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.