Paradoxes In 1984

In London, cigarettes, housing, and gin had the same brand, Victory. These commodities were recognized as poor quality items, but were still bought and used by the outer party members. Creating the illusion that the party had overcome the past, the brand VICTORY was the paradox that benefited the party the most. Though there were more important paradoxes present, the brand VICTORY was able to subtly manipulate the people of Oceania. Many other paradoxes, such as “WAR IS PEACE”(Orwell 26), made it so apparent the government was trying to manipulate the citizens, one could evade Big Brother’s lies. The word VICTORY subliminally gave the impression that everything in the party was excellent, which helped the government in three ways. The name implied the coffee and gin issued by the party were superior to those of the past. This supported how the party claimed life was better in 1984 than before the revolution. The second way the inner party benefited from the name was it was selling the goods. If the government was supposedly selling
As seen when describing doublethink, “(literature) not merely changes into something different, but into something contradictory of what they used to be”(Orwell 53). Doublethink was the process of accepting both the right and the wrong as equal truths and is a perfect paradox considering, it creates paradoxes. However, without VICTORY, doublethink is impossible to implement and therefore Big Brother would not be in control. Paradoxes were essential to the world of 1984. Without them, the world might not have been as much of a dystopia as it ended up being and INGSOC wouldn't have had control. Small words have a tremendous effect considering, they are initially overlooked, not appearing to be manipulating a person. In 1984, the brand VICTORY is the small word that subtly changes the way people think and gives Big Brother