Resistance

Resistance; the opposition offered by one thing, force, etc., to another.
In George Orwell’s 1984, resistance is a key factor. As the book progresses, readers come to the realization that Winston and Julia resist their government, specifically ‘Big Brother’, a reoccurring structure within the book.
Winston Smith, the main character of the book is fully aware of the shape of Oceania, and begins to resist the various aspects of the state. One of the key themes of the book, Psychological manipulation is presented to us. The party begins to control its people with psychological motivation that is designed to overwhelm a person’s mind aptitude for independent thought. For example, Winston realizes what the party has been doing and starts to resist it by writing in his diary, which is illegal. To relate this furthermore, the lyrics to the song The Resistance, by the Brit pop band, Muse, has clearly stated:
Quell your prayers for love and peace
you’ll wake the thought police
we can hide the truth inside
Through this part of the song, the Thought Police are presented to us. In the book, the thought police are the ones that make sure you DO NOT have thought of your own and that you believe what the inner party wants to you to believe, through telescreens, which monitor the behavior of the population. So, what Winston does is write in his diary about his true thoughts and feelings and begins a relationship with Julia to fulfill their sexual needs, as they both realize that they feel the same way about the party.

War is Peace

War is peace. War is peace. War is peace. Took me a while too, you know, to really catch the meaning. Moreover, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength, did you know that? Yeah, that’s what I thought, you don’t get it. Well, according to the book we’ve been reading in class, 1984 by George Orwell, the society Winston Smith lives in, the main character of the book, believes that the three quotes above are indeed, true.
Let’s take a deeper look into the meaning behind…
WAR IS PEACE
Well, this is an example of the idea of doublethink, which is “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” (Orwell, page 32). It’s an integral concept from the book and is also a word in their official language, Newspeak.
Orwell has created an “Inner Party” to his dystopian society in the book, which controls what people think, say and do. Throughout the book, many historical events happen and are vanished, then re-written, and then erased again to make people believe what the Inner Party wants them to believe. One of the most important aspects that have been altered in their society is who they are at war with.
The idea of War is Peace makes the society believe that war is good. War solves all problems and therefore leads to peace. Although, in reality, that is not true.