ignorance is power essay

The Definitive Guide to Analysing ‘1984’ for English: Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

Newspeak? Doublethink? What do all of these words mean? If you need help analysing 1984 by George Orwell, you’ve come to the right place — we’ve got all you need to know with a summary, list of key characters, themes and a 3-step essay analysis guide!

We’ve even got an analysis table and a sample paragraph that’s all free for you to download on 1984.

So, let’s throw back into 1984 (the fictional one of course)! 

1984 by George Orwell Summary & Key Messages Key Characters in 1984 Context Themes Explored in 1984 Essay Analysis of 1984

1984 by George Orwell Summary & Key Messages

The politics of oceania.

1984 belongs in the dystopian, science fiction genre as it explores the dangers of corrupted power under a totalitarian regime. Totalitarianism is a government system that dictates how its citizens think, behave and act by constantly keeping an eye on them and carrying out punishments for those who don’t obey. Sounds strict, hey? 

Sadly, this is the life of our protagonist, Winston Smith. Winston lives in a nation that resembles London in Oceania, which has been in a war with Eurasia and Eastasia since forever but no one really knows what the war is about. This is because the Party controls its people through rewriting history in the Ministry of Truth, where Winston edits historical records as part of his job.

The Party also invented a new language called “Newspeak” , which eliminates any words associated with rebellion to ensure full subservience of their nation. 

Wherever Winston goes, he is bombarded with posters of their omnipresent leader, Big Brother. There are also hidden cameras and microphones that are implanted everywhere by the thought police to monitor every move of its citizens.

It’s a scary place because if you do or say anything wrong, the thought police will capture you and force you into lifelong labour . In this world, people cannot have close friends, cannot date whoever they want and cannot have intimate relationships.

Instead, the people pent up these emotions and channel them into aggressive patriotism for their government which are expressed in two minute hate rallies. 

The Start of Winston’s Rebellion

Winston has had enough of the Party and its strict control. He purchases an illegal diary to commit crimethink, where he expresses his own thoughts and feelings about the Party through writing. He also writes about his interest in O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party who he believes could be part of the underground rebellion group called the Brotherhood. 

Access 1984 Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis

Winston’s and Julia’s Relationship

At work, Winston realises that his historical records were not aligning with his memories . He notices Julia, a young beautiful girl staring at him, and he is afraid that she will turn him into the “thought police”.

However, Julia passes him a note that says “I love you” and they start an affair. 

O’Brien’s Betrayal 

As their relationship grows more seriously, so does Winston’s hatred for the Party. He and Julia decided to reveal their rebellion to O’Brien, who also appeared to be on their side .

O’Brien welcomes them into the Brotherhood and passed Winston a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. As Winston starts reading the book, the thought police charge in, arrest Winston and Julia and bring them to the Ministry of Love. Turns out, O’Brien is a snake. 

The Party Tortures Winston

At the Ministry of Love, Winston is tortured mercilessly and this makes him confess everything he knows about Julia and the rebellion .

It is then revealed that the government carries out these acts to exercise total power and control over the people of Oceania, to the extent where people not only do things out of fear, but genuinely believe in what they are doing even if it doesn’t make sense.

Winston’s Loss of Individuality

In Room 101, Winston experiences a true Fear Factor episode. The thought police threaten Winston with his ultimate fear, rats that would eat his face off. This caused Winston to scream “Do it to Julia, not me!”, which represents his betrayal to the only person that held value to him.

After this, the thought police let both Winston and Julia go, but the two ex-lovers can no longer look at each other face to face as they are both broken inside. Winston becomes a changed man who does not want to think about rebelling and instead becomes highly supportive of the Party and Big Brother. 

Key Characters in 1984

Winston Smith  The main protagonist who works under the Ministry of Truth in London, Oceania. His appearance is frail, pensive and intelligent. He hates the Party and its totalitarian system with a desire to revolutionise his current political situation. He can be emotional and idealistic with his goals. 

Julia  A beautiful young girl who is Winston’s love interest. Julia is sex-positive with an optimistic attitude about the future of the Party. She represents parts of humanity that Winston lacks, such as passive survival, intimacy, intuition and pragmatism. 

O’Brien  A mysterious leader of the Inner Party who Winston trusts as Winston believes that O’Brien is a member of the legendary rebellion group, the Brotherhood. It is revealed later in the novel that O’Brien is a leader of The Party who has been keeping a close eye on Winston. His betrayal launches us into the inner mechanisms of The Party and its totalitarian rule. O’Brien’s character parallels that of famous dictators in modern history such as Stalin and Hitler, as he is determined to indoctrinate Winston in the name of “purity.” 

Big Brother  Have you watched the show Big Brother? His character in the show is almost the same as in 1984, except a lot more controlling. In 1984, Big Brother is the most dominating figure in Oceania as he is perceived to be the ruler, although Orwell does not specify whether he really exists or not. Big Brother’s face is plastered among posters, coins and telescreens with the slogan “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” so it’s impossible to avoid him anywhere. 

Emmanuel Goldstein As the leader of the legendary group of rebels called the Brotherhood, Emmanuel Goldstein is the opposing figure of Big Brother. Although he never appears in the novel, he has had a profound impact on Winston’s hope for the future. He is the most dangerous man in Oceania, according to the Party.  

Context in 1984

To understand 1984’s context, we must first understand the author’s personal background to craft a well thought-out essay analysis. This is because the author’s personal and historical experiences do shape the novel and its themes. So, let’s start with Orwell’s schooling days.

If you ever felt suppressed at school, Orwell can definitely relate with you on that. As a “lower-upper-middle class”, Orwell didn’t fit in with his peers and was upset with the restricted routine that schools impose on their students.

He then went on to become a British Imperial Policeman in Burma where he hated his job as he had to execute strict laws under a political system he didn’t like. After this, he moved to England and became a full-time writer. 

Orwell experienced poverty for awhile, and even lived as a coal miner in northern England which caused him to shift from capitalist ideals to democratic socialism. Here are the simplified definitions of the political concepts that influenced Orwell’s beliefs and 1984’s themes: 

• Capitalism: An economic system where property is owned and controlled by private actors, rather than by state. As such individuals can control how much they set their prices, instead of leaving it to the government to dictate. 
• Democratic Socialism: Unlike capitalism, democratic socialism is an economic system whereby property and products are owned and controlled by the entire society, alongside governments. So, the main difference here is that governments have a say in trade whereas in capitalism, governments do not interfere with private owner’s business. 

Orwell was also concerned with the rise of Thatcherism. 

In the year 1936, Orwell fought as a socialist in the Spanish Civil War during World War II, where he became familiar with totalitarian systems that are under leaders such as Hitler and Stalin. Although Orwell was passionate about socialism at first, he soon became disillusioned and disappointed with its ideals as Stalin used communism as the foundation of his authoritarian system. 

Stalin of the Soviet Union was also an important influence in shaping 1984’s totalitarian regime of Oceania, as Stalin used secret police to force confessions out of enemies through torture alike how the Ministry of Love did with Winston . Like the Party, the Soviet Union also tampered with physical records of people as they imprison and/or eliminate millions of lives. 

With the rise of the nuclear age and television in 1949, Orwell envisioned a future where everyone would always be monitored through screens in a post-atomic dictatorship . This became a fear that was highly possible when speculated thirty five years into the future. 

But as we all know, this did not become true. In the early 1990s, the Cold War ended with the triumph of democracy, as signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Even so, Orwell’s 1984 still serves as a precautionary tale against the corruption and abuse of totalitarian regimes, along with a profound insight into the use of language and history to manipulate one’s individuality.  

Want more information on George Orwell? Take a look at this biography found via the Orwell Foundation page!

Themes Explored in 1984

To help you get started on your thesis or topic sentence , here are three key themes from 1984 that you can write about in your essay analysis !

The Consequences of Totalitarianism

After experiencing the violence and corruption of totalitarian regimes in Spain and Russia, Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning about the dangers of an authoritarian regime where the government holds the most power. As such, the Party in 1984 administered extreme methods of physical and psychological manipulation to enforce total submission of its people. 

Physical control by the Party includes total surveillance of its people to the extent where even a twitch in the face can be enough to warrant an arrest. Morning exercises, called Physical Jerks, are also carried out before long hours at work to tire people out so they don’t have the energy to think beyond the Party’s propaganda. 

The Party also uses physical torture to “re-educate” and punish those who rebel against them. It is this physical pain that causes Winston to lose his own individuality and moral beliefs, allowing the Party to infiltrate his mind and dictate his sense of reality. 

Meanwhile, the Party also uses psychological tactics to saturate the individual’s mind with propaganda and disable its ability for independent thinking. On top of watching everyone everywhere, the telescreens are also used to indoctrinate (ie. brainwash) people into supporting the Party despite its flaws.

The telescreens also perpetuate slogans such as “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” , to remind people that their government is always watching their back so they better behave according to the Party’s standards. 

The Party also deems close friendships and conversations with others illegal. So, if you’re itching to spill the tea, your only method of venting your emotions out is through pep rallies, where the Party encourages you to show extreme expressions of hatred to its political enemies. Ultimately, this allows the Party to dictate how and where you should express your emotions, keeping you from expressing your individual feelings, thoughts and opinions. 

Here are some quotes that illustrate the perils of totalitarianism: 

The Power of Language to Liberate and Control 

In 1984, language has the dual capacity to both restrain and facilitate individual expression. This is another key message that Orwell imparts, as he highlights how language can either promote or limit ideas which influence our beliefs, behaviour and identity. 

The Party uses Newspeak as a way of controlling the language that its people speak, which in turn dictates the people’s thoughts, actions and personalities (or lack thereof).

By eliminating words that are associated with rebellious thoughts, the Party essentially removes the people’s ability to think of resistance because there are no words to conceive it. With continual edits with Newspeak, the Party inches a step closer to their ultimate goal of total coercion from their people.

Yet, in Winston’s case, he uses language as a vehicle of self-expression as he purchases a diary for himself and writes his everyday thoughts, opinions and feelings into it . By writing in his own words, he is able to build himself an identity with his own passions, goals and perspective.

Sadly, in a world where the government overrules individual expression, Winston’s use of language dwindles, though it is encouraging to see how language can still work to preserve independent thought.

Here are three quotes that can help you get started on this theme: 

The Importance of Preserving Our Identity and Individualism

What happens if we lose everything that defines us as us? 

1984 truly delves into this scary concept as the Party removes everyone’s personal details so they are not able to establish their own identity. For example, even Winston does not know his own age, who his real parents are nor can he trust his own childhood memories as there are no photographs or evidences to help him differentiate between reality and imagination. 

Aside from Winston, the rest of Oceania are also denied documents that could give them a sense of individuality and help them differentiate themselves from others . This causes their memories to grow fuzzy, thus making the people of Oceania vulnerable and dependent on the stories that the Party tells them.

In turn, by controlling the present, the Party can re-engineer the past. Simultaneously, by controlling the past, the Party can rationalise its shortcomings and project a perfect government that is far from the truth. 

With no recollection of the past, the people of Oceania can no longer stay in touch with their real identities and instead, become identical as they wear the same uniform, drink the same brand of alcohol and more. Yet, Winston builds his own sense of identity through recording his thoughts, experiences and emotions in his diary. This act along with his relationship with Julia symbolises Winston’s declaration of his own independence and identity as a rebel who disagrees with the Party’s system. 

Despite this, Winston’s own sense of individuality and identity dissolves after his torturous experience at the Ministry of Love, which transforms him into another member of the Outer Party who blends into the crowd. By asserting a dark vision of humanity’s individualism, Orwell urges audiences in the present to truly value their freedom to express and preserve their identity. 

Here are some quotes that are related to this idea which you may find helpful:

Of course, 1984 also includes other themes that you may be thinking about writing analysis for, such as: 

• Rebellion and Patriotism 
• Active versus Passive Survival 
• The Corrupt Use of Technology

Check out our recommended related text for 1984 .

Essay Analysis: How to Analyse 1984 in 3 Steps

Analysing your text is always the first step to writing an amazing essay! Lots of students make the mistake of jumping right into writing without really understanding what the text is about.

This leads to arguments that only skim the surface of the complex ideas, techniques and elements of the text. So, let’s build a comprehensive thesis through an in-depth analysis of the 1984. 

Here are three easy steps that you can use to analyse 1984 and really impress your English teachers!

Step 1: Select your example(s)

1984 is a world of its own with its totalitarian systems, use of foreign words and more. So, we totally understand if you’re feeling lost and don’t know where to begin. 

Our piece of advice is to look for examples that come with a technique. Techniques offer you a chance to delve into the text’s underlying meaning, which would help you deepen your analysis and enrich your essay writing. 

Find our extensive list of quotes from 1984 by George Orwell!

Here are two quotes that relate to consequences of totalitarian power, which we have picked to help you visualise which examples can provide a deeper meaning: 

“Big Brother is Watching You.”  “WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” 

Step 2: Identify your technique(s)

Getting a good grade in English is more than listing out every technique that you can find in the text. Instead, it’s about finding techniques that allow you to dive deeper into the themes you’re focussing on, while also supporting your argument. 

Try to look for techniques that allow you to explain its effects and link to your argument such as symbols, metaphors, connotations, similes and historical allegories . In Orwell’s case, he uses a lot of language techniques such as neologism, where he makes up his own words such as “Doublethink” or “Newspeak”. 

For the two quotes above, its three techniques include historical allusion, rhetoric and oxymoron. 

If possible, you can look out for a quote that encompasses a few techniques to really pack a punch in your analysis. 

Step 3: Write the analysis

Once you’re done collecting your examples and techniques, the next part is writing. You must remember to explain what the effect of the technique is and how it supports your argument. Otherwise, it’s not going to be a cohesive essay if you’re just listing out techniques. 

An example of listing out techniques looks like this: 

“The rhetoric “Big Brother is Watching You” is also a historical allusion while “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength” is oxymoronic.”

Instead, you must elaborate on how each of these techniques link to your argument. 

“Big Brother is Watching You” is a rhetoric imposed by the Party to instil psychological fear and submission of the people of Oceania, whereby Orwell uses to warn the dangers of totalitarianism. “Big Brother” is also a historical allusion to Hitler to remind the audience that 1984 is not entirely fictional but a possible future of our reality, urging us to take action against totalitarian regimes with the autonomy we have now. 

Meanwhile, the slogan ““WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” represents the oxymoronic mentalities that have been indoctrinated into the people of Oceania, highlighting how totalitarian regimes would force its people to think whatever they want their people to think, no matter how illogical it is. 

Together, your analysis should look something like: 

The Party perpetuates the rhetoric, “Big Brother is Watching You” to instil psychological fear and coercion of the the people of Oceania, which forewarns a lack of individual freedom and private reflection within authoritarian regimes. As “Big Brother” is a historical allusion to Hitler, Orwell reminds the audience that 1984 and its extremist politics is a reality, urging us to defend our independence before it’s forbidden. Furthermore, the slogan “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” embodies the oxymoronic mentalities that the Party indoctrinates into its people, revealing the extreme extent of psychological control an authoritarian regime strives to ensure their power is never questioned, no matter how irrational it is.

Need some help with your essay analysis of other texts aside from 1984?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• Romeo and Juliet
• Run Lola Run
• The Meursault Investigation
• In Cold Blood
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Book Thief
• The Tempest
• Blade Runner
• Things Fall Apart
• Mrs Dalloway

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Ignorance is Strength

Literary source.

“War is Peace / Freedom is Slavery / Ignorance is Strength”

Literary Analysis

Literary devices, related posts:, post navigation.

For some, ignorance is bliss; for others, ignorance is something else

Assistant Professor in Justice Studies, University of Regina

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James Gacek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Is ignorance truly bliss? Or is it destructive? What role does it play in our daily lives? What harms can it cause, or leave behind?

These are just some of the questions my colleagues and I are studying in our ongoing research of agnosis.

Agnosis means without, or lacking, knowledge . Agnotology is the study of ignorance , the apathy towards knowledge and the creation of non-knowledge and stupidity.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples to suggest ignorance continues to be a concern in Canada.

Often, victims of ignorance are left unaware, or at least uncertain, about the source of their harms — and sometimes, they’re not even aware they’ve been harmed.

‘Ignoring’ as an activity

People, organizations and governments can all partake in “ignoring” as an activity. When information isn’t sought out — in other words, ignored — it can offer motivation and excuses for the perpetration of even the most harmful actions.

For example, we continue to live through world events that suggest many Canadians are “ignoring” the harm they can cause when they disregard science and public health measures needed to combat COVID-19.

Too often, marginalized and immunocompromised communities face the brunt of these choices. By ignoring science and believing in conspiracies, these communities are placed in harm’s way.

Read more: 5 ways to tackle ignorance about evidence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

In Strength to Love , Martin Luther King Jr. says “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

And in the current era of “post-truth” politics , there are new and very worrying developments in the generation of false “facts,” ignorance and stupidity.

When we study ignorance and stupidity together, we see how ignorance and stupidity act against a persons own self-interests and how there can be fatal consequences .

Fatal consequences of ignorance

Consider twice-impeached and disgraced former president Donald Trump . His administration’s politics invoked potentially moral dimensions of ignorance , where ignorance in decision-making processes were an indication of choosing stupidity by avoiding responsibility.

Such avoidance of responsibility by the anti-vax and “freedom” rallies that we have seen throughout this pandemic similarly speaks to Trumpist politics , as the ongoing ignorance and denial quietly (or not so quietly) moves us towards further challenges, suffering and loss.

In both cases, public attributions of stupidity are political, and the role of power here points to the challenges of balancing ignorance with, and alongside, an absence of knowledge.

Ignorance and the absence of knowledge

We know pandemic public health measures work , and complicit ignorance and denial of scientific evidence does not. But, has a failure to embrace critical thinking, or claims to extreme conservative ideologies, provided comfort to people wishing for “bliss” in their lives? Regardless of the cost to and sacrifice of others? Some would say so.

Read more: COVID-19 ‘freedom’ rallies actually undermine liberty – here’s why

In any case, when “freedom” rallies incorporate conspiracies, Nazi symbols and Confederate flags , it is difficult to see how someone’s rally stands for freedom or is backed by knowledge.

If someone’s cause garners support from conspiracists, Nazis and other hate-filled groups, it is probably worth wondering why. But I would guess there is a deeply embedded and dehumanizing ideology at work here.

Studying ignorance highlights how there are certain groups of people who become excluded from the moral and legal protections normally owed to others . It has been a shocking revelation to some, in recent years, that human deception and self-deception have remained as undiminished as they have.

Efforts to spread false “facts,” ignorance and stupidity have never been as easy as it is to spread now.

The potential of our “post-truth” era far exceeds what George Orwell could have ever dreamed of in his time. He presented a predictive and dystopian vision in 1984 , but even he couldn’t have envisioned the agnosis we see today.

Our age of agnosis is increasingly coming into contact in ways beyond historical standards and recorded memory. Empathy, not apathy, is needed now more than ever before. My colleagues and I continue to explore agnosis, hoping to save critical thinking from obscurity.

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The Pleasures of Ignorance by Robert Lynd

The pleasures of ignorance.

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Born in Belfast, Robert Lynd moved to London when he was 22 and soon became a popular and prolific essayist , critic, columnist, and poet. His essays are characterized by humor , precise observations, and a lively, engaging style .

From Ignorance To Discov ery

Writing under the pseudonym of Y.Y., Lynd contributed a weekly literary essay to the New Statesman magazine from 1913 to 1945. "The Pleasures of Ignorance" is one of those many essays. Here he offers examples from nature to demonstrate his thesis that out of ignorance "we get the constant pleasure of discovery."

by Robert Lynd (1879-1949)

• It is impossible to take a walk in the country with an average townsman—especially, perhaps, in April or May—without being amazed at the vast continent of his ignorance . It is impossible to take a walk in the country oneself without being amazed at the vast continent of one's own ignorance. Thousands of men and women live and die without knowing the difference between a beech and an elm, between the song of a thrush and the song of a blackbird. Probably in a modern city the man who can distinguish between a thrush's and a blackbird's song is the exception. It is not that we have not seen the birds. It is simply that we have not noticed them. We have been surrounded by birds all our lives, yet so feeble is our observation that many of us could not tell whether or not the chaffinch sings, or the colour of the cuckoo. We argue like small boys as to whether the cuckoo always sings as he flies or sometimes in the branches of a tree—whether [George] Chapman drew on his fancy or his knowledge of nature in the lines:

When in the oak's green arms the cuckoo sings, And first delights men in the lovely springs.

Ignorance And Discovery

• This ignorance, however, is not altogether miserable. Out of it we get the constant pleasure of discovery. Every fact of nature comes to us each spring, if only we are sufficiently ignorant, with the dew still on it. If we have lived half a lifetime without having ever even seen a cuckoo, and know it only as a wandering voice, we are all the more delighted at the spectacle of its runaway flight as it hurries from wood to wood conscious of its crimes, and at the way in which it halts hawk-like in the wind, its long tail quivering, before it dares descend on a hill-side of fir-trees where avenging presences may lurk. It would be absurd to pretend that the naturalist does not also find pleasure in observing the life of the birds, but his is a steady pleasure, almost a sober and plodding occupation, compared to the morning enthusiasm of the man who sees a cuckoo for the first time, and, behold, the world is made new.
• And, as to that, the happiness even of the naturalist depends in some measure upon his ignorance, which still leaves him new worlds of this kind to conquer. He may have reached the very Z of knowledge in the books, but he still feels half ignorant until he has confirmed each bright particular with his eyes. He wishes with his own eyes to see the female cuckoo—rare spectacle!—as she lays her egg on the ground and takes it in her bill to the nest in which it is destined to breed infanticide. He would sit day after day with a field-glass against his eyes in order personally to endorse or refute the evidence suggesting that the cuckoo does lay on the ground and not in a nest. And, if he is so far fortunate as to discover this most secretive of birds in the very act of laying, there still remain for him other fields to conquer in a multitude of such disputed questions as whether the cuckoo's egg is always of the same colour as the other eggs in the nest in which she abandons it. Assuredly the men of science have no reason as yet to weep over their lost ignorance. If they seem to know everything, it is only because you and I know almost nothing. There will always be a fortune of ignorance waiting for them under every fact they turn up. They will never know what song the Sirens sang to Ulysses any more than Sir Thomas Browne did.

​The Cuckoo Illustration

• If I have called in the cuckoo to illustrate the ordinary man's ignorance, it is not because I can speak with authority on that bird. It is simply because, passing the spring in a parish that seemed to have been invaded by all the cuckoos of Africa, I realised how exceedingly little I, or anybody else I met, knew about them. But your and my ignorance is not confined to cuckoos. It dabbles in all created things, from the sun and moon down to the names of the flowers. I once heard a clever lady asking whether the new moon always appears on the same day of the week. She added that perhaps it is better not to know, because, if one does not know when or in what part of the sky to expect it, its appearance is always a pleasant surprise. I fancy, however, the new moon always comes as a surprise even to those who are familiar with her time-tables. And it is the same with the coming in of spring and the waves of the flowers. We are not the less delighted to find an early primrose because we are sufficiently learned in the services of the year to look for it in March or April rather than in October. We know, again, that the blossom precedes and not succeeds the fruit of the apple tree , but this does not lessen our amazement at the beautiful holiday of a May orchard.

​The Pleasure Of Learning

• At the same time there is, perhaps, a special pleasure in re-learning the names of many of the flowers every spring. It is like re-reading a book that one has almost forgotten. Montaigne tells us that he had so bad a memory that he could always read an old book as though he had never read it before. I have myself a capricious and leaking memory. I can read Hamlet itself and The Pickwick Papers as though they were the work of new authors and had come wet from the press, so much of them fades between one reading and another. There are occasions on which a memory of this kind is an affliction, especially if one has a passion for accuracy. But this is only when life has an object beyond entertainment. In respect of mere luxury, it may be doubted whether there is not as much to be said for a bad memory as for a good one. With a bad memory one can go on reading Plutarch and The Arabian Nights all one's life. Little shreds and tags, it is probable, will stick even in the worst memory, just as a succession of sheep cannot leap through a gap in a hedge without leaving a few wisps of wool on the thorns. But the sheep themselves escape, and the great authors leap in the same way out of an idle memory and leave little enough behind.

​The Pleasure Of Asking Questions

• And, if we can forget books, it is as easy to forget the months and what they showed us, when once they are gone. Just for the moment I tell myself that I know May like the multiplication table and could pass an examination on its flowers, their appearance and their order. Today I can affirm confidently that the buttercup has five petals. (Or is it six? I knew for certain last week.) But next year I shall probably have forgotten my arithmetic, and may have to learn once more not to confuse the buttercup with the celandine. Once more I shall see the world as a garden through the eyes of a stranger, my breath taken away with surprise by the painted fields. I shall find myself wondering whether it is science or ignorance which affirms that the swift (that black exaggeration of the swallow and yet a kinsman of the humming-bird) never settles even on a nest, but disappears at night into the heights of the air. I shall learn with fresh astonishment that it is the male, and not the female, cuckoo that sings. I may have to learn again not to call the campion a wild geranium, and to rediscover whether the ash comes early or late in the etiquette of the trees. A contemporary English novelist was once asked by a foreigner what was the most important crop in England. He answered without a moment's hesitation: " Rye ." Ignorance so complete as this seems to me to be touched with magnificence; but the ignorance even of illiterate persons is enormous. The average man who uses a telephone could not explain how a telephone works. He takes for granted the telephone , the railway train , the linotype, the aeroplane, as our grandfathers took for granted the miracles of the gospels. He neither questions nor understands them. It is as though each of us investigated and made his own only a tiny circle of facts. Knowledge outside the day's work is regarded by most men as a gewgaw. Still we are constantly in reaction against our ignorance. We rouse ourselves at intervals and speculate. We revel in speculations about anything at all—about life after death or about such questions as that which is said to have puzzled Aristotle , "why sneezing from noon to midnight was good, but from night to noon unlucky." One of the greatest joys known to man is to take such a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge. The great pleasure of ignorance is, after all, the pleasure of asking questions. The man who has lost this pleasure or exchanged it for the pleasure of dogma, which is the pleasure of answering, is already beginning to stiffen. One envies so inquisitive a man as [Benjamin] Jowett, who sat down to the study of physiology in his sixties. Most of us have lost the sense of our ignorance long before that age. We even become vain of our squirrel's hoard of knowledge and regard increasing age itself as a school of omniscience. We forget that Socrates was famed for wisdom not because he was omniscient but because he realised at the age of seventy that he still knew nothing.

* Originally appearing in  The New Statesman , "The Pleasures of Ignorance" by Robert Lynd served as the lead essay in his collection  The Pleasures of Ignorance  (Riverside Press and Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921)

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Thought: Ignorance is Bliss vs. Knowledge is Power

Anthony Davanzo

ThoughtSlap

E ven if you haven’t read Thomas Gray’s Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College , you should be familiar with his famous concluding lines:

No more; where ignorance is bliss, ’Tis folly to be wise.

These lines, though familiar, should be troubling. If Gray is right, and i gnorance is bliss , then what on earth are we doing trying to be deeply aware of things? Why does science research the edge-cases of our reality, if understanding reality will bring us further from bliss?

While this question might be difficult for Gray to posthumously answer, I recently encountered his ignorance is bliss phenomenon or at least the opposite of it: knowledge is sadness . This phenomenon isn’t particularly novel — the common expression about “knowing how the sausage is made” is another testament to a situation where the more you know the less happy you are.

To give context to my experience, let me first posit my love for music. Playing musical instruments has always been difficult and challenging for me, but I’ve always enjoyed listening to the music they create. From my days as a kid listening to Led Zeppelin and Steely Dan with my father, to now enjoying unprecedented fusions of genres from artists like Kacy Hill and Goldlink , I voraciously listen to as much music as I can. I see probably 50+ shows a year, seeking the likes of Khruangbin’s sultry guitar riffs ebbing and flowing across an attentive crowd.

What I enjoy most about music is that it brings me such wonder. To coordinate a symphony of sounds from human powered machines seems impossible to me. It’s so perfect — the timing, the harmony — that it seems like it shouldn’t exist. That it couldn’t exist.

I recently began taking piano lessons and met a strange internal conflict during my last lesson. My teacher was explaining a musical concept to me and I was struggling to understand it. Despite the initial struggle, this particular concept (admittedly a somewhat naive and embarrassing breakthrough about understanding what “inversions” meant) suddenly clicked. But, instead of feeling excited that I now understood music better, I was deeply saddened.

As I said above, the execution of playing music was something that made me wonder. I simply didn’t know how it was possible to maintain and coordinate something that seemed so perfect, so in tune, so on time. My imagination had run wild thinking music was possible; without trying to break music down into understandable parts. But that’s my issue: music was and is so beautiful to me, so extraordinary, so mesmerizing, because I couldn’t make sense of it. It seems so intricately complex, that I can’t break it down— instead I blissly enjoy it not understanding how it’s possible. Because I’m so ignorant of the nature of its composition, my mind simply delights in the seeming impossibility of music’s existence. But, as I learned about music, I realized that it in fact exists in basic parts and incredible formality outside of my imagination.

Understanding music on a deeper level, led me to appreciating it less.

I was deeply saddened when I learned what inversion was because my new knowledge of music composition compromised my previous blissful ignorance of it. Understanding music on a deeper level, led me to appreciating it less . Thus, Gray seems to be right — ignorance is bliss . This isn’t so uncommon either. The classic example being that you shouldn’t “learn how the sausage gets made” because it will compromise your enjoyment of the sausage. Instead the idiom advises us to be ignorant of how the sausage is made.

But, Ignorance doesn’t seem fit for a so-called “Information Age.” Somehow the actual understanding of something, despite what I enjoy in the ignorance of it, is worthwhile. In fact, Gray’s poem is about an institution, Eton College, holding the foundational goal of combating ignorance.

T he assertion that Knowledge is Power opposes the assertion that Ignorance is Bliss. If you believe that knowledge is power and you want to be blissful then you should learn how to be blissful, and use that powerful knowledge to gain bliss. Even if power isn’t necessarily happiness, it certainly can be viewed as a means to happiness (i.e. the power to gain happiness).

T he assertion that Knowledge is Power opposes the assertion that I gnorance is Bliss .

Thomas Hobbes can be credited with first stating that “knowledge is power” in his iconic work Leviathan. In Leviathan, Hobbes argues that all mankind self-interestedly wants power to fulfill their desires. Hobbes then defines knowledge as one type of power with the ability to fulfill desire. Thus, he concludes, we should pursue knowledge(or Power), fulfill desire, and be blissful. But, I argued above that ignorance is bliss — the very opposite of Hobbes’ case.

So, who’s right? Are Gray’s somber words urging ignorance the ones to live by or should we fall into Hobbes’ camp of lusting for power. That question isn’t for me to answer. Both views are compelling, and both might be useful in making decisions.

Written by Anthony Davanzo

The New Philosopher

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• Speech Writing /

Speech on Ignorance is Bliss in English

• Updated on  
• Jan 12, 2024

Speech on Ignorance is Bliss: How does the saying “What you don’t know cannot hurt you” resonate with you? Generally speaking, it implies that the person who knows nothing is happier than the person who knows everything and must face difficulties afterward.

Thomas Grey, a poet, explores his perspective on ignorance in his work Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College. He believes that ignorance is either knowledge or wisdom that ends with death.

Also Read: Speech On Fake News For Students In English

2 Minute Speech on Ignorance is Bliss 

Greetings to all the fellow learners here. Today´s topic is centered around ¨Speech on Ignorance Bliss.¨ Do you all think that one can find joy in the absence of knowledge? 

It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand anything or are ignorant of some realities or truths, as the saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss.” Why? Since a lack of anything stimulates interest and presents obstacles that aid in further exploration and discovery. If you knew everything beforehand, would you still be interested in learning??

Let me give you an example of ignorance in a workplace see what we do in such a situation.

You need to learn how to operate and change the battery on your laptop, but because you have pending projects in hand, you will attempt every solution and search Google for anything related to battery replacement. 

Being ignorant facilitates self-awareness and self-discovery. We can observe historical instances where genuine discoveries and awareness are made due to ignorance and associated curiosity. 

Bliss is unaffected by the benefits and disadvantages of anything. For those with the ability to study and apply themselves, ignorance is bliss, yet ignorance itself stems from a lack of understanding or information. 

It is important to balance between not knowing and comprehending. Ignorance provides temporary comfort but one cannot deny that ignorance creates a hindrance to personal growth and societal progress. 

Ignorance also keeps us from appreciating the depth and breadth of the existence of people. One loses out on the knowledge that arises from battling complexity when one chooses ignorance.

In conclusion, the proverb ignorance is bliss challenges us to reflect on happiness and satisfaction. While bliss can be found simply in not knowing, we must also be cautious about the consequences of ignorant behavior. 

Also Read: Ignorance is Bliss Meaning, Definition, Example, Synonyms

10 Lines on Ignorance is Bliss

Let us understand the topic ¨Ignorance is Bliss¨ in simple lines:

• The phrase knowledge is bliss encourages a sense of happiness.
• If you know everything, then the chances of learning something out of curiosity are less.
• Not knowing the answer should not make you depressed or underconfident.
• Staying unaware helps in learning as well as in growing.
• One should know better how to create a balance between not knowing and becoming aware of it.
• Ignorance is a temporary comfort, whereas knowledge helps in growing permanently.
• Not knowing can make you feel comfortable at first, but in the long run, it might lead to problems.
• Ignorance avoids experiencing the richness of happiness and satisfaction.
• Unawareness is the best way to discover oneself.
• Ignorance is a boon, but our practice should not be to make it a bane by keeping the spirit of learning what we don´t know.

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

Ans: The meaning of bliss in the speech conveys a meaning that one should never get from what they don´t know.

Ans: Ignorance is not bliss because it prevents you from learning the unknown and leaves you lacking in knowledge.

Ans: Following the spiritual teachers without making an effort to know about the truth is a real-life example of ignorance as bliss.

Ans: Ignorance is bliss until you stop getting curious about the things that you don´t know. It is more powerful than knowledge because the spirit of learning is greater than what you already know.

Ans: The competing line of ignorance is bliss: “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis Folly to be Wise.” It is from the poem Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, and the poet is Thomas Grey.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Society — Review of the Issue of Ignorance in Society

Review of The Issue of Ignorance in Society

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Essay Samples on Ignorance

Examples of ignorance is a bliss and origin of the word.

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Two prominent and correlating idioms of today are widespread throughout society. Firstly, that “Ignorance is bliss”. Secondly, that “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”. We live in a society dominated by these common phrases. Demonstrated in ancient times by two complacent and stubborn brothers...

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Salem Witch Trials as an Example of Extremism and Ignorance

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Best topics on Ignorance

1. Examples Of Ignorance Is A Bliss And Origin Of The Word

2. Knowledge & Understanding Of Ignorance In A Bible

3. The Philosophy Of Ignorance And Knowledge In Buddhism

4. Motives That Drive People Towards Discrimination

5. An Essay on Liberal Arts and Sciences: Ignorance is Bliss

6. The Invisible Man: The Problem of Social Blindness and Ignorance

7. The Ignorance of Hitchiking in the Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

8. Socrates’ Ignorance to the Mythological Concept

9. The Ignorance of Reality in the Ancient Times

10. Salem Witch Trials as an Example of Extremism and Ignorance

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