“War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength” is the Party’s central slogan in George Orwell’s 1984. At first, the three statements sound like obvious nonsense. That is precisely the point. Each phrase forces two opposites together, training the citizens of Oceania to accept contradictions instead of questioning them. Yet the slogans also contain […]
Big Brother
Who Is Big Brother in 1984? Is He a Real Person?
Is Big Brother real? George Orwell never gives a clean answer to who is Big Brother in 1984, and that uncertainty is not a hole in the plot. Oceania treats Big Brother as its supreme leader, yet nobody meets him, hears him speak in person, or watches him grow older. He may once have been […]