Period Five- Discussion
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How are the "Ministries" ironic? How do these ideas add to the overall theme of the book?
posted by lindsey c @ 7:27 PM
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Wednesday, April 04, 2007
How are the "Ministries" ironic? How do these ideas add to the overall theme of the book?
20 Comments:
They are ironic because their names are opposite of what they actually do. The ministry of peace wages war, the ministry of plenty implements rations and such, and the ministry of truth creates fiction.
This is again the critical concept of doublethink, which is integral to the way the society is run and the way its people think.
The Ministries are ironic because their names do not coincide to what actually goes on inside the different branches. For example, the Ministry of Truth takes history and events of Oceania, tears them apart, and turns everything into a lie.
This adds to the theme of the book because it shows how much the Party controls the people. The people know that the events that the Party tells them about are false, but they still look at them as fact. This also makes it seem as if the people don't care about how true an event is, just as long as there is one. It doesn't matter if it all is a bunch of lies, as long as their are being told something, the people will be happy. Make sense?
Happy blogging!
~Laura
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The Ministries are kind of the deciever/lyers. They are confusing and it seems that it is their goal to be decieving. Like Ben said it leads back to the doublethink idea, and the way the society is run.
I agree with everyone else the ministries are ironic because their names do not match.
However just because we think they are ironic does not mean the people in 1984 thought they were ironic. To them who have never had an abundance, rations may seem like plenty. This adds to the overall by stating that how brainwashed these people are. They cannot tell abundance from rations.
I agree with what everyone else has said.
I personally think that these names and the fact that they are ironic adds to the theme of the book by giving a clear example of that theme. I think that the theme is that in 1984, the government controls everything, leaving no room for thought. The names of the Ministries and the building forms of those Ministries enhance our view of that theme. These Ministries are all about controlling the populace. The Ministry of Truth tells the people lies to brainwash them; the Ministry of Peace ironically starts war with other countries, then the Ministry of Truth hides the reasons behind the war, and the fact that the country was just recently an ally of their enemy; the Ministry of Love concerned itself with law and order, and showed the opposite of love by repressing it’s people; the Ministry of Plenty enforced rations, keeping the plenty from the people it serves. Some of the Ministries, in their appearance, are ironic to its name, as well. The Ministry of Truth has the three slogans of the Party, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”. This is contradictory in and of itself, and is not true, therefore contradicting the Ministry’s name. The Ministry of Love was surrounded by barbed wire, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests. The streets around it were roamed by “gorilla-faced guards”, armed with jointed truncheons. This appearance strikes fear into the hearts of the citizens, it doesn’t give them the sense that they are loved. The Ministries, in their names and appearance are ironic to themselves, therefore enhancing the theme that the government is controlling everything by ultimately showing that the government controls it’s people minds so much that they do not question the irony in the four parts of the government.
I agree with the idea that the Ministries are ironic, because their names do not fit their real purpose. However, I think the names are more than ironic, they are contradictory (I know they are relative terms, but contradictory is more opposite, which is what I am going for). I think the Ministries add to the overall theme of the book because they are components that add to the mask that hides The Party's true intentions. Winston's entire life is based on false information that shadows reality, whether it be in the past or present. The citizens of Oceania look at their home through rose-colored glasses. The names of the Ministries provide a "sugar-covered" appearance that masks their actual goal.
I think the names are a lot like the name Big Brother. It is supposed to portray something better than it is.
The ministries are named to the opposite of what they do. Minitruth destroys truth. Miniplenty rations and cuts off supplies. Minilove...well it definitely isn't love they exhibit there. It is another sign of the manipulation and mind control of the 1984 society
The ministries are ironic in that they are labyrinthine monuments to the injustices of the society (arbitrary rations, deleting the past, etc.), but seem to stand apart from the rest of the world as a place where things get done and work is "accomplished".
I thought that it was really weird that they had different ministries. They have opposite names of what they really do or are.
Like Ben said, I think that by calling them ministries, they try to make them sound grand, although they really are systems to ruin free thought and help brainwash society.
I think the ministries are ironic because (like everyone has said before) their names are opposite of their meaning. They add to the overall theme of complete domination by the government. They are a symbol of power and control over the minds of the people.
I agree with Ben's comment:
As in much of the other aspects of the society throughout 1984, names are given to things to make them seem better than they. These names are probably given to the ministries to make them seem more positive, and better than what they truthfully are.
I agree with Ben in how the names are meant to make it seem better than it is. I think that the Ministry of Truth is the most ironic because their job is to control the media so that the people are brainwashed. Definitely not "truth."
This contributes to the overall theme of the book because it limits free thinking, but the people are told that everything is right and happy.
It adds to the theme in the way of believing in Governmnet, and just in governmnet is the only way to be happy. And that BIG BROTHER IS ALWYAYS WATCHING!!
The mentaility of the ministries is that of a mob.
Get one to be scared, and the rest will follow.
COntrol, it seems in this book comes from instilling fear in their subjects.
I think that the names mention exactly what they are hiding. For example, the Ministry of Truth CONTROLLS the media, and changes facts, and basically LIES to the Party. Hence the irony.
The Ministries are Ironic because they are like masks to cover up things that are really there. Like the Ministry of Truth, for example, controls the media, and today, the media has a hard time telling the truth, so it is ironic that they are named that. The Ministry's slogan is ironic in itself because it says, War is Peace...Freedom is Slavery...Ignorance is Strength, none of those things are possible, you can't have war and have peace, you cannot be a slavery of freedom, and you cannot be strong when your ignorant because you are vulnerable to things you don't know.
1984 describes a society that is full of irony, their lives are controlled by Big Brother, yet they have free thinking minds. They are weak in their ignorance, yet their work places sell them that Ignorance is Strength. Its all a confusing mind game, which keeps the people in 1984's society under just enough control for them to fear fighting back.
ok, so i think i finally got blogger to work. i had to create a new e-mail and everything but now it works. I think that the minstries names are very ironic for they contradict how they run. the ministry of love is patrolled by armed guards, and in order to enter one has to move through a maze of passages and traps of a bleak building. Also, the ministry of truth is ironic for instead of telling the truth, they create the truth and tell other people what they think the truth is. All of the ministries in "1984" are very ironic and contradicting to what their names would normally be thought of when read.
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