Oxymoron

“Then the face of Big Brother faded away again, and instead the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (16)

Orwell uses oxymorons to show that the Party has reversed life and made it backwards in comparison to what it once was. An oxymoron is a statement that contradicts itself, like the three slogans of the the Party. Before the Party came into power, war would not have meant peace, freedom would not have meant slavery, and ignorance would not have meant strength. After the Party took control, it twisted life around until war did mean peace; it convinced its people that war is a good, beneficial, necessary thing and therefore equivalent with peace. The Party used the same idea with freedom and slavery, saying that the two were equal, and also with ignorance and strength.