1984 Dialectical Journals And Quotes Explained

Dialectical Journals: 1989 By: George Orwell

"War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength" pg. 14

They are the Party slogans, and are written in big letters on the white pyramid of the Ministry of Truth.

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

The people controlling the present control everything and can ultimately change the past and, therefore; the future. Big brother controls the present. The slogan is an example of the Party's technique of using false history to deteriorate the psychological independence of its people.

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four."

This quote adds to the motif/ theme about psychological freedom and independence.

"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 logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy." AND "If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllableÐ'--what then?"

Motif- again pointing back to the theme of psychological freedom At the end, Winston writes in the dust the 2 +2= 5. It seems that he believes this which means that the citizens of Oceania are all under the mind control of the Party.

"And when memory failed and written records were falsifiedÐ'--when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested." Book 1 Ch. VIII

Without having a reference or a past with which to compare standards, for all they know, they are getting more rations. This quote emphasizes how one understands of the past affects one's attitude about the present

"And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself." Book 3 Ch.VI

Theme of physical pain controls mental actions. When one faces physical pain all they care about is not facing it. No moral belief or emotional attachment is strong enough to withstand torture and physical pain. Physical pain and fear will always cause people to betray their beliefs if doing so will end their physical pain

"Behind Winston's back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig iron and the over fulfillment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously." Pg.2 AND "Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours."

Theme of technology and how totalitarian governments use it to their advantage. They Party obviously has money- or at least enough for the telescreens. They can't spare enough for the party members, like Winston, though.

"The Ministry of Plenty oversees economic shortages, the Ministry of Peace wages war, the Ministry of Truth conducts propaganda and historical revisionism, and the Ministry of Love is the center of the Party's operations of torture and punishment."

Motif of "doublethink" (the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in one's mind at the same time) As the Party's mind-control techniques break down an individual's ability for independent thought, it becomes possible for that individual to believe anything that the Party tells them, even while knowing things the oppose what they are being told. At the Hate Week rally, for example, the Party changes it's position against other countries, so the nation it has been at war with becomes its ally, and its old ally becomes its new enemy. When the Party speaker suddenly changes the nation he refers to as an enemy in the middle of his speech, the crowds accepts it immediately, and are ashamed to find that they have the wrong rally signs. In the same way, people are able to accept the Party ministries' names, though they disagree with their functions

"The girl with dark hair was coming toward him across the field. With what seemed a single movement she tore off her clothes and flung them disdainfully aside. Her body was white and smooth." pg. 27

Sexual repression theme: this is Winston's dream- the only safe place for independent thought. Citizens of Oceania are not allowed to have sexual pleasure; only reproduction of more Party members. He is rebelling- which is against the law and he can be caught by the thought police for having these thoughts.

"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU"

Symbol of Big Brother: A totalitarian government. he is a reassurance to most people (his name suggests his ability to protect), but he is also an open threat (one cannot escape his watch). Big Brother also symbolizes the vagueness with which the higher ranks of the Party present themselvesÐ'--its impossible to know who rules Oceania, what life is like for the rulers, or why they act the way they do.

The Glass Paperweight and St. Clement's Church-symbol: Winston buys a paperweight in an antique store in the prole district that comes to symbolize his attempt to reconnect with the past. Symbolically, when the Thought Police arrest Winston at last, the paperweight shatters on the floor. The old picture of St. Clement's Church in the room that Winston rents above Mr. Charrington's shop is another representation of the past. Winston associates a song with the picture that ends with the words "Here comes the chopper to chop off your head!" This is an important foreshadow, as it is the telescreen hidden behind the picture that ultimately leads the Thought Police to Winston, symbolizing the Party's corrupt control of the past.

"Here comes the chopper to chop off your head!"(Throughout the book)

Foreshadowing

...