Brent P
December 25th 07, 08:35 PM
daughters if they
chose. They could order you to be flogged with something called a cat-o'-
nine tails. You had to take your cap off when you passed them. Every
capitalist went about with a gang of lackeys who--'
The old man brightened again.
'Lackeys!' he said. 'Now there's a word I ain't 'eard since ever so
long. Lackeys! That reg'lar takes me back, that does. I recollect oh,
donkey's years ago -- I used to sometimes go to 'Yde Park of a Sunday
afternoon to 'ear the blokes making speeches. Salvation Army, Roman
Catholics, Jews, Indians -- all sorts there was. And there was one bloke --
well, I couldn't give you 'is name, but a real powerful speaker 'e was. 'E
didn't 'alf give it 'em! "Lackeys!" 'e says, "lackeys of the bourgeoisie!
Flunkies of the ruling class!" Parasites -- that was another of them. And
'yenas -- 'e definitely called 'em 'yenas. Of course 'e was referring to
the Labour Party, you understand.'
Winston had the feeling that they were talking at cross-purposes.
'What I really wanted to know was this,' he said. 'Do you feel that
you have more freedom now than you had in those days? Are you treated more
like a human being? In the old days, the rich people, the people at the
top--'
'The 'Ouse of Lords,' put in the old man reminiscently.
'The House of Lords, if you like. What I am asking is, were these
people able to treat you as an inferior, simply because they were rich and
yo
chose. They could order you to be flogged with something called a cat-o'-
nine tails. You had to take your cap off when you passed them. Every
capitalist went about with a gang of lackeys who--'
The old man brightened again.
'Lackeys!' he said. 'Now there's a word I ain't 'eard since ever so
long. Lackeys! That reg'lar takes me back, that does. I recollect oh,
donkey's years ago -- I used to sometimes go to 'Yde Park of a Sunday
afternoon to 'ear the blokes making speeches. Salvation Army, Roman
Catholics, Jews, Indians -- all sorts there was. And there was one bloke --
well, I couldn't give you 'is name, but a real powerful speaker 'e was. 'E
didn't 'alf give it 'em! "Lackeys!" 'e says, "lackeys of the bourgeoisie!
Flunkies of the ruling class!" Parasites -- that was another of them. And
'yenas -- 'e definitely called 'em 'yenas. Of course 'e was referring to
the Labour Party, you understand.'
Winston had the feeling that they were talking at cross-purposes.
'What I really wanted to know was this,' he said. 'Do you feel that
you have more freedom now than you had in those days? Are you treated more
like a human being? In the old days, the rich people, the people at the
top--'
'The 'Ouse of Lords,' put in the old man reminiscently.
'The House of Lords, if you like. What I am asking is, were these
people able to treat you as an inferior, simply because they were rich and
yo