Posted by Steve James on May 13, 2002 at 17:08:09:
In Reply to: 1984 posted by Maine on May 13, 2002 at 14:09:05:
As far as I can remember, having not read Nineteen Eightyfour for a while, the war is perpetual; it will not end because no side is able or willing to win it.
The reasons for this being that the war is made use of by all sides, firstly, to inspire what might be called patriotism in society to divert hatred away from the ruling forces and onto an enemy of which the people have little knowledge of. This lack of knowledge enables the Big Brother to portray the enemy as savages of whom everyone in Oceania should be afraid of.
The way Big Brother also makes use this war is to dispose of the products of whatever labour there was in Oceania, thus diverting it away from the people and using it to wage war.