Hiding the Body
You've finally done it now. It's lying there. You see it lying there. You know you killed them because the blood still drips from your hands. There is a dead body there.
But what really is reality? In part 3, O'Brien is asking Winston to change what he believes is a fact. There are many things in our world which we consider to be absolute truths, such as 2+2 = 4 and the earth is round (although some people disagree with that one).
Who is the one who dictates these truths? Well in math logic, (I am no number theorist so this is just to my understanding) we say 2+2 = 4 simply because it is convenient and is consistent with all other more complex theories. Similarly, in science we accept a hypothesis as a theory when it has been proven empirically through experimentation. And obviously seeing is believing.
Yet scientific theories constantly change. Thousands of years ago, most people thought the Earth being flat was an absolute truth. Even now, findings in studies are overturned by new evidence. Is it then so hard to accept what the Party tells you as reality if it goes against everything you believe?
Only when simplified down to black and white and with a clear mind, can we (usually) point to which "truth" is the one that makes sense. However, we can pretty much always decide which one we want to believe, because I think inherently that is a more emotional process. Orwell's construction of narrative makes it so that it is difficult for the reader to make objective observations and predictions, simply because we don't have enough information. He is intentionally trying to reduce us down to emotions and desperation, just like how Winston is tortured.
Expanding out to the actual world, looking at the book and deciding that O'Brien is crazy is much easier than looking at your own beliefs and pointing out the contradictions. What do you think? Is Orwell playing with us? Who is telling the truth? What version of 1984's world do you believe in?
2+2=4 can be easily proven from the peano axioms.
ReplyDeleteS : the successor function
1 = S(1), 2 = S(1), 3 = S(2), 4 = S(3)
definition of addition:
a + 0 = a
a + S(b) = S(a+b)
2 + 2 = 2 + 2
2 + 2 = 2 + S(1)
2 + 2 = S(2 + 1)
2 + 2 = S(2 + S(0))
2 + 2 = S(S(2))
2 + 2 = S(3)
2 + 2 = 4
And yet willful ignorance can defeat any amount of mathematics.
DeleteI definitely think that Orwell is playing with us, and trying to replicate some of the emotions that Winston is feeling within the reader (which is something I touch on in my blog post too). I think we're supposed to see Winston's version as the truth because he is our hero, and if the Party can brainwash him then there is no hope for anyone else. The way that O'Brien is manipulating Winston, to believe the Party before he believes his own eyes, is particularly jarring and effective in getting Orwell's point across.
ReplyDelete