Book One: Chapters 2-6
"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove fiction had taken place." (36-37)
In the novel 1984, George Orwell describes a dystopian society; although most characters in the novel would say it's a utopian society. The characters in the book would believe it's a utopian society because everything they are told they believe. The characters don't know anything other than what they are told because all records are controlled to agree with everything the Party says. If a record makes the Party or Big Brother look bad, it is erased from all records and it could never be found again. This quote really expresses and gives a detailed explanation of how the Party actually works. This is one of the biggest ways they are able to get the people to believe them and they are able to create propaganda off of this. It's crazy how blinded this whole society is because they have no history to look back on nor any knowledge of anything rather than what they're told.
It's also very interesting how the Party just trusts any citizen with this job. It's just such an important job, that it's just weird how they are able to trust any citizen with it. It makes me wonder how blinded or scared the citizens must be to not use these records against the Party. They see all this information being altered but no one questions it, no one clearly seems to care about why everything is being tampered with. It's also very interesting how thought out the the Party has everything. They have everything controlled, including data. They make sure everything that could be used against them is gone and everything such as books and newspapers are updated with the information that makes the Party look best.
The fact that these records are altered and citizens know about it because they work there and don't question it or do anything about it is absurd. They know people are "vaporizing" and their records are wiped clean, so do they just not care about their fellow citizens? Are they scared to question it and go against the Party?
The discretion of records to the citizens is a way that the term doublethink comes into play. The citizens aren't exposed to any history or events, allowing for any two contradicting ideas to be viewed as something normal. Their three main slogans are doublethink because they completely contradict each other, but obviously they don't know that because they are blinded and everything they could know is deleted. The Party is creating a way for the citizens to deceive themselves cause they practically know nothing and have no choice but to believe the Party.
Also does anyone else think that all the ideas coming into Winston's mind are happening because he works at the Record Department and he's exposed to all these truths that are being concealed? I'm pretty sure if I worked in this department I'd begin to question the Party too because I'm gaining all this new knowledge that other citizens don't acquire.
In the novel 1984, George Orwell describes a dystopian society; although most characters in the novel would say it's a utopian society. The characters in the book would believe it's a utopian society because everything they are told they believe. The characters don't know anything other than what they are told because all records are controlled to agree with everything the Party says. If a record makes the Party or Big Brother look bad, it is erased from all records and it could never be found again. This quote really expresses and gives a detailed explanation of how the Party actually works. This is one of the biggest ways they are able to get the people to believe them and they are able to create propaganda off of this. It's crazy how blinded this whole society is because they have no history to look back on nor any knowledge of anything rather than what they're told.
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The fact that these records are altered and citizens know about it because they work there and don't question it or do anything about it is absurd. They know people are "vaporizing" and their records are wiped clean, so do they just not care about their fellow citizens? Are they scared to question it and go against the Party?
The discretion of records to the citizens is a way that the term doublethink comes into play. The citizens aren't exposed to any history or events, allowing for any two contradicting ideas to be viewed as something normal. Their three main slogans are doublethink because they completely contradict each other, but obviously they don't know that because they are blinded and everything they could know is deleted. The Party is creating a way for the citizens to deceive themselves cause they practically know nothing and have no choice but to believe the Party.
Also does anyone else think that all the ideas coming into Winston's mind are happening because he works at the Record Department and he's exposed to all these truths that are being concealed? I'm pretty sure if I worked in this department I'd begin to question the Party too because I'm gaining all this new knowledge that other citizens don't acquire.
You mentioned that the citizens believe everything they are told, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Winston himself does not believe in any of the news, because he is part of the department that constantly rewrites all of it; he knows it is all fake, so there is no belief. I am sure that people understand that there is basically no truth to any records and likely to most of what is stated in the present. I do agree, however, that for the most part no one knows anything except for what they are told, particularly the children. In my opinion, the adults are more likely to retain facts and can connect the dots to see what was been changed or lied about, while the children go purely off the propaganda that the Party feeds them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the adults, I really do think that doublethink comes into play very often; for instance, take the man that Winston cannot help but notice as he eats lunch at work. The man is obviously completely sold by the ideas of the Party, but I don't necessarily think that that means he doesn't know it is a lie. Instead, I think he, like many others, are constantly dealing with doublethink while knowing anything can be said and will be written into truth through forgery but still accepting whatever the Party says as reality.
For where you mention that the citizens must be blinded or scared to not used records against the Party, I don't really think that is what holds them back. I am assuming many people already understand that so many records are rewritten as demanded by the Party, but on top of that, records aren't really proof of anything, and if everyone cannot trust in anyone to not just turn them in to the Thought Police, the idea that this practice is wrong remains only with one person.
I also thought a lot about how the citizen are entrusted with these jobs that deal with delicate information. Winston goes through the story as if he were completely alone in his knowledge of the Party's lies, but considering that all the jobs we've seen so far involve some type of rewriting history, I doubt he's alone in this. I think many of the citizens have gathered that they're being told is a lie, but they don't know exactly how much of it is a lie, and how much of it is harmful. There could be a part of people who think that the lies they help the Party tell are for the good of the people and benefit loyalty and morale. I think that's also why there are many people working in the Records Department to change parts of stories, no one has definite proof of the Party's lies, and even armed with the truth, they have no way of knowing who can be trusted.
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