"It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise." (page 18) These words are what Winston thinks about the people chanting "B-B..... B-B", and I couldn't agree more with him. These people are hypnotising themselves into thinking that Big Brother is worth worshipping, the one, the almighty Big Brother. After years and years of being told over and over again that Big Brother is always right, that he is the supreme authority, that he is the greatest leader, people start believing him. People start believing all the lies. Even the most obvious ones, like the fact that the party had invented aircraft. Speaking of lies, Winston later reads a children history book he borrowed from Mrs Parsons. Here is an excerpt of the book: Now, Winston says that he doubts any of this is true. For some reason he seems to be the only one in the entire society who actually doubts the party's lies and propaganda. However, now he starts to wonder if their ENTIRE past is just a lie. He wonders about the past, what it must have been really like back then. He starts to doubt the existence of things that we, the reader, actually know have or still exist, like top hats. Imagine if everyone would think like Winston, imagine if everyone would wonder about the truths they have lost. This reminds me of when Equality, from the novella Anthem, asks: "what are the words we have lost?" speaking of the words that characterize individualism, mainly, "I". It must be extremely frustrating and emotionally difficult for someone to know that a secret is kept away from them, but not just any type of secret, a secret of the past. Because the past is erasable, if not transformable, so without proper proof we can never really know the secrets of the past. All there is left to do, is to believe the lies. "Whether he wrote "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER", or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary,or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police will get him just the same." (page 21) For some reason the first thing that pops into my mind when I read these sentences is the first line of the book Anthem by Ayn Rand. The line is "It is a sin to write this". After all, both Equality and Winston have committed a crime, the crime of writing their thoughts. The difference is, if Equality puts down his diary, return to work and never come back to his secret tunnel ever again, he will probably never be caught. Winston, however, stated that he will be caught no matter what. And I think he is right. I am only 80 pages in the book and for now he is still safe, but his add up of mistakes will probably get him sold out. This passage (page 25) clearly demonstrates the effect of propaganda on children. Kids are called "child heroes" for reporting THEIR OWN PARENTS to the Thought Police, and I find that's just horrible. The children don't understand the gravity of the situation or the consequences of one's act. And I don't mean just the Parson children. I mean most of the children in this society, if not all of them. To them, the hanging is merely a show. To them, killing people with fake guns and calling them traitors is all just a game. In their world, everything will be fine by the end of the day. They take great pleasure in seeing people getting caught for their mistakes because it isn't real. Not to them. But sometimes though, they seem to grasp the idea of what is going on, and, as shown above, "it was not altogether a game".
Game or not, nothing is more real to their parents, who watch their babies grow up into murderous adults with slogans of Big Brother as their only reason to live. In this case, the Parson parents have very different ways of interpreting their children's ambitions. Mrs Parson, the mother of the children in this passage, is an exhausted from their tormenting. She has to take care of these little monsters, and she can't control them and tell them to stop being so... excited about traitors. And why would she? After all, the government ENCOURAGES children to report anyone suspicious, so I guess all that Mrs Parson can do about it is sit and watch. Winston describes her as "a colourless, crushed-looking woman, with wispy hair and a lined face" (page 22), and later observes that she has dust in the lines of her face. Probably from being harassed by her own children. I may be exaggerating but Mrs Parsons is a slave of society. Worse, even, she is a slave of her own children, who are slaves of society. Mr Parson, the father, is a completely different person. Winston describes him as a "tubby, middle-sized man with fair hair and a froglike face. (...) His whole appearance was that of a little boy grown large," (pages 58-59) and the description goes on and on. Basically, that he was a fat man with the spirit of a child. Mr Parsons actually encourages his children to be suspicious, to run after the bad guys. He would probably even come hunt spies down if it weren't for his working hours. He'll gladly take his children to the hanging, when he can. Mr Parson is exactly the type of "model" the government would like the public to follow. All in all, the party's propaganda does not only affect the children, it also affects the adults. And those who are not affected by it, or at least, not in the desired way, are in danger of getting eliminated.
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