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Contradictions In George Orwell's '1984'

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George Orwell's 1984 is a dystopian novel where everything is overseen by the government. There are telescreens and surveillance cameras everywhere, watching the citizens' every move and the citizens' do not have any privacy whatsoever. In this dystopia, called Oceania, there is a lot of contradiction regarding the governance of the Party. A big part of this contradiction includes the 4 Ministries and their slogans. Oceania is dominated by by four huge pyramid-like structures that are home to the four ministries. The four ministries are The Ministry of Truth (MiniTrue), The Ministry of Love (MiniLuv), The Ministry of Plenty (MiniPlenty), and The Ministry Peace (MiniPax). The names of these ministries can be deceiving to the reader. Winston (the protagonist) explains this- "Even the names of …show more content…

This slogan is used because the inability of the people to recognize these simple contradictions, is the fuel to the Party's regime. While people do not think for themselves, the nation will stay "strong". The Party is not interested in intellectuals and will torture them into believing whatever the government says. Winston thinks deeply about all this when he is writing his diary. He comes up with this- "It was as though some huge force were pressing down upon you—something that penetrated inside your skull, battering against your brain, frightening you out of your beliefs, persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses. In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it" (102). All the Party's slogans contradict themselves. To the people in today's society, war and peace are opposites. Also, slavery and freedom aren't usually associated in the same category. Lastly, in the world today, ignorance and strength are definitely not

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