1984 BOOK 1, CHAPTER 7-8 QUOTE/PASSAGE

Quote (page 89): "Very likely the confessions had been rewritten and rewritten until the original facts and dates no longer had the smallest significance. The past not only changed but changed continuously. What most afflicted him with the sense of nightmare was that he had never clearly understood why the huge imposture was undertaken. The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious. He took up his pen again and wrote:

I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY."

Response: Winston cannot find the motive behind the Party’s controlling actions and manipulation of records. The structure of this passage was interesting because when Winston wrote in the journal the text showcased how he wrote the text. "I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY" the uppercase letters of the words how and why really put emphasis on the topic. This passage is very important to the whole plot of the story because it shows how mischievous the ruling government is. When Winston mentions "motive" my mind immediately connects to criminal motives. Investigators usually try to discover the motive of actions that criminals act upon, so they can move forward. Figuring out the party's reasoning can be an advantage to Winston. Understanding how the party makes its decision doesn't help much, but understanding the motive can help Winston better manipulate Oceania's controlling government. 











Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 30, 2017 at 7:07 PM

    I think it is super interesting that Winston does not understand why the Party constantly changes history. He always seems so aware of all of the doings of the Party, but rarely understands the implications. This is a weird contrast to Syme, considering he can clearly see the motives of the Party but does not see it as a reason to go against their ideologies.

    I can't help but think that even if Winston knew the reason behind completely and constantly rewriting history, he wouldn't be more proactive. He seems to just be curious rather than wanting the information specifically to take down the Party. Even with the information, he doesn't really have the means to totally expose them, and exposure wouldn't necessarily equate to a full-force revolution. The Party members are only 15% of the population; that doesn't seem to be enough to overthrow Big Brother, and so many are brainwashed anyways.

    I personally think they constantly rewrite history so that way they do not have to abide to any one history. That way, nothing can be disputed or criticized. There is no comparison to anything, so the more simple citizens have no reason to sense a discrepancy.

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  2. Bailey WardNovember 1, 2017 at 10:58 PM

    This response was very well written and I interpreted this part of the text the same way. It is interesting how Winston sees this rewriting of history and doesn’t completely understand it. It leaves the readers to interpret more of the reasoning for this themselves which makes the book more interesting.

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