2. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength

3. Perpetual Class Struggle of Human Societies A hierarchy has always been present High, middle, low High = ruling class, their goal is to remain Middle = works for the high, their goal is to replace the high Low = only goal is survival, occasionally desire a society where all are equal Cycle of history High becomes complacent Middle enlists the low to overthrow the high (by pretending they are fighting for them Middle becomes high and puts the low back in their place New middle is created from one or both remaining groups Cycle begins again

4. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength New Movements Aim to Stop This Cycle Ingsoc (Oceania) = Neo-Bolshevism (Eurasia) = Death Worship (Eastasia) All have the conscious aim of perpetuating unfreedom & inequality Off-shoots of Socialism Purpose of all three is to freeze history at a chosen moment – to stop the cycle of history

5. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength New Movements Aim to Stop This Cycle How? New aristocracy’s characteristics: Less interested in luxury More interested in pure power for power’s sake More intent on crushing opposition (this difference is crucial) Tyrannies of the past were half-hearted and inefficient Previously impossible to keep citizenry under constant surveillance (telescreens) Invention of print = easier to manipulate public opinion Result of these last two makes it possible to enforce complete obedience to the state & total uniformity of opinion

6. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength New Movements Aim to Stop This Cycle How? Potential problems of perpetuating a hierarchy/ways in which a ruling group falls from power: Conquered by an outside power This has become an impossibility, as we will see in Chapter 3 Governing so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt Allowing a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being Losing confidence and the willingness to govern A ruling class that can guard against all four of these can remain in power permanently.

7. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength Structure of Oceanic Society

8. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength Structure of Oceanic Society Big Brother Infallible and all-powerful No one has ever seen Big Brother No one is sure when he was born, and it can be assumed he will never die “Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration.” He is the guise through which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world A focusing point for love, fear and reverence

9. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength Structure of Oceanic Society Inner Party Less than 2% of the population Outer Party If the Inner Party is the brain, the Outer Party is the hands Proles The dumb masses 85% of the population Membership in these groups is not hereditary Rulers are not held together by blood, but by adherence to doctrine The Party is not a class in the old sense of the word The Party is not concerned with perpetuating its blood but with perpetuating itself WHO wields power is not important, provided that the hierarchical structure remains intact

10. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength Rebellion The Proles are not to be feared No hope = no future Thought Police A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he is alone Newspeak Eliminates the ability of Party members to even express the words necessary for rebellion Doublethink The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them The essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty To forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed

11. Chapter 1 Ignorance Is Strength Summary: This pursuit of naked power and utter lack of liberalism distinguishes the Party from previous tyrannies, though the Party initially justifies its control through dedication to socialism. By focusing on collectivism, the Party can consolidate their power and present Ingsoc as an inevitable follow-up to capitalism in which the Low are no longer exploited. In reality, the social castes are no longer necessary, and collectivism only serves to prolong the exploitation of the Low.

12. Chapter 3 War Is Peace

13. The 3 Powers Oceania The Americas, British Isles, Australasia, South Africa Eurasia Northern part of European and Asiatic land Eastasia (the smallest of the three) China and the countries south of it, Japan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet

14. Chapter 3 War Is Peace No One Will Ever Win The War Militarily equal No material need to fight (i.e., each of the three powers are possess enough natural resources) No ideological differences Insoc = Neo-Bolshevism = Death Worship If there is fighting (in the Disputed Zone), the fighting is done by a few – no attrition

15. Chapter 3 War Is Peace Then Why Fight? “The primary aim…” (pg. 155) Produce goods to keep people working Use up the goods to create a perpetual need to continue production Keep people poor but willing to continue to sacrifice

16. Chapter 3 War Is Peace Past Failures of the State to Perpetuate Hierarchy Developments in science & experimentation (aka, technology) = failure Technology leads to luxury Luxury leads to education Education leads to rebellion Reversion to agricultural society = failure Ends technology (horse & plow) No technology = militarily weak & easily conquered Restricting the output of goods to keep masses in poverty = failure People not working = unrest & rebellion Land is not cultivated Economy stagnates Militarily weak & easily conquered

17. Chapter 3 War Is Peace Why WAR is the Answer Endless production of goods & need for labor Citizens get just enough to survive, surplus goes to the war effort Endless means to destroy those goods Making battleships, destroying those battleships and then making more battleships…or call them obsolete and make “better” battleships to replace the old ones Keeps citizens occupied War provides an emotional response Citizens will not be motivated to just build pyramids or dig holes and fill them back up again. They will, however, be willing to do anything for their country and its beliefs

18. Chapter 3 War Is Peace Why Big Brother Doesn’t Want to Actually Conquer the Other Powers Easily conquered lands are too difficult to assimilate Big Brother doesn’t want citizens to associate with other cultures They might realize others are not so bad/different after all This is one reason why controlling information is so important Continuous war is not dangerous Fighting is restricted to the Disputed Zone Everyone knows at the outset that they can’t/won’t win Continuous peace is also not dangerous, but Big Brother/the Party would lose power

19. Chapter 3 War Is Peace Summary: The war will never end. People will always be happy in their poverty, working to produce goods for the war effort. The people, then, will remain ignorant and Big Brother’s power will be absolute and perpetual.

20. Chapter 2 Freedom Is Slavery