Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.’ģ) As for the third message, it referred to a very simple error which could be set right in a couple of minutes. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. It was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened.’Ģ) ‘Or again, The Times of the 19th December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the 9th Three-Year Plan. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command had launched its offensive in South India and left North Africa alone. You see, but for employees like Winston the past and the memories they invoke could inspire people to challenge the official version of the truth put out by the State, with potentially destabilizing consequences for the regime.ġ) ‘Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day, had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in North Africa. And news items, or any expression of opinion at all, which conflicts with the Party are never allowed to remain on record.

In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct. ‘Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ Day by day and almost minute by minute the past is brought up to date. His job is to re-write history, in order for past statements to agree with the constantly changing current Party line The protagonist, Winston, works in a kind of shadow world at the Ministry of Truth (which is anything but truthful). BNW was readable, but I’m finding 1984 depressing and intriguing all at the same time. I wanted to see both sides of the same coin.

As the world sinks closer and closer into a global dictatorship before our very eyes, I decided to read both Brave New World and 1984.

TWAS The Year 2020 by Karl Wiggins