BACKGROUND OF THIS SOCIETY
• THERE WAS ANOTHER WAR AFTER WORLD WAR II, WHERE BRITAIN WAS APPARENTLY BOMBED WITH
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
• THIS MAY HAVE HAPPENED BECAUSE OF A NEW BRITISH GOVERNMENT (HARD TO SAY)
• FOLLOWING, THERE WAS A CIVIL WAR IN BRITAIN IN THE 50’S
• “BIG BROTHER” BEGINS TO SHOW UP IN THE 60’S (BUT THEY TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE HE HAD BEEN
AROUND SINCE THE 30’S)
• ENGLISH SOCIALISM (NEWSPEAK: “INGSOC”) IS FIRST MENTIONED ABOUT 1960
REALITY CONTROL
• “WHO CONTROLS THE PAST, CONTROLS THE FUTURE: WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT CONTROLS THE
PAST”
• WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY ABOUT WHAT THE PARTY DOES WITH TRUTH/REALITY?
DOUBLETHINK
• BUT WHAT IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING TO BE TRUTH, AND THE PARTY SAYS SOMETHING ELSE IS TRUTH?
THAT’S WHERE DOUBLETHINK COMES IN.
• DOUBLETHINK:
• THE ABILITY TO KNOW TWO TOTALLY CONTRADICTORY THINGS AT THE SAME TIME, AND BELIEVE BOTH OF THEM
TO BE TRUE
• THE ABILITY TO MAKE YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT A LIE IS THE TRUTH, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW IT IS A LIE