Doublethink, the infamous Newspeak word for "reality control," is in itself an example of government oppression, where reality exists how the Party says it exists and nothing more. To be more accurate, the definition of double think would be "the power of holding two contradictory thoughts in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." This is integral to maintaining the idea that the Party is infallible and Big Brother is semi-divine. Doublethink is the neglection of all logic; if the Party says 'two and two make five,' it is a crime to think otherwise; the Party "could reach (the stars) if (they) wanted to.or (they) could blot them out." Altering history is not impossible, and falsifying records is in order, as "he who controls the past controls the present; who controls the present controls the future." Put simply, doublethink is controlled insanity.
Tremendous amounts of propaganda perpetuate the insanity, from the "ruggedly handsome" yet stern features of Big Brother, glaring from posters plastered on every wall and street corner, to the Hate-themed celebrations which excite crazed emotions from every citizen. Big Brother is substituted for God in an atheist society, that is, "B.B." is the source of all goodness and righteousness, and the target of all praise, whether in actual existence or not. All emotions suppressed by the Party are given only this outlet for expression; an overwhelming, devoted love to the Party and Big Brother, and a deep-rooted hatred for the "mortal enemy" of Oceania, or more accurately, the scapegoat. Even Winston, who throughout the novel attempts to reject Ingsoc's brainwashing, is swept away with the raw emotional flood of the Two Minute Hate; "it was impossible to avoid joining in.a hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill.turn(ed) one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic." In 1984, propaganda is a constant flow of psychological stimuli, beginning at a very young age with the Junior Spies, through adolescence with the Junior Anti-Sex League, and continuing into adulthood under the permanent surveillance of the telescreens, barking out orders and information twenty-four hours a day.
