Brendan Tuma
Mr. George
World Lit G
21 October 2010
How War Can Be Peace in a Dystopian Society
What George Orwell does in his novel, 1984, is create a dystopian society that is governed by the principles of totalitarianism. The dictator, Big Brother, makes seeming paradoxes true. None is more mind blowing than the slogan War is Peace, which at first glance is a head scratcher, but once a deeper look is taken, the phrase can make sense. The simplest explanation is that war, which is continuously fought, can eventually be peaceful to citizens who have never experienced peace. The background of the war is that the three superpowers of the world have been at constant war for over twenty-five years. It is not only Oceania that employs this slogan, it is the entire world of the time period that attempts to convince their citizens that this seeming paradox is true. In order to mold human minds to get them to think that this is true, there are many great feats which those in control must undertake. The way those in control have constructed their slogan there is no explanation necessary. The people are being convinced subconsciously by what the governments are doing. Although this paradox could never make sense in today’s world, the differing ideologies going on in this time period make it so that it can seem true.
In order for war to be considered peace there must be some way for it to be accepted by the people. A way that this is possible is to drag the war on for an extended period of time. This supposed war commenced over twenty-five years ago from when the novel takes place. The biggest reason for this is that no superpower can ever gain a lead in the war. Even if two of the three nations combined they could not override the third. All three are self sufficient and do not require resources from any of the other states. The result is that no superpower could ever risk a maneuver that would lead to serious defeat. When no moves are made a standstill occurs that causes war to continue, making it peaceful if there is no true peace to be compared to. The text states, “In one combination or another, these three super states are permanently at war, and have been for the past twenty-five years” (Orwell 185-186). Regardless of which two nations align and how they enter combat, the war is going to stay continuous, as evidenced by the fact that it has been that way for the last quarter of a century.
As explained earlier, this slogan could never pass in today’s world. There must be another difference in the novel’s setting that makes the paradox acceptable. This is that they are fighting a different war in the novel. It is no longer the head to head combat that occurred for all of history: “War, however, is no longer the desperate, annihilating struggle that it was in the early decades of the twentieth century” (186). That would lead to causalities which would ultimately end the war, ruining the slogan. As a matter of fact it is even quite difficult to come up with an actual reason for why these superpowers are at war because “It is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting, and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference” (186). The anger toward the other countries is controlled by the government as they tell their citizens derogatory things about their enemies. Without deaths and hatred of one another it is easy to keep a war continuous for so long, which makes it peaceful or acceptable.
To be at war for so long those in control must make it psychologically acceptable to the people who are supporting it. The governments’ real goals are to use up produced materials: “War, it will be seen, not only accomplishes the necessary destruction, but accomplishes it in a psychologically acceptable way” (192). It does not make sense to people if they produce goods only to torch them or throw them overseas. By having these goods go to a good cause such as the war, the people of the world can feel like they are working toward an ultimate goal even though the government knows there is no plan to end this war. For the paradox to be true the government must come up with more ways for it to be acceptable to society so that it can be true.
In order to be more acceptable the people must feel positively about what they are doing. What the governments realized is that a continuous war is not dangerous. Nobody wants to go off to fight for a cause, or lack thereof, if they know they could be killed. With continuous war there is no military necessity and technology development can halt. The worst thing that could ever happen to the world has already occurred in this novel. Nuclear bombs have already blown up the world so there is not a lot to feel unsafe about. Another thing is that “In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner or later came to an end, usually in unmistakable victory or defeat” (197). Defeat in war meant major loss of independence or something else undesirable, but because nothing can be won or lost it becomes peaceful to stay at war due to the fact that it is not dangerous. Here lies Oceania’s true reason for war.
To fully understand how this paradox can be true it is important to understand the aims of the governments. At the beginning of the twentieth century the future looked bright. This is because science and technology were developing, but wars and revolutions ceased. Once the world was blown up by atomic bombs and divided into three superpowers the goal become to sustain a dystopia. The real aim of this war is to use products created by the machine without increasing the standard of living because a social hierarchy could only exist with poverty. Countries have gone to war in order to boost the economy, but in this case the wheels of industry have to be kept turning without increasing the real wealth of the world. This is all to keep the social hierarchy intact. This can only be done by continuous warfare so goods need to be produced but not distributed. The true aim of the governments is to maintain their own social orders.
It is the vastly different world that the novel takes place in that allows this paradox to be true. The governments go through extensive procedures to make the slogan true. Fighting takes place in disputed areas and nobody from any superpower can ever meet one from another. The little fighting that even does occur is by the own country. For example, one way Oceania creates casualties is by bombing their own soldiers and blaming it on another superpower to fire up their people. This paradox is true not only because the fighting is different, but the entire purpose for war and how it is presented to the people is very unique. Therefore, a peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war.
Works Cited
Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Signet Classic, 1977.
