a.k.a. “Goldstein’s book” Book Two, Chapter 9

 The principal enemy of the state  Former member of the Inner Party Convicted of treason Escaped and living abroad Conspiring against Big Brother

“There were…whispered stories of a terrible book, a compendium of all the heresies, of which Goldstein was the author and which circulated clandestinely here and there. It was a book without a title. People referred to it, if at all, simply as The Book” (13).

 O’Brien says that the book reveals the true, totalitarian nature of the society the Party established in Oceania  Full membership in the Brotherhood requires reading and knowing the book Explains how the three totalitarian super states – Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia – emerged from a global war, thus connecting the past and the present, and explains the basic political philosophy of the government

 Oligarchy – a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few (often for their own purposes).  Collectivism – The doctrine that land and capital should be owned by society collectively or as a whole; communism.  How can a society be both oligarchic and collectivist??? Remember doublethink? (Chapter 1) #11, 12

 Details how the global super-states were established: US + British + Australia = Oceania Former USSR + continental Europe = Eurasia China + Indian sub-continent + Japan + Korea = Eastasia (after a decade of confused fighting)

 The three super-powers are constantly fighting against each other for the “disputed territories,” but it is a worthless war “…it is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting, and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference” (186).  The Party will not allow the war to end, and no actual combat occurs for fear that people from warring countries will meet each other “…it is always the same war … it is impossible for it to be decisive” (186). No one can ever win – they are too evenly matched. “If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies” (196). #1, 2, 19

 To eat up the surplus goods to keep everyone near hardship in order to magnify the differences between each of the classes  To keep a person feeling like “a credulous and ignorant fanatic whose prevailing moods are fear, hatred, adulation, and orgiastic triumph. In other words it is necessary that he should have the mentality appropriate to state of war” (192). #5, 13

 The war is “waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact” (199). War keeps people “needing” the government because supplies are low War keeps people “supporting” the government because of patriotism  The war isn’t among the super-powers. It is actually the government fighting to keep control over its own people. #26

Why? – Power in Wealth  The government feared an equal distribution of wealth Wealth = education, education= thinking for themselves “An all-around increase of wealth threatened the destruction of a hierarchical society…wealth would confer no distinction” (190). If everyone has equal wealth, everyone will have equal power, and they don’t want that. The only way to keep a hierarchical society is to base it on poverty and ignorance #7, #8, #9

Other Options?  Option 1: Remove technology Since technology allowed people to think more in a more advanced capacity, the government considered returning to an agricultural past  Downside: Any country that was industrially backward was helpless in a military sense and was bound to be dominated  Option 2: Restrict Goods By limiting goods, the people are in need of the government to keep them alive  Downside: People will lose jobs, not be able to sustain themselves, entailed military weakness #10

Real Reason for War  Goods have to be produced, but they can’t be distributed. “The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent” (191). #11

WAR IS PEACE – What does this slogan mean?  “When war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be dangerous” (198).  “The effect would be much the same if the three superstates, instead of fighting one another, should agree to live in perpetual peace, each inviolate within its own boundaries… A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as permanent war” (199).  Because all of the superpowers have agreed to stay at war forever (for their own mutual benefit), in effect, this is a type of truce (peace). No one superpower will ever actually overpower or try to conquer another, so they are guaranteed safety from one another, as though they were at peace. #23, 27, 28

 Details the class struggle In history, people have always divided themselves into a hierarchical society based on social classes  The High (who rule)  The Middle (who work for the High and want to be them)  The Low (who just want to survive, but they would like everyone in society to be equal) Classes repeat the cycle by overtaking each other  The Middle class overtakes the High class by using the Low (by talking of freedom and justice), but then they just cast the Low back down when they succeed in becoming the High. Outer Party Inner Party Proles #1, 4, 5, 6, 7

 After the Revolution (1950’s-1960’s), society divided itself into the High (Inner Party), the Middle (Outer Party), and the Low (Proles) The Inner Party used technology to establish themselves as the ruling class (see next slide)  This time, however, the purpose was “to arrest progress and freeze history at a chosen moment. The familiar pendulum swing was to happen once more, and then stop… the High would be able to maintain their position permanently” (203). #8

 By the mid-twentieth century, technology allowed for forms of government propaganda and espionage (like the telescreen), so “the possibility of enforcing not only complete obedience to the will of the State, but complete uniformity of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time” (206). “The invention of print, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further. With the development of television, and the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end. #10

 1. Conquered by another country (won’t happen)  2. Governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt “So long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed” (207).  3. Allows a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being “Not even the smallest deviation of opinion on the most unimportant subject can be tolerated. A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police” (210).  4. It loses its own self-confidence and willingness to govern #14, 15, 16

 The Inner Party Ruled by Big Brother (Goldstein hints that he may not even exist)  “Big Brother is the guise in which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence, emotions which are more easily felt toward an individual than toward an organization” (208). Meant to be worshiped and obeyed  The Outer Party Execute the rule of Oceania  The Proles Do the work

 “Membership in these three groups is not hereditary. Admission to either branch of the Party is by examination, taken at the age of sixteen” (208).  There is not a lot of movement, however. They just ensure that weaklings can be excluded from the Inner Party and “ambitious members of the Outer Party are made harmless by allowing them to rise.” (209).  “Proletarians, in practice, are never allowed to graduate into the Party” (209). The most gifted ones that might cause a problem are simply eliminated by the Thought Police. #18

 Inability to revolt Propaganda denies the people the facts that allow them to compare countries and political systems They are unable to discover their enslavement  Possibility to revolt A new group of power-hungry people Growth of liberalism/skepticism in the Party (like Winston)  Party members are so controlled that they have no private emotions and will always believe the Party

 The Proles aren’t subjected to propaganda “The can be granted intellectual liberty because they have no intellect” (210). Without knowing they are enslaved, they won’t have any desire to revolt

 History only exists in documents (which are rewritten) and in memory (which can be altered)  Crimestop – halts thinking of politically dangerous thoughts before it can occur  Doublethink – simultaneously holding and believing contradictory thoughts without noticing the contradiction See page 216 for examples of doublethink

“For the secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one’s own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes…The prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity” (215). #22

 The questions that this powerpoint did NOT address are the following: Chapter 3: War is Peace  #3, 4, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 Chapter 1: Ignorance is Strength  #2, 3, 9, 13, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Also questions 1-12 in the middle (discussion questions connecting 1984 to our society)