War and its effects on society

War and its effects on society                                                                                               Mariia Kolykhalova

War and its Effects on Society in

[pic 1]

Written by Mariia Kolykhalova

Kantonsschule Trogen, 5ad

17th May 2023

The novel "1984" by George Orwell depicts a dystopian society in which the ruling party, known as the Party, uses war as a tool to manipulate and control the population. War plays a key role in the text. The ideology of the totalitarian regime described in the novel is based on three statements: 1. War is peace, 2. Ignorance is strength, 3. Freedom is slavery. A complete substitution of concepts and a distortion of reality; such slogans accompany the reader throughout the work, and as one reads it one begins to find evidence of it and to believe it himself. In this essay we will examine the first statement in detail, although of course all three are complementary and simultaneously mutually exclusive. This is proven by concepts such as ‘doublethink’, which means belief in two opposing things at the same time and adapting it depending on the situation, ‘blackwhite’ “…applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this”.^[1] For the protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, a citizen of London working in the Ministry of Truth, the ability to think this way is incomprehensible. Although his job involves constantly rewriting historical records to reflect the Party's desired version of reality, he cannot think one thing while contradicting his own thoughts, which in principle is also incomprehensible to all of us. That stated, Winston is the exception, he is a bug in the system which the almighty Party will surely eliminate: “If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind is extinct; we are the inheritors. Do you understand that you are alone? You are outside history, you are non-existent”.^[2] He is already doomed to death by the mere fact of his existence. Winston reflects on the past, trying to compare life before and after the party. He believes that one day the power of Big Brother and his followers will come to an end. This is a key point and ‘problem’ for Winston. For instance, another proof for him was the falsification of the war on a huge scale. He remembered that Oceania was at war with Eurasia and then suddenly it became an ally. All evidence about Eurasia being the main enemy had been erased and people accepted it as if it had always been so: “Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had been always at war with Eastasia. A large part of the political literature of five years was now completely obsolete. Reports and records of all kinds, newspapers, books, pamphlets, films, sound-tracks, photographs – all had to be rectified at lightning speed”.^[3] 

But Winston remembered that until yesterday everything was different. But it didn't matter, being under constant pressure from propaganda and lies, he was already questioning himself how it really was. "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past".^[4] The war is used to justify the changing of the past, as the Party claims that it has always been at war with whichever enemy is currently being fought. Therefore, the Party is able to rewrite history and control people's perceptions of reality.  

War in this world is depicted very differently from how it is usually perceived. First, examine its physical content: fighting takes place on remote and uncertain borders, whose location the average person can only guess at, or around floating fortresses guarding strategic points. Bombs and missiles occasionally fall into the centres of civilisation, and it is likely that they are launched by the state itself, in order to maintain the appearance and hatred of the enemy. Therefore, war results in minimal casualties and means nothing more than constant shortages of consumer goods and the occasional rocket bomb blast that may kill a few dozen people.^[5] Accordingly, the question arises, then, what is the point of all this? Well, to answer that, it is necessary to analyse the geopolitical situation of the world described in ‘1984’. Namely, it has developed in such a way that the world has been divided into three superpowers. They are equally huge and economically stable to exist independently of each other. At the same time, none of them has enough resources to actually invade or attack the other country. But there is no need for that, they agreed among themselves long ago about the order and distribution of their power in the world. In addition, all of them use war to pit citizens against each other and hate each other. Although it is worth saying that the ideology and hierarchy in society are no different. Obviously, people are not aware of this; they are also forbidden to have contact with foreigners and to know foreign languages. That is why war hysteria continues in all countries, and such actions as rape, robbery, killing of children, massacre of prisoners, going as far as boiling and burying alive, are considered normal, and if they are committed by their own side and not by the enemy, then they are considered meritorious.^[6] This is what the Party is trying to achieve. The aims and motives of war are also different. Here it is a continuous phenomenon which serves as a means of justifying the repressive policy of the Party and directing the discontent and anger of the population towards the external enemy. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.^[7] This statement contains the party's final aim: to maintain a state of perpetual conflict that keeps the population in a constant state of fear and uncertainty. "The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent".^[8] This is why it has been maintained for many years because a hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. People think about how they can get a razor blade or a pair of buttons, not about the meaning of war or the fact that it is because of it they live on the edge of poverty. In such a state, they are unable to think critically and evaluate the current situation. This is what the party is deliberately creating. War has solved the problem of overproduction of goods, and at the same time creates fake employment for its citizens, despite the fact that their labours are only used for war and there too they are completely destroyed.^[9] If they did not work, it would have had the same result. However, it awakens in them a sense of patriotism and loyalty to their job, because it will lead to an obligatory and brilliant victory for Oceania. This is strongly influenced by propaganda. Even the names of everyday trivia clearly express the cult of victory: Victory coffee, Victory cigarettes, Victory gin and so on. And also, the huge number of posters and banners with images of coloured slaves and prisoners, the constant news from the front, which is broadcast on telescreens everywhere, and special events like ‘Hate Week’ or parades dedicated to hatred and rage towards the enemy.