But where did that knowledge exist
The frightening thing, he reflected for the ten thousandth time as he forced his shoulders painfully backward(with hands on hips, they were gyrating their bodies fromthe waist, an exercise that was supposed to be good for theback muscles)the frightening thing was that it might allbe true. If the Party could thrust its hand into the past andsay of this or that event, IT NEVER HAPPENED-thatsurely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?
The party said that oceania had never been in alliancewith Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania hadbeen in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four yearsago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his ownconsciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilatedAnd if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposedif all records told the same tale-then the lie passed intohistory and became truth. Who controls the past, ran thearty slogan, controls the future: who controls the presentcontrols the past. And yet the past, though of its nature altenable, never had been altered. whatever was true now watrue from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. Allthat was needed was an unending series of victories overyour own memory ' Reality control, they called it: in New-speak,doublethinkStand easy! "barked the instructress, a little more genial-ly.Winston sank his arms to his sides and slowly refilledhis lungs with air. His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, tobe conscious of complete truthfulness while telling care-fully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinionswhich cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictoryand believing in both of them, to use logic against logic,to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believethat democracy was impossible and that the Party was theguardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessaryto forget, then to draw it back into memory again at themoment when it was needed and then promptly to forgetit again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously toinduce unconsciousness, and then once again to becomeunconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performedEven to understand the word ' doublethink involved theuse of doublethinkThe instructress had called them to attention again andnow let's see which of us can touch our toes she said enthusiastically ' Right over from the hips, please, comradesONE-two! ONE-two
Winston loathed this exercise, which sent shooting painsall the way from his heels to his buttocks and often ended bybringing on another coughing fit. The half-pleasant qual-ity went out of his meditations. The past, he reflected, hadnot merely been altered it had been actually destroyed. Forhow could you establish even the most obvious fact whenthere existed no record outside your own memory? He triedto remember in what year he had first heard mention ofBig Brother. He thought it must have been at some time inthe sixties, but it was impossible to be certain. In the Partyhistories, of course, Big Brother figured as the leader andguardian of the Revolution since its very earliest days. Hisexploits had been gradually pushed backwards in time untilalready they extended into the fabulous world of the fortiesand the thirties, when the capitalists in their strange cylindrical hats still rode through the streets of London in greatgleaming motor-cars or horse carriages with glass sidesThere was no knowing how much of this legend was trueand how much invented. winston could not even remember at what date the Party itself had come into existence. Hedid not believe he had ever heard the word Ingsoc before1960, but it was possible that in its Oldspeak form -English Socialism, that is to say-it had been current earlier.Everything melted into mist. Sometimes, indeed, you couldput your finger on a definite lie. It was not true, for example,as was claimed in the Party history books, that the Partyhad invented aeroplanes. He remembered aeroplanes sincehis earliest childhood. But you could prove nothing. Therewas never any evidence. Just once in his whole life he hadheld in his hands unmistakable documentary proof of thefalsification of an historical fact. And on that occasion --Smith! screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen6079 Smith w! Yes, YOU! Bend lower, please! You can dobetter than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! THAT'Sbetter, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, andwatch meA sudden hot sweat had broken out all over winstonsbody. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! a single flickerof the eyes could give you away. He stood watching whilethe instructress raised her arms above her head and-onecould not say gracefully, but with remarkable neatness andefficiency-bent over and tucked the first joint of her fingers under her toes.THERE, comrades! THAT'S how I want to see you doing it. Watch me again. I'm thirty-nine and I've had fourchildren. Now look. She bent over again. You see MYknees arent bent. You can all do it if you want to she add-ed as she straightened herself up. Anyone under forty-fiveis perfectly capable of touching his toes. We dont all havethe privilege of fighting in the front line, but at least we canall keep fit. Remember our boys on the malabar front! Andthe sailors in the Floating Fortresses! Just think what theyhave to put up with. Now try again. That's better, comrade,that's MUCH better, she added encouragingly as winston,with a violent lunge, succeeded in touching his toes withknees unbent, for the first time in several years.
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