1984 The Book

After reading Chapter 3 about War is Peace of Goldstein's book, the party slogan makes more sense. At first it seems paradoxical that war could be equated with peace, but this refers to the peace within society, which is maintained by perpetual warfare. Since people are oppressed, they are dependent upon their government and do not think of rebelling. It is strange that the government wants to be fighting in permanent war and keep its citizens impoverished rather than trying to benefit the standard of living. They are destroying rather than improving society. It would seem more logical that they would want society to be content with their government because if they were dissatisfied, they would be more likely to protest. It is also difficult to understand that the the government considers a surplus of consumption goods to be negative. The party seems to be moving backwards because they are not inventing new technology. This system of oppression seems to work well for the party in controlling society because it gives the people a common purpose and uniting them against the enemy. It distracts them from their dismal living conditions and corrupt government. However, I do not agree with the party's methods of control because they are not truly at peace. The government is the main reason why society is not peaceful. The people are paranoid about being arrested by the Thought Police and constantly fear vaporization. Many have extremely violent thoughts because they cannot express their emotions, as shown by Winston, who wants smash Julia's head with a stone. Also, people seemingly loyal citizens despise the government, such as Winston and Julia, who are joining the Brotherhood in a secret rebellion. The party falsely believes that war creates a peaceful society, but submission to tyranny is not peace. I wonder if the other two superstates, Eurasia and Eastasia, have a government similar to Oceania, where their societies are experiencing the same problems, because they agree to follow the policy of continuous war.