Although these three slogans of the Party may sound absurd, for they are completely contradictory, they do make a lot of sense when you take the goals of the Party into consideration. To begin, let us start with the first portion of the official slogan: “WAR IS PEACE”. Despite war being anything but peaceful, the Party still manages to create peace by focusing their attention towards making Oceania’s rival a public enemy of the people, thus creating unity among its citizens. This, in turn, results in loyalty to Big Brother, as they rely on him for protection from the enemy. So, since war keeps the citizens unified and fearful, peace remains and stops people from uprising against the government. Next, there is the “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY” slogan …show more content…
As we quickly learn, Newspeak was designed by the Party with the sole intent of meeting its ideological needs which most prominently include restricting information, independent thought, and freedom. The answer for why this language has been able to succeed in fulfilling all of these requirements held by Ingsoc lies in the vocabulary of Newspeak that, as mentioned in the quote, has been “[cut] down to a minimum”. By removing words that allow for rebellion in the form of independent thought – since individuality is heavily disliked in this society – the Party is, in turn, able to diminish the range of thought altogether. Plus, with words such as “science”, “democracy”, and “morality” being removed from Newspeak, the information that is available to citizens is limited to information that only revolves around the Party. Due to all of this, the freedom of an individual is also interfered with, for they are not allotted the basic rights to think and speak freely. So, with the usage of Newspeak, readers are forced to watch as language – a means of communication and freedom – is turned into a tool for oppression under totalitarian …show more content…
Through multiple, immense posters tacked onto the walls of Victory Mansions, Big Brother asserts the overbearing hold that he has on citizens with the eerie message, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. By taking a name that naturally brings with it the feelings of protection, warmth, and trust, we can see that Big Brother has been aptly named for his role as leader. Not only does he act as the protector, thus bringing comfort to the hearts of citizens across Oceania, but he also is the enemy and instills fear into those who dare to cross him. To the citizens, he can do no wrong since he is the one in charge. Even the message of being watched by Big Brother can be reassuring and frightening: reassuring to those who obey him and frightening to those who choose to stray away from him. So, by worshipping Big Brother, citizens in turn demonstrate their loyalty to the Party, for he is the embodiment of all its values and beliefs. And, given that allegiance to the Party is necessary for survival, citizens are obligated to venerate Big Brother if they want any chance of being left