December 25th 07, 11:23 PM
to have invented; a dozen years later,
when Julia was at school, it was already claiming the aeroplane; one
generation more, and it would be claiming the steam engine.) And when he
told her that aeroplanes had been in existence before he was born and long
before the Revolution, the fact struck her as totally uninteresting. After
all, what did it matter who had invented aeroplanes? It was rather more of
a shock to him when he discovered from some chance remark that she did not
remember that Oceania, four years ago, had been at war with Eastasia and at
peace with Eurasia. It was true that she regarded the whole war as a sham:
but apparently she had not even noticed that the name of the enemy had
changed. 'I thought we'd always been at war with Eurasia,' she said
vaguely. It frightened him a little. The invention of aeroplanes dated from
long before her birth, but the switchover in the war had happened only four
years ago, well after she was grown up. He argued with her about it for
perhaps a quarter of an hour. In the end he succeeded in forcing her memory
back until she did dimly recall that at one time Eastasia and not Eurasia
had been the enemy. But the issue still struck her as unimportant. 'Who
cares?' she said impatiently. 'It's always one bloody war after another,
and one knows the news is all lies anyway.'
Sometimes he talked to her of the Records Department and the impudent
forgeries that he committed there. Such things did not appear to horrify
her. She did not feel the abyss opening beneath her feet at the thought of
lies becoming truths. He told her the story of Jones, Aaronson, and
Rutherford and the momentous slip of paper which he had once held between
his fingers. It did not make much impression on her. At first, indeed, she
failed to grasp the point of the s
when Julia was at school, it was already claiming the aeroplane; one
generation more, and it would be claiming the steam engine.) And when he
told her that aeroplanes had been in existence before he was born and long
before the Revolution, the fact struck her as totally uninteresting. After
all, what did it matter who had invented aeroplanes? It was rather more of
a shock to him when he discovered from some chance remark that she did not
remember that Oceania, four years ago, had been at war with Eastasia and at
peace with Eurasia. It was true that she regarded the whole war as a sham:
but apparently she had not even noticed that the name of the enemy had
changed. 'I thought we'd always been at war with Eurasia,' she said
vaguely. It frightened him a little. The invention of aeroplanes dated from
long before her birth, but the switchover in the war had happened only four
years ago, well after she was grown up. He argued with her about it for
perhaps a quarter of an hour. In the end he succeeded in forcing her memory
back until she did dimly recall that at one time Eastasia and not Eurasia
had been the enemy. But the issue still struck her as unimportant. 'Who
cares?' she said impatiently. 'It's always one bloody war after another,
and one knows the news is all lies anyway.'
Sometimes he talked to her of the Records Department and the impudent
forgeries that he committed there. Such things did not appear to horrify
her. She did not feel the abyss opening beneath her feet at the thought of
lies becoming truths. He told her the story of Jones, Aaronson, and
Rutherford and the momentous slip of paper which he had once held between
his fingers. It did not make much impression on her. At first, indeed, she
failed to grasp the point of the s