1984 quotes

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War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength
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War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength
The three doctrines of Oceania, all of which are paradoxical, for instance, war is the antithesis of peace. War is the perpetual state that Oceania must be in, so that citizens' effort goes towards war mechanics, and so the state can have a deficiency of resources that can ameliorate quality of life. The statement that freedom is slavery attempts to redefine the concept of freedom, so that the majority are content with their enslavement. The statement that ignorance is strength blatantly explains that the ignorance of the people to the atrocities that the party commits further empowers Oceania, and enables it to endure.
"Purges and vaporisations were a necessary part of the mechanics of government"
A climate of fear is mandatory to ensure submission. Purges and vaporisation induce fear, as they indicate that there is some political opposition, and that the state is flawed and has not reached absolute orthodoxy. Purges could also be framed as the work of Goldstein or Eurasia.
"He knew instinctively who would survive and who would perish"
Those who are less intellectual such as Parsons and who wholly swallowed the ideology and news of the party resolutely are not at risk of vaporisation. However, those whose facial expression appears doubtful, who are less enthusiastic or believe themselves to be part of a rebel group or who commit individual ineffectual acts of rebellion are at risk of vaporisation. Some entirely orthodox individuals are vaporised purely to induce panic.
"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 very logic of their position demanded it"
This statement foreshadows the later event when, whilst Winston is tortured, O Brien forces him to believe that two and two make five. The party deliberately defy logic, and create their own facts and history to strengthen their own power. The premise of doublethink: where there must be an awareness of the actions and lies of the party and a willing acceptance and embracement of these actions and lies enables this process to continue.
"Syme had vanished.... Syme had ceased to exist: he had never existed"
Syme, a seemingly orthodox 'friend' of Winston's who is a participant in creating 'Newspeak' a reduced version of English, is vaporised. Winston claims this is due to a "faint air of disreputability that clung to him" and his high level of intellect. When one is vaporised their existence must be forgotten. The concealment of what this punishment of being vaporised actually constitutes of adds to the constant feeling of uncertainty that causes conformity.
Big brother is watching you
Big Brother, in modern day, is used as a metaphor any government ruler that tries to dictate, eavesdrop, or gather personal information on its citizens. This apparent dictator who appears on all propaganda reminds citizens of their constant surveillance, and instils fear that motivates their appropriate behaviour. Eyes always appear to follow around, seems as though the poster is directly and personally targeted.
"scientific and technical progress depended on an empirical habit of thought which could not survive in a strictly regimented society"
No societal development is allowed as intellectual thought and epistocracy would lead to the government being overturned, as people would recognise their maltreatment.
"No way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment... Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you"
The absolute lack of privacy means people must engrain orthodoxy into every element of their lives. They are constantly being watched by a telescreen or heard by a microphone, so they must conform and act correctly at all times. Eventually, this becomes habitual and embedded into their everyday thought, and ultimately, part of their mindset. This overwhelming cacophony must inevitably deter logical thought.
"Standard of living has risen by no less than 20 percent over the last year... our new, happy life"
On news broadcasts, the Party broadcasts statistics that they claim to be true, yet, are completely invented by themselves. This is to misinform the public, so they believe that their life is improving when it is in fact worsening, however, their word is supposed to overrule observational logic. This is the case with the chocolate ration, when Parsons celebrates the fact that this has increased to five grams, when it was just broadcast the previous day that it had decreased.
"It was dangerous to let your thoughts wander in front of a telescreen... to wear an improper expression"
Winston and other dissatisfied individuals must wear impenetrable expressions, so their discontentment cannot be detected. This is because of the concept of Thoughtcrime, where you can be punished and caught out by the Thought Police for even thinking unorthodox thoughts against the party. Of course, this is impossible, however, expressions can often reveal someone's true thoughts.
"The preparations for Hate week... the rocket bombs crashed oftener than ever... there were enormous explosions in the far distance"Hate week and the daily custom, 'the Hate' compare to the Salvaging of the Handmaids tale, where the energies and pent up frustration of the public are exerted against the opposition of the party, and through expressing intense negative emotions such as hate. They can act without rules and boundaries, aggressively and shouting at the enemy of the Party: Goldstein. Hate week is a week dedicated to this emotion, and the increased assaults from Eurasia or Eastasia are artificially constructed by the party to intensify people's hatred."You did not have friends"Alliances are forbidden and suspicious, as people could realise their unified goal and discontentment. They are also dangerous, as any uprising would inevitably be violently quelled by the state."The instinct of parenthood... the children were systematically turned against their parents"State attempting to dismantle the family structure. The compassion and loyalty than emerges as a result of parenthood and childhood threatens submission and loyalty to the state, as the instinctive love towards one another in a family takes precedence over that towards the Party."Routine of confession... the crack of broken bones, the smashed teeth and bloody clots of hair. Why did you have to endure it since the end was always the same?"The brutal and long methods of torture seem unnecessary when the victim will always be killed. Emphasises the brutality and violence and relentlessness of the regime and its inexorable pursuit to erase all disobedience and disbelief."Goldstein was delivering his usual attack so exaggerated and perverse... he was denouncing the dictatorship of the party... advocating freedom of speech, press, assembly, thought... uncontrollable exclamations of rage"Goldstein's broadcasts again are artificially constricted by the party to incite hatred, by stating outrageous blasphemies. So energies can be spent towards hatred to the party's enemies as opposed to the party itself."Winston could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war.The nation must be in a constant state of war for purposes such as nationalism/ patrioitism, hatred, deficiency of resources and to ensure a lack of progression, all of which reinforce party loyalty. These objectives are the exact antithesis to what a nation should ideally aim for (apart from patriotism perhaps?)"To say who was fighting whom at any given moment would have been utterly impossible"People are kept in a state of confusion and perplexity. This is so they have no equipment or reason to defy or question the party, when they do provide any clarity. The state is riddled with contradictions."I think it spoils it when they tie their feet together. I like to see them kicking"This is uttered by Syme, showing how an intellectual individual who one would expect to be dignified and civil has become desensitised to violence and in fact supports it. This is the case with the entirety of society, as brutality and hatred of enemies has become normalised and is cheered in movies for example."Oceania was at war with eastasia, Eurasia was an ally. There was no admission that any change had taken place. Merely it became known"Throughout Hate Week, the nation with which Oceania is at war is suddenly and jarringly changed. Due to principles of Doublethink, this is absorbed and accepted, and the population immediately, unquestionably change the nation to which their hate is aimed at. An unsettling dynamic."The object of waging a war is always to be in a better position of which to wage another war... the slave populations allow the tempo of continuous warfare to be sped up... use up the produce of the machine without raising the general standard of living"This is self explanatory, of the Machiavellian principles by which the Party sustain their power, through the art of corruption and perpetual war. By the enslavement and impoverished conditions of their subjects, who have a deficiency of the bare necessities of life, they can live in marginally better conditions, but retain power and control. Using their subjects for nefarious purposes, so they are complicity in this authoritarian and destructive regime."tiger cubs which will soon grow up to be man eaters... Nearly all children nowadays were horrible... they adored the Party... It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children"Children are able to be indoctrinated to the greatest extent, due to their more absorbent minds, as they were not the first generation to exist in this society, they can be shaped by the party's education to be even more brutal and submissive."Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull"The only freedom that somewhat remains is freedom of thought which, even then, the Party attempts to penetrate by a bombardment of nationalistic media. This is the only type of privacy that exists."By lack of understanding they remained sane"By the mass ignorance of the population (it is arguable as to whether this is voluntary or not), they are able to somewhat tolerate the conditions and lifestyle that the Party has imposed upon them. Through ignorance however, they remain complacent, and the rebellion of the masses could have the potential to overthrow the Party. By swallowing the principles of Doublethink (which defy any logic or sense) they can believe the ever changing rhetoric of the Party, and remain positive."Tacitly, the part was inclined to encourage prostitution as an outlet for instincts that could not altogether be suppressed"Sexuality and the need for attachment and connections to other humans are primal instincts that even the Party is incapable of suppressing. Therefore, it condones prostitution, as long as this is not to frequent and becomes a relationship. This is seen to satisfy and quell a prohibited urge."The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control... to remove all pleasure from the sexual act. Not love so much as eroticism was the enemy"Through forming relationships, this diverts someone's primary loyalty from the Party to the other individual. By indoctrinating the population to believe that sex is uncomfortable and non- pleasurable, this deters people from having sex and thus forming such relationships. In order for the Party to remain powerful, they must be the single most pleasure in an individual's life."The only recognised purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the party. Sexual intercourse....s slightly disgusting minor operation"Again, the Party attempts to limit and restrict relationships. Although it condones marriage, it only does so for child rearing purposes, thus, marriage is not associated with love of affection, just to maintain the population. Similar to the Handmaid's Tale in the way that sexual intercourse becomes a necessary procedure, not an act of recreation."The more men you've had the more I love you... Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act"Winston values his relationship with Julia initially because it is an act of rebellion against the party. He values her because he realises he is not the only individual who opposes the Party, and the more she has actively rebelled, the more he admires her for her courage. She fills him with a delusional hope, that overthrowing the Party is possible and sees his relationship with her as an act motivated by his own politics and want for rebellion (initially) rather than love."With Julia, everything cam back to her own sexuality"Julia is an empowered character who is able to cheat the system and surpass the boundaries set by the Party. She believes everyone possesses an inherent dissatisfaction, and no one is truly deferent towards Big Brother and the Party. She believes in making life tolerable through individual acts of dissent, such as having numerous sexual relationships, however, not for the purpose of political crime, but to make her own life somewhat enjoyable, similarly to Offred. Winston engages in a relationship with Julia for different reasons."She had grasped the inner meaning of the party's sexual puritanism... sexual privation induced hysteria which was desirable because it could be transformed into war fever and leadership... they want you to be bursting with energy all the time... If you're happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big brother?"Julia acutely observes the Party's logic behind suppressing sexuality. Dedication to one another overweighs dedication to the Party and enables some degree of dissent. However, it is impossible to wholly suppress these instincts, as is evident by 'We' and Handmaids Tale."The world looked cold"Almost a usage of pathetic fallacy and a metaphor for the general atmosphere and emotions experienced by most people. As though it has become devoid of warmth, metaphorically and literally, and of any positive emotion, as genuine human connections have receded. Also emphasises the unpleasant physical environment of London, in a war torn city. A generally upkept poor quality of life."Its walls grimy from innumerable bodies... grime in every crack... a feeling you had been cheated of something you had a right to" "Why should one feel intolerable unless one had some kind of ancestral memory that things had once been different?"Winston feels as though the resources he is provided with are insufficient, and that his life is missing some kind of quality o substance. For example, he is lacking enough food, basic hygiene and constantly kept in conditions of squalor. Although this is a deliberate government ploy, Winston recognises that humans cannot live a fulfilling and meaningful existence whilst deprived of the basic necessities and sees through the Party's scheme. Idea of a dystopia keeping humanity in a generally impoverished state."Life if you looked around you bore no resemblance not only to the lies that streamed out of the telescreens but even to the ideals the party was trying to achieve"The Party purports a reality through the media that does not resemble the reality of Winston's life. This is an attempt to instil a nationalist attitude, and delude the population, by instilling a false hope that their nation can be reformed to one day look like this, or by distorting their observational logic, making them believe that the world around them is, in fact, the world that they see on telescreens. Acts as a form of party propaganda."The proles are not human beings... the Party taught that the proles were natural inferior and must be kept in subjection like animals...The proletarians, or the class that are forced to live in poverty, are dehumanised so that the Party workers not only do not sympathise with them, but regard them odiously, believing them to be uncivilised and undeserving of privileges. This is ironic and defies Marxist theory, as in a communist state, the proletariat are supposed to hold the power and govern according to their need and will. It shows that this state within 1984 remains hierarchical and classist, keeping the lower classes in subjection, so not truly socialist as it purports."If there is hope it lies in the proles" "85% of the population"The proles, as they have not quite been indoctrinated by Party propaganda as they still have loyalty to one another and experience primal emotions such as love and compassion towards their family. This motivates them to survive and persist, thus they are motivated by survival instincts ratehr than a sense of nationalism and support for the Party. This means the Proles are the only social group that have the potential to overthrow the Party; partly because they constitute of the majority of the population and partly because they have justified cause to oppose it, and have not been fully brainwashed- their humanity has not been wholly lost."It's a beautiful thing the destruction of words"The choice of words Orwell uses here shows that the members of the Party have become infatuated with the use of violence due to the Party's normalisation of it. Their totalitarian control is forcing their society to take a step backward. Almost an oxymoronic statement. "Beautiful" and "destruction" seem antithetical, and do not typically follow one another. The control of language and vocabulary is a form of enslavement"The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. In the end we will make thoughtcrime literally impossible... how could you have a slogan like freedom is slavery when the concept of freedom has been abolished"By limiting range of vocabulary in the form of Newspeak, Orwell proposes it is possible to reduce the range of conceptual thought by doing so. Can remove concepts of freedom, slavery and revolution by removing the vocabulary that describes this, thereby reducing rebellion and opposition against the state."In fact there will be no thought... Orthodoxy means not thinking. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness"The Party aims for an enslavement where there is a mindless obedience where the Party's authority is not questioned, due to the reduction of language as a result of Newspeak."The telescreen could be dimmed but there was no shutting it off completely"Surveillance is essentially 24/7. This means individuals are being scrutinised even when they are asleep and unaware. The fact that sound continuously streams from these televisions, typically in the form of propaganda, could potentially have the affect of hypnopaedia, a process that is used in Brave New World, where people unconsciously absorb the ideas contained within this propaganda. Also means no silence ever to be able to clearly reflect upon one's own thoughts."The words of these songs were composed without any human intervention whatever on an instrument known as a versificator"Compares to the idea of 'Soul Scrolls' in The Handmaid's Tale, where prayers are mechanically produced and automated by technology. Removes any meaning and created an image of piety. The Versificator randomly creates meaningless songs for the proles to sing. Shows the development of technology and how it is being used for enslavement as opposed to liberation"It was impossible to believe that he could be defeated"Refers to O Brien. He is almost an embodiment of the indestructibility of the Party and its craving to retain power. Winston is constantly willing to be loyal to him and eventually submits, showing his inner weakness and willingness to defer."Was he then alone in the possession of a memory"Winston believes he is alone in his possession of rationality and logic, andhis ability to see past the Party's pretences. He is unwilling to yield to the principles of Doublethink. However, this attitude is ineffectual if it is not held by the rest of the population, and if they are paralysed by fear"Anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope"Winston generally motivated by a wish to rebel against the corruption, and seeks proof that others are not as complacent and submissive as they seem, towards the regime"We are the dead"Winston acknowledges that himself and Julia will have already been detected for their sexual relationship and involvement in the 'Brotherhood'. He knows it is inevitable that they will be tortured and kills, but they believe that their individual sacrifice is worth it in order to save the majority of people."I always carry one end of a banner in the processions. I always look cheerful and I never shirk anything. Always yell with the crowd that's what I say. It's the only way to be safe"Describes Julia's mentality- like many in The Handmaid's Tale, she tries to make the best of her situation. She acts enthusiastic and genuinely convinced, as she is aware that expressions are revealing and can get people vaporised. By getting fully involved with the party's activities, she would be the last person they'd suspect for any crims, thus allowing her to commit individual acts of rebellion that make her life tolerable."Any kind of organised revolt against the Part struck her as stupid. The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same... accepting the party as unalterable... not rebelling against its authority but evading it... She took it for granted that everyone or nearly everyone secretly hated the party and would break the rules if he thought it safe to do so"Julia believes that the party can never be overthrown, it is indestructible. Therefore, she may as well adapt her life to become somewhat enjoyable, rather than attempt to overthrow it."Only a rebel from the waist downwards"Winston accuses Julia of this, and in this way she compares to Offred, whose only form of active rebellion is her sexual relationships, even though this is not intended as an act of rebellion to express her discontent, it is merely a way of making life more pleasurable. Julia cares not about the party's inner ideologies, intentions and twisting of the truth, but has selfish motives ."If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say this or that event never happened, that surely was more terrifying than torture or death"The Party able to alter history, as how can history be proven? Through records and documentation. Other than that, it lives in the memories of others and tales are transferred through spoken word. If the Party can take advantage of and monopolise these sources of history, then surely they can control history itself, by censorship and reframing it, and telling stories to depict themselves as the saviours. Memories, according to Orwell and the logic of the Party, can be disproven by such documentation."Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past"If the Party is in control, this allows it to alter the past to gather support, as they can alter it to appear in favour of the Party. Eg Big Brother increased the chocolate ration or Oceania has had this military success, even if this is completely forged. If it has this ability, it is therefore able to endure and increase its hold into the future."Process of continuous alteration... Everything faded away into a shadow world in which finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain""Comrade Ogilvy... would exist just as authentically and upon the same evidence as Charlmagne or Julius Caesar"Julius Caesar and Charlmagne exist through the written word, there is no other proof of their existence as they no longer live. By forging the same documentation for Ogilvy, Winston has created an entity that seems just as legitimate, except we have the knowledge that he is not real. Seems terrifying that he has this power, and the novel contains a moral message that people need to be more critical of the information they consume."The old man's memory was nothing but a rubbish heap of details.." Mr Charrington could "never recall more than a few lines of any rhyme"Illustrates that even the oldest citizens do not possess memories that can disprove the Party, therefore their ideas must be believed. The memories of the elderly are limited and contain insignificant details that are useless towards demonstrating the mass forgery that the Party has committed."Winston was not troubled that every word he murmured into the speak write , every stroke of his ink pencil was a deliberate lie. He was anxious.... That the forgery should be perfect"Shows that Winston was willingly complicit in upholding and preserving the regime. He carried out his job with meticulous detail so that he would feel satisfaction and win rewards and benefits for his work. He has swallowed the Party's ethos."We are not human"Winston realises that it is not the Proles who have lost their humanity, but the lower party members who have become especially subjected and targeted by the party's propaganda. The proles will not mindlessly absorb these ideas, but the lower party members will and the value of their lives and the aspects that make them human will become redundant and removed. This includes connections to others and the experience of truly positive emotions, as well as the ability to form their own independent moral judgements and thoughts.The proles were "Not loyal to a party or country or an idea they were loyal to one another... they had stayed human... they had held on to primitive emotions"This reinforces the humanity of the proles in comparison to the lower party workers, as they have not yet internalised the views and values of Ingsoc. These connections such as the family structure and marriage are being broken by the state, as the meaning of such bonds is being distorted."They cant get inside you. If you feel that staying human is worthwhile... you've beaten them"Winston believes that so long as he internally defies the Party, and retains control over his instinctive human emotions, he will have the satisfaction of knowing than he has fundamentally beaten them and what they stand for, even if he is ultimately killed. This does not occur, and he is eventually forced to alter his inner beliefs as the Party aim to stamp out every bit of rebellion