The ever piercing eyes of the Big Brother, the glowing of telescreens, and the blaring of Party slogans entrap Winston Smith. Set in a hyper surveillance and controlled society, 1984 by George Orwell shows the struggle of a man name Winston Smith, who secretly despises the government he works in. But in this society, people who have free thought and ideologies that go against the Party, (the government) are doomed to be vaporized. The Party aggressively projects slogans at its citizens constantly, with the main one being the following:
“War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength”
At first glance, especially in the setting of the story, these phrases are extremely contradictory. How is war peace? How is freedom slavery? And how could ignorance give strength?
These phrases are meant to keep the people they control in check.
War is Peace. The country that the Party controls, Oceania, has been at constant war with other nations. In national broadcasts, they glorify the destruction of their enemies, presenting war as an absolute must. In this part of the mantra, they want to reinforce this point: war is imperative, and without it, peace cannot be achieved. Verbal negotiations and peace treaties are out of the question. Only complete destruction of foes will suffice. This mode of thought seeps into other aspects of their society. Sex, history, and even people must be purged. Every action the Party does is to ensure its control on their people. The beginning phrase of their slogan is no exception.
Freedom is Slavery. From a modern viewpoint, especially an American one, freedom is the complete opposite of slavery. Black slaves were not free when they were in bondage, they experienced very low levels of life. Freedom is what American strives for, it is the basis for our country. In Oceania, things are quite different. The Party would not want to promote freedom. If freedom exists, people have freedom of thought and action. If people are able to do as they please, the government loses a lot of control. They would not want its citizens able to converse, for rebellions and protests would be more rampant. Just like a slave master must deprive a slave of freedom, the government must deprive its citizens of freedom. To enforce this, anyone who wishes to be independent is doomed to low levels of life, or even worst – death. In this way, the government is able to control the mind of its people.
Ignorance is strength. As an ending to the slogan, it is the most straight forward. The Party retains the most control when its citizens remain willingly ignorant. For all the contradictions, such as “The Ministry of Love” waging war, or the alterations to history texts, the government must rely that its citizens blindly follow every idea and word they want. If the people were to investigate into the questionable actions of its government, it could spark resentment and eventual rioting. The ignorance of Oceania’s people ultimately strengthens the Party.
In such a concise slogan, a lot can be unraveled. The true ideology of the Party leads back to control and power. Even though these may seem obvious to the outside reader, it does not ring the same way to the people of Oceania. At least we live in a society where we have freedom… or so we hope.
Ink Blot Thoughts 
When you said “The ignorance of Oceania’s people ultimately strengthens the Party” I really felt like that was the perfect way to discuss the citizens of Oceania. The Party is all about gaining more and more power and like you said, their slogan is basically representing this idea. When you dissect this the slogan, it all goes back to the same idea of control and power.
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