Examples Of Doublethink In 1984

Through this activity, Winston introduces us to Doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in your head while guiding yourself to believe the one that best fits the principles of Ingsoc, the party doctrine. To even doubt or question Ingsoc is dubbed ‘thoughtcrime’, and pursued ruthlessly by the thought police.

Throughout the novel, Orwell makes it clear that The Party needs doublethink to abstain the amount of power they have. Doublethink is where one believes in two contradictory beliefs or opinions. The way the Party fulfills their need of the people using doublethink is with constant propaganda and sayings. The slogan “Ignorance is Strength” is especially controlling. If the people are kept ignorant, the Party remains it’s strength. Another example of doublethink and propaganda would be the slogan “Freedom is Slavery”. The people believe they are free, but in reality, they are slaves to the Party; they do as they are told or consequences are present. As long as people use doublethink, the Party will remain intact. While Winston is being tortured,

An invasive psychological tool used by the government in 1984, by George Orwell, is Doublethink. Doublethink is the ability to process two contradictory ideas and believe them both to be true. Due to the government’s use of mental manipulation, doublethink emerged and further blinded the citizens of Oceania. Modern versions of doublethink are widely accepted and raise awareness of contradictory messages from the media. The beliefs that “skinny is ideal” and “curvy is ideal” are two contradictory messages that are voiced by the media and represent how doublethink is present in today’s society, while in 1984 the government used doublethink mainly to brainwash it’s citizens.

George Orwell’s 1984 paints a terrifying picture of society, an undesirable existence. Through the eyes of the main character, Winston, readers are shown the dreary, gray town of London, part of the superstate Oceania, which is trapped in an eternal war. Oceania is a land rife with poverty and pure government control, where the individual is crushed and the government is always right, no matter if they say “two plus two is five” (page 290). Comparing and contrasting modern America to the dreary society of Oceania can give one insights into how close we may be to their system, as well as how to avoid becoming Oceania. Oceania is a place of lost individuality and human ties, where human nature is suppressed and thinking the wrong thing can get you killed. Supposedly, there are no laws, but to go against the Inner Party, the oppressive government, is death. Comparing our society to Oceania, especially our normalization of surveillance and the suppression of media, is an important piece of understanding and continuing to shape our society.

Since the release of 1984 by George Orwell in 1949, the word ‘doublethink’ as well as a few others such as ‘Newspeak’ became somewhat ingrained in the vocabulary of well-read individuals. The protagonist, Winston Smith, describes ‘doublethink’ as “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it” (Orwell, 35). He also describes it as “The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies – all this is indispensably necessary” (Orwell, 214). Essentially, the term mean to hold and believe two contradictory ideas/opinions. These ideas and opinions can contradict, logically, morally, and factually. Doublethink can both attack an idea and defend it. Doublethink can represent a solution that only aids the problem. There are many uses of doublethink in our present-day societies that are used globally. For example, discrimination against race, gender, and

All totalitarian governments share common objectives with one another: possessing ruthless power and executing complete control. A dictatorial regime must have absolute authority over its subjects in order for it to thrive. George Orwell’s novel, 1984, illustrates a futuristic dystopia that induces fear within its people to obtain utter sovereignty. Winston Smith, the protagonist, strives to escape from the oppressive government—essentially the Party. The Party forces its subjects to accept anything it commands and to believe anything it says. The national slogan “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.” brainwashes the residents of Oceania in order for the Party to achieve unlimited power and total control.

“Thought crime does not entail death; though crime is death.” Orwell’s use of high modal language in describing thoughtcrime, demonstrates that “it was reasonably certain that [committing thoughtcrime] would be punished by death.” distinctly reflecting how Hitler used the Gestapo to maintain order and control, by eliminating political opponents. Orwell’s use of the motif “Two plus two equals four” is essential for representing Winston’s rebellion, underscoring Orwell’s ideas of rebellion. The axiom is challenged by O’Brien, claiming “[The Party] control[s] matter because [they] control the mind. Reality is inside the skull.” Orwell’s use of the false dogma “two plus two equals five” reflects how totalitarians get their citizens to become incapable of having a self because they become unable to hold an objective reality. The Party in this sense in suppressing Winston’s rebellion because once Winston concedes that “whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth” his reality becomes based on “INGSOC.” Thus, through Orwell exploring how totalitarians maintain their power, he exposes the consequences of rebellion and revolution, ultimately resulting in Winston becoming a victim of “doublethink” meaning “he [wins] the victory over himself [and loves] Big

(Orwell, 223) • The Party uses doublethink to control the people and is what allows the Party to make changes in history. It’s important to the Party because the members will accept anything they say; even if it

Orwell’s primary goal in ‘1984’ is to demonstrate the dangerous possibilities of totalitarianism. The reader is invited to experience the frightening world that Orwell envisions through the eyes of the protagonist, Winston Smith. As the novel progresses, Winston undergoes a significant transformation in terms of his human spirit. At the beginning of the novel, Winston is portrayed as a character who has intelligence and has the ability to stray from conformity. Despite the government or ‘Big Brother’ controlling the citizens of the Oceania, Winston separates himself from the majority of his fellow citizens by seeking and initiating various acts of rebellion.

Doublethink is the act of holding, simultaneously, two opposite, individually exclusive ideas or opinions and believing in both simultaneously and absolutely. Doublethink requires using logic against logic or suspending disbelief in the contradiction.  Doublethink is the ability to hold two contradictory opinions at the same time about the same question, remaining untroubled by the contradiction and expressing one’s opinion or the other as the convenience of the the victimizing end requires it to be.

He also introduces the concept of doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accept both of them. Sales for 1984 skyrocketed on Amazon,

The meaning of doublethink is to simultaneously hold two contrary beliefs, while accepting both. Orwell (1949) quotes,

The state indoctrinated the citizens of the Outer Party into compliance with doublethink. The use of doublethink allowed the citizens to accept contradictory “truths” when it became convenient to advance the state’s goals. While Winston was reading Goldstein’s book next to Julia in Mr. Charrington’s room, the book defined doublethink as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them” (Orwell 214). A case of doublethink occurs when Winston is eating at the Ministry of Truth in the cafeteria, and the telescreen displays “demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week,” but the day before the ration was actually

“ War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength,”. The following quote originates from the infamous novel, 1984 by George Orwell. The significance of this popular quote was to display an example of the action of doublethink. Doublethink is the act of having two contradictory thoughts at the same time and believing both are true. Doublethink plays an influential role in the novel, 1984. The novel takes place in a super-state by the name of Oceania which covers the entire continents of our America in reality. The main character of this novel is Winston Smith, a thirty-nine year-old Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth correcting “errors” in past publication who has a secret hatred for the Party and its leader, Big Brother.

Hungry for absolute dominance over their people, the totalitarian government known as the Party implements various tools, whether physical or ideological, into the common man. One of these tools is the idea of doublethink, where, holding both the absolute truth and the truth implanted by the Party in their minds, any given person can believe two contradicting ideas at once. George Orwell, the author of 1984, successfully shows the reader how doublethink cannot be practiced.