I've come across a little piece from a young writer trying to capture some of the magic of Orwell's "1984", titled "Chasing Orwell's Ghost". He went to Jura, an isolated, weather-beaten island off the west coast of Scotland, where Orwell ensconced himself to write his great novel. He presumably wanted to get a better feel for what influenced the ( Read more... )

If Winston is simply going to be wiped out of all human memory, why spend so much time and trouble on him? O’Brien recapitulates the philosophy behind the Ministry of Love.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“Did I not tell you just now that we are different from the persecutors of the past. We are not content with negative obedience, nor even with the most abject ( Read more... )

O’Brien explains to Winston the new way of dealing with ‘dissenters’ - that is, the mentally insane. Big Brother has learned from history. There will be no martyrs; everyone is brought to confess their errors and crimes and to recognize the truth and goodness of the Party. Even better, they are ‘disappeared’ from history altogether.

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Winston has been given a shot to ease him out of his pain in the middle of his interrogation session, and this gives him an opportunity to appreciate an almost homoerotic attraction to his torturer.

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The interrogation-torture session continues, and O’Brien is still playing the “How Many Fingers?” game with Winston.

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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“Do you remember,” he went on, “writing in your diary, ‘Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four ( Read more... )

Winston takes offense over the idea that the Party, in its bid to control the past, can control people’s memories.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“But how can you stop people remembering things?” cried Winston, again momentarily forgetting the dial. “It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine ( Read more... )

Winston is still strapped to the table and the electrodes, as O’Brien continues to rehabilitate him.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“There is a Party slogan dealing with the control of the past,” he said. “Repeat it, if you please ( Read more... )

Orwell is reviewing a book by Bertrand Russell on the question of state power. The year is 1939 and the question is therefore very acute. Apparently, Russell is arguing that democracy should win out in the end over the gathering dictatorships. We can also see some of the ideas that will go into “1984”.

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O’Brien demonstrates to Winston how a good, healthy citizen processes reality. He confronts Winston with Winston’s idée fixe concerning that picture from an old newspaper that Winston once got a hold of and which meant so much to him as proof positive of the crass way that Big Brother manipulates the news and reality - that picture of three of the ( Read more... )