Up is Down

 We hear about doublethink early in the book, and it's evident very early with the ministries of Truth, Love, etc doing the opposite of what the name suggests. However, after reading the excerpts from Goldstein's book, we see how everything in society follows doublespeak. The Party, in its early stage, claimed to be Socialist. Yet the Party evolved to a society in which it has deviated from the socialism it claims to be. In line with socialist ideas, they took away private property. However, the class divide still remains and the Party members still are more privileged than the proles. It is Socialism and Anti-socialism, in line with the doublespeak it promotes. 

The whole basis of the system is based on opposites. Nothing truly is what it claims to be. War and peace in society would have the same effect. War is against Eurasia, though it is also against Eastasia. Even the act of using doublethink is doublethink. It seems perfectly fitting that the first member of the Thought Police, the infamous evil police, comes in the form of the seemingly frail old man, who essentially starts this whole story by selling Winston the journal. 

Comments

  1. Nicholas PFebruary 25, 2021 at 7:40 AM

    I would be interested in a prequel that explored how the party came to power and erased the past when everyone still remembered the truth. I think we would be able to draw a lot of paralells to early big brother and totalitarian governments of today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. L. MoffittFebruary 25, 2021 at 7:45 AM

    I like your observation about Charrington. Yes, very fitting that he created an image that ends up being completely false. Winston, it's a trap!

    ReplyDelete

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