Ken from Chicago
December 25th 07, 07:26 PM
of self-discipline, reality-control.
But in the end there won't be any need even for that. The Revolution will
be complete when the language is perfect. Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is
Newspeak,' he added with a sort of mystical satisfaction. 'Has it ever
occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a
single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation
as we are having now?'
'Except--' began Winston doubtfully, and he stopped.
It had been on the tip of his tongue to say 'Except the proles,' but
he checked himself, not feeling fully certain that this remark was not in
some way unorthodox. Syme, however, had divined what he was about to say.
'The proles are not human beings,' he said carelessly. 'By 2050 --
earlier, probably -- all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared.
The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Milton, Byron -- they'll exist only in Newspeak versions, not
merely changed into something different, but actually changed into
something contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the
Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a
slogan like "freedom is slavery" when the concept of
But in the end there won't be any need even for that. The Revolution will
be complete when the language is perfect. Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is
Newspeak,' he added with a sort of mystical satisfaction. 'Has it ever
occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a
single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation
as we are having now?'
'Except--' began Winston doubtfully, and he stopped.
It had been on the tip of his tongue to say 'Except the proles,' but
he checked himself, not feeling fully certain that this remark was not in
some way unorthodox. Syme, however, had divined what he was about to say.
'The proles are not human beings,' he said carelessly. 'By 2050 --
earlier, probably -- all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared.
The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Milton, Byron -- they'll exist only in Newspeak versions, not
merely changed into something different, but actually changed into
something contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the
Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a
slogan like "freedom is slavery" when the concept of