1984 topic discussion Justine

**** JUSTINE****
“war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength”
This quote starts appearing at the very beginning of the first book and keeps reappearing throughout the books. These words are the party’s slogan which Winston can see written on the Ministry of truth in the beginning of the first book. Because this quote appears so early in the book and appears often, it introduces us to “doublethink”. This quote is important because it shows the concept of the Oceania’s world, and that everyone is controlled by the party by being brainwashed to believe whatever they say. It is obvious to us that this quote is very contradictory but for the people in the book, it’s just their way of thinking. The ignorance is strenght concept, shows that the party hides the truth from its population so they do not know anything, therefore they cannot argue against the rules and they don't think about what is moral or immoral. Their ignorance represents strenght because the party has all the power. Freedom is slavery also represents the party's over control with its population and making people believe that they are living in good conditions and they're are safe and they are actually  living in a free world  but in fact, it is the total opposite.

As we can see with this motto, it's the perfect representation of how people in Oceania are trained to think. Can we think of other state mottos that invite this same type of questioning?

I'll start:

Québec: Je me souviens ... souviens de quoi, au juste? It's a reference to their culture, their french roots - and they must never be forgotten. It tells us a lot about the culture in their province and the importance they attribute to their past (reverence, even? maybe?)



Reply with other state mottos you can think of!