1984 Dialectic Journals

"War is Peace"

The phrase " War is Peace" which used as propaganda to support the Big Brother's war with Eurasia in the story, 1984 means that without us going to war with another country you wouldn't live in peace where you live right now. If we didn't go to war with them, they would attack where you live and make your life not so peaceful anymore. So in other words, the phrase means that we are holding them back by going to war against them so that you could live in peace. Obviously, people want to live the same peaceful lives they go through everyday instead of living in a war zone while being in constant fear thus causes people to support the goverment, their war, and hate the enemy. Everything that Big Brother wants the people to do.

In the real world of today, this phrase of "War is Peace" can be compared to one of the arguments made by the Bush Administration and Bush supports to why we are at war with many Middle Eastern countries which contain many radical Muslim terrorist organizations. They say if we don't attack them now, will do even more attacks on American soil. In other words they are saying that we will live in terror if we don't attack them now.

"Ignorance is Strength."

This phrase means that less you know, the better. To some point this can positive because if someone doesn't know certain things they wouldn't worry or panic as much. However in the case of 1984, the phrase is saying that the less public knows, the more power or strength the government has over the people. Due to the people not knowing that much, government can easily manipulate the people in supporting their cause such as their war with another country and hating the country that they are at war with. Also the less people know, the least likely they have chance of thinking of overthrowing you.

Examples in the real world of both meanings of the phrase being used include the U.S government not telling the people of certain things that they know about and how the U.S government rallied the American people for them starting a war in the Middle East after 9/11.

The U.S government has kept many secrets from the American people such as their knowledge of UFOs, assassinations, scientific experiments, and many other things that the people think that they should know. The U.S government probably doesn't want us to know about these things because they don't want us to be frighten or panic. However this is hypocritical because after 9/11, the government and companies tried to strike fear in the hearts of Americans because economical opportunities and that it would help them hate the enemy that the government is fighting against thus causing them to support their war.