulated. Throughout the novel, George Orwell uses the fictional authoritarian government to put forth different concepts that cause the psyche to enter an ideal state of influence. One of these concepts, repeated by the government through blasts of speakers established in the city and reiterated by corrupt politicians, reads, "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength." In the novel, the main character Winston Smith remembers, or perhaps imagines, a world in which his every move was not being watched. Unfortunately, this world is not the one he lives in, and he is under the watch of the government eye, referred to as "Big Brother". War is Peace Meaning The constant principle, no matter the enemy, is that the war is being fought to attain peace. The war must be fought to maintain peace, says Big Brother, because it unites the nation against a common enemy. The quote from 1984, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past", cements that, by manipulating the masses into thinking that they are constantly at war, Big Brother can unite individuals and
distract them against a common enemy, even though they may not exist. Big Brother goes on to manipulate the past by saying that the nation has always been at war against the enemy in question. Freedom is Slavery Meaning The slogan coined by Big Brother goes on to explain that freedom is slavery. The freedom is slavery meaning is just as unapparent on the surface, but Big Brother justifies this confusion by saying that someone who is free under the typical conception, able to operate according to their own will, is ultimately unsuccessful. Rather, true freedom is serving the state, which allows one to operate with more freedom than they ever would have had if they went out into the world on their own. Ignorance is Strength Meaning The term ignorance is strength follows the same model of hypocrisy present throughout the book --the tool by which the Party manipulates the masses. The government put forth by Orwell, requires complete and utter trust on the part of its citizens. The term ignorance is strength, cements this idea, instilling Party members with the belief that their personal judgment, no matter how informed, is not as informed or correct as the Party's. Knowing this, any reasonable party member would be crazy to assume that their own personal judgment is valid, thus turning ignorance and blind faith in the Party, into collective strength.