"Nothing altered in his voice
or manner, or in the content of what he was saying, but suddenly
the names were different. Without words said, a wave
of understanding rippled through the crowd. Oceania was
at war with Eastasia! The next moment there was a tremendous
commotion. The banners and posters with which the
square was decorated were all wrong! Quite half of them
had the wrong faces on them. It was sabotage! The agents of
Goldstein had been at work! There was a riotous interlude
while posters were ripped from the walls, banners torn to
shreds and trampled underfoot. The Spies performed prodigies
of activity in clambering over the rooftops and cutting
the streamers that fluttered from the chimneys." (149)
In this quote, we are shown just how oblivious the people of Oceania really are. A man that was giving a speech on how the enemy of Oceania was Eurasia. During the middle of his speech a man hands him a piece of paper and in an instant the speech giver begins switching the words in his speech. Now he talks about Eastasia being the enemy although continuing the speech as before.
Instead of people thinking that this was a strange occurrence or that non of what was being said made any sense anymore, they think of scapegoats for themselves. They figure that the reason for carrying the wrong signs and putting up the poster is all because of Goldstein. No one thinks that they are being deceived even though it is happening right in front of them.
I at first thought that the reason people didn't know who they were at war with is because stuff like newspapers and books were getting changed and people took that information as truth because it is written. But with this speech I realize that the people are very ignorant, to the point where a change in the middle of the speech is taken as truth.
I also think that blaming Goldstein is probably something they always use when something is different than what they are being told by the party. It's not that the party changed something, it's that Goldstein sabotaged it. Goldstein might not even be real person, just someone to express hate towards.
In this quote, we are shown just how oblivious the people of Oceania really are. A man that was giving a speech on how the enemy of Oceania was Eurasia. During the middle of his speech a man hands him a piece of paper and in an instant the speech giver begins switching the words in his speech. Now he talks about Eastasia being the enemy although continuing the speech as before.
Instead of people thinking that this was a strange occurrence or that non of what was being said made any sense anymore, they think of scapegoats for themselves. They figure that the reason for carrying the wrong signs and putting up the poster is all because of Goldstein. No one thinks that they are being deceived even though it is happening right in front of them.
I at first thought that the reason people didn't know who they were at war with is because stuff like newspapers and books were getting changed and people took that information as truth because it is written. But with this speech I realize that the people are very ignorant, to the point where a change in the middle of the speech is taken as truth.
I also think that blaming Goldstein is probably something they always use when something is different than what they are being told by the party. It's not that the party changed something, it's that Goldstein sabotaged it. Goldstein might not even be real person, just someone to express hate towards.
I liked that you picked this quote because it does showcase how the Party can easily manipulate the people of Oceania without them realizing it. This excerpt makes me mad because all of the evidence for the Party deceiving the people of Oceania is literally right in front of them, however, their ignorance blinds them from seeing it. This just shows that there is a very low chance for Oceania to have a rebellion against the Party because they simply only believe the words of the Party even though they deceive them right in their face.
ReplyDeleteGreat analysisof the quote you really captured the gist of it. The Party changed there slee h half way through and the members beloved they had been sabotaged. Clearly the party was manipulating them right in front of their eyes and they stilled did not see they were being controlled. The Party has so much control over Oceaniatjat no one will ever have their own thoughts anymore.
ReplyDeleteYeah man. It was quite shocking to see how the people of Oceania were easily manipulated into thinking Eastasia was the enemy. These people did not question anything, probably because they were bred to trust in The Party. The had no conscious of their own, and were spoon fed information that was supposedly wrong.
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