Journal Entry 2 1984

Topic A

"'I know what you expect me to say,' he said,. 'You expect me to say I'd sooner be young again. Most people'd say they'd sooner be yong, if you arst 'em. You got Your 'ealth and strengthwheyou're young. When you get to my time of life you ain't never well. I suffer something wicked from my feet, and my bladder's jest terrible. Six and seven times a night it 'as me out of bed. On the other 'and there's great advantages in being an old man. You ain't got the same worries. No truck with women, and that's a great thing. I ain't 'ad a woman for near on thirty year, if you'd credit me." (Orwell 78)

This came as a final response to an interview that Winston was trying to do. Winston was trying to interview an old man in order to find out what truly happend in the past. The reason why is because "life before the Revolution was completely different from what it is now" (Orwell, 76). Winston wanted to find out if there was anyone else out in the world that could give a different story about the early 1900's, since he knew that the information in the history books had been tampered with. One of the changes made to the textbooks was when Julia was taught that "the Party had invented the airplanes" (Orwell 127). However, the novel then later states that "(In his own schooldays, Winston remembered in the late Fifties, it was only the helicopter that the party claimed to invent[...]" (Orwell 127) This shows the change that the textbooks went through. So, Winston tried to find someone who could tell him of the past, but no one left was around to tell him, some only gave him insignificant details. It is in this way that the Party fulfills one of its Key phrases: IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Everyone doesn't know truly what the past was, since Ingsoc can go and change the history whenever they want. This helps the government of Ingsoc keep the populace under control, since they glorify the party, and condemn all others. The government then encourages the people to worship the information handed to them, and punishes any people who do not show enough zeal with death.

Word Count: 261