History WMG / NineteenEightyFour

[[WMG:The Party Will Inevitably Fall]]

[[WMG: Newspeak will be the down fall of the Party.]]

So the party assumes that by cresting this extremely simplistic language they will prevent their citizens from being able to express certain ideas or concepts. However as pointed the out above that’s not really how language works. Instead of preventing these ideas from being expressed it will make it impossible for the party to identity the expression of these ideas. Entire new dialects and even languages could form based on how different groups express the ideas not expressed in standard Newspeak. Allowing the ability of the people to begin organize against the Party.

[[WMG:The Party Is ultimately unsustainable, and will ultimately die a [[HoistByHisOwnPetard fitting death]].]]

This does not make it any more than a BittersweetEnding however-resources are needed for machines of peace, as well. But it isn't nearly as much of a downer as many tropers seem to think.

The self-destructive spiral of the Party's idea of society eventually causes it to completely collapse -- communication breaks down, the technology falls apart, and everyone's reduced to sticks and foraging. From the dust of Oceania, the survivors end up building civilization anew.

The equilibrium of power that keeps Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia together relies on all three states surviving. Take one out of the equation, and the others will quickly fall.

Think about it: Earth has become a massive nuclear hellhole where [[HumansAreBastards humans are definite bastards or]] [[HumansAreMorons morons]], while the Party themselves repressed their own biological instincts, destroyed even a single semblance of curiosity, became the political equivalent of AndIMustScream, and been in tyrannical isolation for an indefinite amount of time. This is because they've become so miserable and nihilistic they feel the need to project their depression onto the rest of the citizens. They can't even be DrivenToSuicide because their collective sadistic power-hunger is the only thing keeping them going.

* The appendix also states it was "expected" Newspeak "would have" replaced standard english by 2050, that finishing the translation of various English writers "was not expected" until the first or second decade of the 21st century, and that the blind, enthusiasic acceptance of IngSoc is "difficult to imagine today". The Party's attemts to reform society may have fallen apart less than 20 years after Winston's death...

[[WMG:Big Brother is an [[AIIsACrapshoot Artificial Intelligence]].]]

What if the all-watching person behind the telescreen isn't a person, but is the telescreen itself? It's not just the telescreen, but said AI can control every piece of technology on Earth. Behind all those ongoing wars between Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia (which have exactly the same philosophy, the "Obliteration of the Self" also known to most of us as Ingsoc), all those thoughtcrimes and tortures, all those mass de-evolution of the human race, all those retcons of history to the point where "1984" is just an ambiguous date guessed by Winston, is a sadistic, highly efficient, manipulative MasterComputer.

The Inner Party? They might be power-crazy sadistic psychopathic mind rapists on the first look, but actually because they are so deeply brainwashed by the philosophy of Ingsoc they are still just the same 'ol slaves to doublethink and the Telescreen, and can possibly serve as the cover for the AI. There's also the possibility that the Inner Party was appointed by Big Brother to continue his agenda and serve as the AI's human representatives to the world at large in exchange for luxury, power and the opportunity to mass MindRape Outer Party members. Or possibly, the Inner Party might be Franchise/{{Terminator}}-esque cybernetic organisms controlled by the AI itself.

Why didn't Big Brother go head-on against humanity with his robotic arsenal? Watch Film/TheTerminator and Film/TheMatrix for example. Humanity will fight to the end for survival, and even though HumansAreBastards who will kill each other in times of peace, when faced with a common enemy like an AI or aliens, all of mankind unites to become a super persistent highly-competent BadassArmy. Think [[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch's]] final plan for world peace, [[spoiler:being hated by the rest of humanity as a common enemy]], for example. Big Brother exploited humans' innate bastardness, and turned them against each other through the Atomic and Perpetual Wars (analogous to [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Skynet]]). To ensure that humanity never finds out that an Artificial Intelligence is behind the shenanigans, Big Brother appointed the Inner Party and created the philosophy of doublethink to stupefy the vast majority (and hope) of humanity, the intellectual Outer Party and the potentially omnipotent Proles.

It is unknown what is Big Brother's agenda in the long run, maybe he will finally annihilate humanity in a final war when they are too stupid to fight as one, maybe he will keep humanity as eternal playthings in his sadistic rule, or maybe his real identity is AM from ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' (which also inspired this WMG), who annihilates most of humanity in a final war but keeps a few as eternal playthings in his sadistic rule.
** Adding onto that, his avatar can take many forms, such as [[Literature/AnimalFarm a certain totalitarian boar]] or [[VideoGame/BioshockInfinite a white-haired, bearded elderly prophet]] or UsefulNotes/JosephStalin, but his preferred one is that of Oswald Mosley, the true founder of [=IngSoc=], which the Party accepts as his "default" form and uses it in their propaganda. After all, Mosley was noted to be exceptionally handsome, and it's easier to completely love a good-looking mustached man than a smallpox-ridden mustached man.

[[WMG:The Party is in fact an EldritchAbomination.]]

As quoted on the [[FridgeHorror/{{Literature}} Fridge Horror page]]:
->''"Think about the very concept of The Party itself. It is an all-seeing, all-knowing, incomprehensible entity that can essentially bend the reality of those it controls. Any naysayers or free thinkers? It WILL find them, it WILL [[MindRape rape their very souls]] and WILL bend them to its will. It likely will never die, and could likely claim that it had been around since the dawn of eternity. Sounds more like an EldritchAbomination than a government."''

And it makes more sense given how ''1984'' is basically the CosmicHorrorStory of Dystopian fiction, managing to be as horrifying and depression-inducing as anything by Creator/HPLovecraft and other ''real'' Cosmic Horror writers, if not even more due to [[ParanoiaFuel the plausibility]], despite the Cosmic Horror being nothing more than politics. The utter incomprehensibility of the Party, how the Party even manages to survive even though it is virtually impossible under scientific law, the cult revolving around the Party, the complete and utter insignificance of the individual, [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu breaking your arm punching out the Party]], MindRape and PsychologicalHorror everywhere, the DespairEventHorizon-inducing DownerEnding, the [[NietzscheWannabe Nihilistic]] themes, and all that.

[[folder:Theories about the novel]]

* [[So you say it's an Alternate History novel written from the perspective of an Alternate History DoubleBlindWhatIf]]?

[[WMG:The Party Is ultimately unsustainable, and will ultimately die a [[HoistByHisOwnPetard fitting death]].]]

While I admit North Korea is a pretty damn efficient and long lasting state, this is primarily because they are a mostly peaceful one. You need resources for constant war, and those resources will run out sooner or later. While the Ingsoc are living it up pretty good right now (relatively), they will collapse under their own weight, their own plan for keeping the world dominated having exhausted them.

This does not make it any more than a BittersweetEnding however-resources are needed for machines of peace, as well. But it isn't nearly as much of a downer as many tropers seem to think.
* North Korea... Efficient? Not so much...
* Huh, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike almost the same idea and example as mine]]. 'Cept mine was more 'eventually their civilisation will collapse and reduce everyone to living in caves'. Ooh, speaking of which...

[[WMG:1984 is in the ancient past.]]

The self-destructive spiral of the Party's idea of society eventually causes it to completely collapse -- communication breaks down, the technology falls apart, and everyone's reduced to sticks and foraging. From the dust of Oceania, the survivors end up building civilization anew.
* And history will repeat itself. Once every 3968 years.
* And the survivors who rebuild civilization will come from the Prole sector, whose arrival is marked by the inspirational words "[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Believe in you who believes in yourself]]..."
* {{Jossed}} by repeated references to figures from recorded history-O'Brien compares the Party's methods to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Syme tells Winston that in 2050 the works of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]], [[Creator/GeoffreyChaucer Chaucer]] and [[Creator/RudyardKipling Kipling]] will only exist in Newspeak translations, and Winston thinks of his made-up Comrade Ogilvy as having become "as real as Charlemagne or UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar" or something like that, meaning that it must be a post-WWII society.

[[WMG:Oceania's eventual collapse, hinted at by the appendix, was brought about when one of the three superstates was brought down.]]

The equilibrium of power that keeps Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia together relies on all three states surviving. Take one out of the equation, and the others will quickly fall.

[[WMG:We are all living in '1984' reality now, and we all use doublethink to convince ourselves that we don't.]]

I mean, seriously, can you prove it wrong?
* I'd actually think that we're the proles. Have you seen all the cheap mass-produced crap we have on TV? Not to mention the whole thing where he describes the typical life of one, the whole marrying at thirty and dying at sixty bit. And those proles at the bar could be any average Joes.

[[WMG:The Inner Party is made up of former rebels who have gone through the torture process Winston did.]]

This theory is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. At the end of 1984, Winston remarks that he loves Big Brother, his mind was warped the listen to The Party, and it's not too clear on whether he dies. Since Winston believes everything The Party says, and the Inner Party does as well, isn't it possible that the Inner Party is made of people like Winston, whose minds have been messed with so that they believe The Party, no matter what?
* In addition to that, Winston will eventually take over O'Brien's job as a torturer. O'Brien was actually planning to [[PassingTheTorch pass the torch]] to Winston all along; one of the purposes of torturing him was to show him how it's done properly.
** Perhaps Goldstein was also O'Brien's torturer once long ago?

[[WMG:[[EverybodyIsJesusInPurgatory Big Brother is an allegory for God]].]]

Big Brother is an unseen omniscient ruler who loves us all, and we must love him, or we'll get sent to [[{{Hell}} Room 101]].
* This is even lampshaded in the book at one point, when O'Brien compares the Party to the medieval Catholic Church.
** You use the dominant religion to prop up the power of the regime, which is incredibly easy to do and historically successful. Religions are very good at finding groups to demonize. [[OhCrap Goldstein is a Jewish name, after all...]]
** No, the book Goldstein supposedly wrote compares the Party to the medieval Catholic Church. O'Brien compares the Party to Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.
* Speaking of Goldstein, if Big Brother is {{God}}, then Goldstein is {{Satan}}. Formerly a high-ranking underling of Big Brother, turned against his master, is blamed for anything bad that happens...
* A version of this theory is popular with atheists. The main idea is that totalitarian ideology and religious dogma are essentially the same thing. Both advocate disregarding logic in favor of "group think," extreme worship of an abstract figure or else, condemning deviation of thought to eternal damnation and other such DisproportionateRetribution, [[NoSexAllowed severe bans on harmless pleasures for no reason except "he said so,"]] etc. The only difference between a modern secular dictatorship like Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany and a religious one such as Islamic UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} or the Medieval Catholic Church, is that the god of the secular regime is based on a real human being (Stalin or Hitler), while the theocracy worships an entirely imaginary being (Allah or God). Thus, it doesn't really matter if Big Brother is a real person or not, he is still functionally a "god" to the population, and the philosophy of Oceania is still a religious dogma of sorts. Of course, the regime of Oceania officially condemns religion, but what do you expect from the people who invented thoughtcrime, Newspeak and doublethink? [[WordOfGod To quote George Orwell himself:]]
-->[-''"A totalitarian state is effectively a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible."''-]
* George Orwell was a critic of religion and admired by Creator/ChristopherHitchens, so this makes perfect sense.

[[WMG:East Asia is ruled by [[Website/FourChan Anonymous]].]]

* The name of their ideology is translated as "Obliteration of the Self", right?
** So, Death worship is actually [[MemeticMutation Desu]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Worship]]? Eastasia is better, it has memes and anonymity hence RuleThirtyFour hence way more better than anti-sexual Ingsoc, better move to Eastasia.... *unpersoned by Thought Policemen*
** According to Orwell himself, it's supposed to be a totalitarian deformation of [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} Taoist]] teachings. Might be a TakeThat on [[UsefulNotes/MaoZedong Mao's]] instrumentalization (and subsequently violent deformation) of [[Creator/{{Confucius}} Confucianism]] in his own ideology.
* Observe that Big Brother is powered by the [[ForumSpeak G.I.F.T]], like [[ComicBook/VForVendetta V]], although he uses it for pure power...

[[WMG:Eastasia is ruled by [[Manga/DeathNote Light Yagami]].]]

It is stated explicitly in The Book that the three governments of the world effectively operate identical control methods: the blind unquestioning worship of a semi-divine leader, the celebrated execution of anyone deemed an impurity upon society, and the relentless digestion of information to further a dictatorship. Without any rivals to stand against him, the great Lord Kira rose in Japan and created a superpower that answers solely to his ideals, and methods of teaching. All those who discredit his power would be seen as traitors and executed (it is not outside of Kira's interests to make the cause of death a gunshot). As there are three equally-matched superpowers in unbreakable deadlock, it makes sense that all three superpowers are run by people who own Death Notes (possibly after Sidoh returned to the Shinigami realm, and other Shinigami wanted to see what happens for themselves). Whilst the Outer Party (and foreign equivalents) would understand the telescreens are necessary for defence, and the detection of spies and thought criminals, none whatsoever would know their ''true'' purpose is a {{plan}} to detect whether any more notebooks come to Earth. If there may be six operational Notes in the world at any time, obtaining these could prove all-important in ending the war and crushing the enemy states, who dared to challenge the rule of Lord Kira.
* Light Yagami wasn't even ''born'' in 1984.
** He who controls the present controls the past. Lord Kira controls all Asian media, including Manga and anime, which means the dates have been deliberately altered to confuse the enemies of Lord Kira and the state; namely, all those who answer to Eastasia's hated enemy, L.
*** So Eastasia is ruled by Kira, Eurasia is ruled by L and Wanny/Mellow is Big Brother?
*** More like L is Big Brother of Ingsoc, which is set in Britain (L is somehow British), and Kira is Emmanuel Goldstein, ruler of Eastasia. L never showed his face to the public, but he knows your every move...
* The viewscreens also help ensure that Kira can kill whoever he needs to, since he needs to know their name and have seen their face to do it.
* Does that mean Kira doesn't need Room 101, since traitors can be given "heart attacks" even before they can actually dissent?

[[WMG:The end of the book is Winston's promotion to the Inner Party.]]

* In other words, the Brotherhood and the Inner Party are ''one and the same!!!''

[[WMG:The Party Will Inevitably Fall]]

Slowly but surely the entire world is falling backwards and the standard of living is collapsing more and more. Since the entire human race is basically insane, nobody will notice and all resources will be focused into continuing the apparatus of terror upon the public. The world will eventually reach a point where industrialization is lost (either through economic disintegration or just purely out of all resources being gobbled up) and then the Party will no longer have even the technology to control all of Britain. At that point society will fall back into a rustic medieval form and human life will begin again.
* The party will fall because it lacks the flexibility to deal with an unexpected stress, and even if it can control its own people and economy, the first outside catastrophe to hit it will knock it over.

[[WMG:The Party will fail because Newspeak cannot be learned as a native language.]]

It occurred to me that everybody in the book who is taught Newspeak is already an adult able to speak classic English. But according to psycho-linguistics, there is a critical period where learning one's native language works in a very different way than learning a secondary language, especially a rather limited, artificially primitivized language game like Newspeak. It may turn out that Newspeak can only be taught to people as a secondary language who already know and speak a native language. If that is true, Newspeak can never replace the full English language, but only reduce it retroactively.
* The problem is that there are a lot of natural languages -- the agglutinative languages -- which work perfectly and just like the Newspeak. And ''it is perfectly possible'' for a native speaker to express prohibited contexts with those languages. For example, there were severe difficulties on translating the concept of Newspeak to [[UsefulNotes/{{Finland}} Finnish]], because the Finnish language is agglutinative, and works exactly that way -- and like a river, the agglutinative language will eventually find a way to express ''anything''. The corpus of agglutinative languages is small, but it is childishly easy to neologize new words and concepts by using the corpus. Concept of "epähyvä" (''ungood'') is perfectly good Finnish. If words are weapons, teaching Newspeak to children is basically giving a loaded gun to them.
** It could easily be taught as a native language. Just because it's a limited, primitive language doesn't matter at all to the developing brain. The real danger is children coming up with idiosyncratic variations on the language, as in the case of [[UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}} Nicaraguan]] Sign Language -- a bunch of deaf children put together with no vocabulary will develop a robust language based on what limited language skills they have -- simple hand gestures. Kids who learn Newspeak as a native language would cause a lot of semantic drift without a constant barrage of conditioning.
*** What he probably meant is that adults cannot learn Newspeak as their default language of thought. There's a critical period (childhood) which separates learning a native language from learning a second language. After puberty, language learning becomes inefficient, and that is why adults find it awkward to, for example, transliterate English directly into [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} Chinese]] (resulting in reckless BlindIdiotTranslation) and vice versa. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child) Genie]] is one of the most notable cases of adults being incapacitated in learning ''any'' language because they were never able to learn a childhood native language in the first place.

[[WMG: Newspeak will be the down fall of the Party.]]

So the party assumes that by cresting this extremely simplistic language they will prevent their citizens from being able to express certain ideas or concepts. However as pointed the out above that’s not really how language works. Instead of preventing these ideas from being expressed it will make it impossible for the party to identity the expression of these ideas. Entire new dialects and even languages could form based on how different groups express the ideas not expressed in standard Newspeak. Allowing the ability of the people to begin organize against the Party.


[[WMG:The Party won't fail but it will simply drift away from the proles.]]

* Eventually the Party will become so wrapped up in its Doublethinking and Newspeaking that they will become completely ineffective in even communicating with the Proles. The Proles will set up their own government, possibly a primitive feudalistic one, the Party will regard this as beneath their notice and the Prole will regard the Party as that odd group of hermits up in the three buildings.
** And the ignorant, unchanging Party will be wiped out by Natural Selection. Yay!

[[WMG:It was Main/AllJustADream.]]

...But this isn't consoling, because the dreamer was Boxer from ''Literature/AnimalFarm''.
* Alternately, the dreamer was actually Benjamin from the film adaptation, so there is hope for a better future.
* Alternately, the chapter where Winston wakes up to his clock radio blaring [[Main/NothingButHits Springsteen]], puts on his [[Main/TheEighties shiny purplish jacket]] and narrow tie and gets into his Dodge Aries Austin Maestro is a [[Main/MissingEpisode lost manuscript]].










[[WMG:The Party evolves into the [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann anti-spirals]].]]

They're just as dull and nihilistic as the anti-spirals. Once they become successful in evolving into a HiveMind, gain RealityWarper powers (Doublethink is an attempt at reality control while turning you into a mere on/off switch) and go out into space, they take it upon themselves to drive any race they can find to [[DespairEventHorizon absolute despair]]. All of their talk about the end of the universe is just an attempt at propaganda.
* Also, the Proles evolve into the Spirals because 'proles are free' and have the potential for change.
* Alternatively, the anti-spirals set up the Party. Spiral energy depends on straightness of motivation, which is thoroughly damaged by Doublethink. However, they focused too much on the doublethinking process so much they forgot the Proles, one of which would eventually become Simon...
* Wow. That makes the ending even awesomer...





[[WMG:It's all a game of TabletopGame/{{Risk}}]]

Totalitarian control over people fighting a war with a high casualty rate? Constantly shifting alliances so that no one is eliminated? Yes. It's just Risk.

[[WMG:All it takes is five simple words spoken at a gathering of proles to topple the party.]]

Those words, "They're taking away the vodka" -- that'll snap them out of their stupor. All it takes is a party altruistic party member to force himself on stage during hate week and the speaking of the words, and the proles will finally rebel. It's the only thing keeping them sedated. You know how Prohibition failed, after all.
* First, Oceania has (victory) gin, not vodka. Don't know about Eurasia. Second, it's mentioned that proles aren't allowed to consume gin.
** It's also mentioned, several times, that Proles can and do get their hands on gin quite often.
* [[VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans I know where you got this theory from...]]
* Alternatively, you could ask the party leaders [[TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}} Are you a Big-Brother loving Democrat]]?

[[WMG:The Party is secretly ruled by the pigs from ''Literature/AnimalFarm''.]]

It's obvious! 1984 is set many years after Animal Farm. Napoleon and the pigs began making deals with humans at the end. Having completely subjugated their fellow animals on the farm, they are increasing their sphere of influence. It starts with making business deals; then they're entrepreneurs in charge of huge franchises. Then they get massive influence with the government, surpassing UsefulNotes/BillGates in wealth. Finally, they take over the government and institute massive amounts of propaganda; they take over the schools and condition children to serve them, instituting the practice of Doublethink. Eventually, everyone's too stupid to remember what happened, including the true humans. Eurasia and Eastasia are also controlled by rival animal farms led by pigs. Napoleon or one of his descendants is Big Brother. Also, he shoots lightning from his hands now.
* That gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "only the proles and ''the animals'' are free."
** Although the Inner Party isn't exactly free, considering they can't hide from surveillance for more than 30 minutes or so.
* Of course, Snowball is still in hiding under his new alias, Goldstein.
* Oh, and SPAM in Oceania is made of prole.
** [[Film/SoylentGreen SOYLENT GREEN IS MADE OF PEOPLE!]]

[[WMG:1984 is an Alternate Universe of ''Anime/CodeGeass''.]]

Both contain 3 superpowers, with one controlling the Americas, one controlling Europe and one controlling Asia. It's evident that areas controlled by the superpowers are renamed in both, for example United Kingdom renamed to Airstrip One in 1984, and Japan renamed to Area 11 in Code Geass, both coincidentally by Oceania and Britannia respectively.
* Or better yet, 1984 is the aftermath of Code Geass [[spoiler:''where Schneizel won''. Lelouch lost the battle of Mt. Fuji, enabling Schneizel to rise above the atmosphere and nuke the world's major cities under the pretense of "Atomic Wars."]] With the destruction of the United Federation of Nations, his pansies took over Britannia, while the Chinese Federation freed Japan, causing the creation of Oceania and Eastasia respectively. Lelouch, however, changed his identity into Emmanuel Goldstein to fulfill his two desires: To be hated and to rebel against the Establishment. This was based on the fact that it was stated that Schneizel's plan will cause the world to be stuck in the present, and 1984's world ''is'' stuck in the present.

[[WMG:''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' is the prequel to ''1984''.]]

Telescreen technology is being introduced and the written word abolished when the nuclear war is fought. The original state, already repressive, is destroyed and the Party takes over. The resulting damage reduces the tech level of the society significantly, forcing a return to print matter but under tight control of the Party. Telescreens become the preferred mode of entertainment/communication; the Firemen become the Thought Police; and Goldstein (the leader, or at least ''a'' leader, of the Book People) becomes the scapegoat for all society's current woes.

[[WMG:The Doctor will come in his TARDIS and save the day.]]

1. It seems that in order for anything to change would take outside interference.
2. I really really want it to be true!
** Well, in the Michael Radford film, Winston does bear a striking resemblance to the War Doctor. Perhaps he's chameleon-arched, and will strike when the moment is right!
** The fact that Creator/PatrickTroughton (Second Doctor) and Creator/ChristopherEccleston (Ninth Doctor) also portrayed Winston Smith in radio adaptations aside from Creator/JohnHurt (War Doctor) in the 1984 film (therefore making the fact that ''three''[[note]]Four if you count Creator/PeterCushing in the non-canon film[[/note]] actors who played The Doctor portrayed Winston Smith) might support this theory. Or maybe Winston Smith himself ''is'' The Doctor!

[[WMG:Julia is a spy.]]

She's a spy or a prostitute ordered to seduce Winston to entrap him. It's surely not coincidental that, not long after Winston purchases the diary from Mr. Carrington's shop (he was revealed to be a spy later in the novel and would presumably report Winston's actions), Julia starts coming on to Winston and starts inspiring rebellious thoughts in him. Just because the Party disapproves of sex doesn't mean they wouldn't use it to hunt out possible dissidents.
* This is precisely the function of "Jane," the Julia stand-in of ''[=PornSec=] [=SexJane=]'', the [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour ''1984'']]-based Tijuana Bible in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen: Black Dossier''. That Tijuana Bible is a Party publication loosely disguised as subversive pornography ("YOU NOT DO THIS!" being the moral).





[[WMG:O'Brien is Big Brother ''and'' Emmanuel Goldstein in a brilliant EvilPlan.]]

Big Brother is hands-on and sadistic. The original Big Brother was Emmanuel Goldstein. O'Brien overthrew him and his cronies in the early sixties and has been running the show ever since. After killing Goldstein, O'Brien made him the subject of the Two Minutes Hate and used the Party's propaganda techniques to erase all memory of Goldstein being Big Brother. Afterward, O'Brien erased everyone who helped him rise to power. O'Brien was thus able to create an elaborate fiction to consolidate his power. He did so by playing three roles: Big Brother, the charismatic dictator; Emmanuel Goldstein, the rebel who threatens Oceania; and O'Brien, the Inner Party member who pretends to serve Goldstein but serves Big Brother.

As Goldstein, O'Brien can control the existence of any rebellion. Why start a new resistance when one already exists? As O'Brien, he scopes out rebels who threaten his power and tortures them when he discovers them. By being Big Brother ''and'' O'Brien, he can prevent the death of Big Brother. The Brotherhood wouldn't kill O'Brien, since he's one of them; the Party won't kill O'Brien because he serves the vital purpose of hunting down rebels. If he were to be Big Brother openly, he would be open for assassination either by a resistance or by usurpers in his own Party. Instead, the public face of Big Brother is played by the long-dead and long-forgotten Communist dictator Josef Stalin.

[[WMG:1984 is 1948.]]

This is more Creator/AlanMoore's theory than mine (see ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen: Black Dossier''), but essentially; the novel is set in 1948 (or thereabouts), not 1984. London looks as if it's constantly had the shit kicked out of it because it very recently has; it's just come out of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Granted, this doesn't explain Winston Smith's childhood or the A-Bomb dropped on Colchester, but the bomb could have been a final hurrah of an almost-defeated Nazi Germany that managed to develop a single atom bomb and decided on a spiteful 'F-you' to Great Britain via V-2 rocket, and Winston's childhood memories could be explained by him being younger than we think (as growing up in the society of "1984" would prematurely age someone if nothing else would); his half-formed memories of his childhood are of growing up in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the post-war civil unrest after the atom bombing that led to Airstrip One blurring together, and a man who can't remember what year it is isn't going to be the most reliable person to ask regarding his own age. This also doesn't necessarily explain why people would suddenly lose track of time if it's only been about four years -- although getting rid of calendars, clocks and other time-keeping devices would help make it difficult for people to remember; diaries are banned, remember? -- but it's Moore's theory. It is supported by the fact that Orwell originally intended to call the book '1948' and set it contemporaneously.
* Also supported by the fact that, according to the BBC's docudrama Space Race, the whole "A-bomb and V-2" thing was one of the reasons the Americans wanted to capture the rocket scientists so badly. So, we know that historically, SOMEBODY considered the idea.
* OK, but there is absolutely ''no way in hell'' that a V-2 could carry a contemporary nuclear warhead. Zero, zip, nada. Light enough warheads didn't come along for another thirty years. That's not to say that Operation Paperclip didn't happen, but the idea that Nazi Germany could've hit London with a nuclear V-2 in 1945 is just laughably ahistorical.
* That was not what Mr. Moore was suggesting. It seemed to simply be an alternate continuity of the 1984-verse, where the Ingsoc government rose to power but fell quickly rather than establishing the hold they had gained over Britain by the time of the events of ''1984''. The government would have had to be around for far more than just a couple of years to institute the level of (what amounts to) mass mind control they have going on, and by the end of ''1984,'' the government shows no signs of collapsing. And way too much infrastructure and culture are left behind in ''Black Dossier'' for it to have occurred after the events of the book. ([[spoiler:The inclusion of the 1984 continuity in ''Black Dossier'' was a cheap gimmick, considering it made no difference whatsoever to the story; but hey, what was ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen if not a cheap gimmick?]])
* Orwell wrote the novel in 1948 (and it was published the following year, shortly before his death), so he technically reversed the final two digits.

[[WMG:The main character never did get back into the party after being tortured: It was all a hoax to get him off the radar.]]

* Smith was never stated or implied to return to meaningful Party work after his release from the Ministry of Love. His "work" afterward was halfway between a sinecure and a pension, and he knew it.

[[WMG:Big Brother does not exist.]]

The government of Oceania is based entirely on Rule of Law; that is, there is no one at the top of the chain of command. Each members of both the Inner and Outer Party constantly watch each other and do what is dictated in an oppressive constitution. The highest ranking members of the Inner Party don't even understand why; they're just held in line by the fear that if they do anything 'subversive', they will be tortured and executed.
* That and being bribed into inactivity by having access to anything they want, as far as the Party can supply it.
* I like the idea of a country without any law ''whatsoever'' to be based entirely on Rule of Law.
** If Oceania has one thing, it's definitely law. Plenty of things are illegal, even if the actual word "law" is never used. Frankly, it even seems to be applied pretty evenly, since even when he's lying the best that O'Brien can come up with is the idea that Inner Party members can turn their Viewscreens off for half an hour (and again, that's clearly a lie; it seems like Inner Party members can only ''mute'' their Viewscreens). I don't know that I would go as far as the original poster here, but it does seem like Ingsoc is a self-perpetuating system that is held as a sincere ideology by the Inner Party. There probably isn't anyone at the top of the pyramid, although the Inner Party likely understands the reasoning behind Ingsoc and keeps it going because they believe it's the most efficient way to organize a world with incredibly limited resources after a nuclear war.
* Big Brother has to exist. The Party says he exists. Big Brother says he exists. Thus Big Brother exists. You, however, do not exist.
* I'm pretty sure that it was highly implied that Big Brother doesn't exist, and never existed in the first place.
** The Big Brother the public know of probably does not exist. However, it is implied that there is some kind of central authority, probably a Politburo.

[[WMG:The last entry does not exist. It never did.]]

This announcement brought to you by the Ministry of Truth. Of course, the Ministry of Truth had nothing at all to do with it. In fact, this whole page was probably written by Goldstein, and is to be disregarded.

[[WMG: "Big Brother" ''Did'' Exist at Some Point, but Hasn't For a Very Long Time.]]

The person portrayed as Big Brother was, in fact, a founding member of the Party. However, at the time when he was alive "the Party" was just one of many in a democratic system. His actual political beliefs are unknowable, but were probably pretty normal leftists (hence "English Socialism" and the inherently contradictory idea of "oligarchical collectivism").

When the world was racked by nuclear war, his party happened to be the one in government in whatever country eventually united Oceania. The primary governing force in that country (and throughout the future totalitarian empire) was in reality the military, which declared martial law in the wake of the catastrophic war. However, they "joined" with the civilian government to maintain some degree of popular support.

Big Brother is long dead, probably a victim of the war who never actually saw Oceania (because a dead person is much easier to idolize) and ''would not'' have liked it. However, his image was initially comforting and has long since been stripped of any implications it may have originally had, just like the identity of the Party. He is now just a symbol, an embodiment of the government, and his actual life and philosophy is unknown even to the leaders of the empire.

[[WMG:Eurasia and Eastasia are allies.]]

One thing that's always bugged me is why they only switch between being at war with one and being at war with the other. There's never a period when the two are allied to fight Oceania. It seems like all three scenarios would get equal time. In reality, they're planning to conquer Oceania and split it, so one of them pretends to be allied, giving false reports about fighting the "enemy" to Oceania, and rests up and lets their armies recover. Meanwhile, the other continues to soften Oceania up. Eventually, they'll invade together, when they're sure they'll win.
* Or it could be part of the lie, designed so it never looks hopeless for whichever country you live in.
* Or it's simpler than that: Eurasia and Eastasia share a border, while Oceania is the undisputed ruler of the Americas, Australia, and the British Isles, the sea making them virtually impossible to invade successfully.

[[WMG:The "disputed region" is a powerful democracy.]]

It is implied that the fifties and sixties saw a world war that led to the current political scheme. Wouldn't there have been a flow of refugees from the areas getting nuked (such as Europe) to the areas not getting nuked (such as the Middle East, North Africa, and UsefulNotes/{{India}})? These refugees provided the knowledge to industrialize much of Africa and the Middle East. When the superstates invade, this catalyzes the formation of Earth's last democracy. Lacking an industry or population devastated by nuclear war, and blessed with natural resources, the Democrats have been able to hold off the superstates. The superstates claim that the area is disputed because they cannot admit the truth -- that a functioning democracy exists and is stronger than all three superstates combined. Otherwise, the populace would be dismayed -- or worse, seek to join the Last Democracy.
* And the Last Democracy is UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}.
* That seems analogous to the Book of Revelation, where basically the Israelites fight a global dictatorship.
** The Book of Revelation, or ''Literature/LeftBehind''?

[[WMG:The world of 1984 is the result of the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Old Ones]] rising and disappearing.]]

The fascist control of every citizen's thoughts and lives is a direct result of the massive world-wide insanity and bloodshed that accompanied the return of the Old Ones. Rather than allow the utter collapse of human civilization, the few surviving governments of the world cracked down on all thought and emotion, leaving the vast majority of humanity mindless zombies. It's all there in the first paragraph of ''Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu'':
-->"''...Some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.''"
* Should've worn tinfoil.
* Well, after all, 1984 is the CosmicHorrorStory of Dystopian fiction.
* Whoa, I read that as... [[Literature/TheDarkIsRising Totally wrong Old Ones]].
** And there's [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} some more totally different Old Ones]].
*** [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Speaking of which...]]

[[WMG:1984 and ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' take place in the same world.]]

The Ingsoc party eventually evolves into the Eloi, and the Proles eventually evolve into the Morlocks.
* Other way around. The Morlocks are smart and aggressive, and live hidden away from public view, while the Eloi are bred as incurious, passive cattle for the slaughter.
** Isn't the point of the book that the social order eventually flipped around?

[[WMG:1984 and Literature/AClockworkOrange are set in the same continuity.]]

''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' takes places almost entirely in Prole Sector and the Prole-equivalent of the Ministry of Love, which is more like a typical London urban prison than Room 101, since "only the proles and the animals are free."
* ''A Clockwork Orange,'' the original novel, was set in the early 1970's -- maybe the Ludovico Technique was an early experiment by the predecessors of the Ministry of Love.
* Also, "The Rubinstein veck came in with: 'You will see, boy, that ''the Party'' will not be ungrateful. Oh, no. At the end of it all there will be some very acceptable little surprise for you. Just you wait and see.'"
* And don't forget, Winston says that he remembered ''violent youth gangs that wore colored clothes'' back before the Party established firm control.
* There are, however, a few arguments against this being the case:
** Knowledge of foreign languages is forbidden, so it is unlikely that a new vocabulary based around Russian will be tolerated.
** Religion is permitted; when entering prison, Alex is asked his religion and the prison has an officially-sanctioned chaplain and religious services.
** Government officials wear suits and uniforms, not blue or black overalls.
** There doesn't seem to be a widespread material shortage or rationing; note the well-stocked music shop Alex visits. Also, while the area around Alex's flatblock is heavily vandalized, the buildings look new and not bomb-damaged.
** The government official who visits Alex in the hospital seems genuinely concerned about potentially losing an upcoming election; if this was Airstrip One, there wouldn't be any elections.

[[WMG:Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania don't exist.]]

The structure of the world as presented to Winston Smith (and the readers) is a lie created by England's totalitarian government to promote loyalty and deter rebellion in their subjects. It's entirely possible that the rest of the world is a democratic utopia or a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
* Can't parts of Britain in RealLife pick up [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] or [[UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}} Irish]] TV? Orwell's writing in TheForties would amplify this -- AM radio carries ''very'' far sometimes, especially at night. Creator/TheBBC's broadcasts into Nazi-occupied Europe would've been fresh on everyone's mind at the time.
** Okay, then it's entirely possible that Europe is a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
** Do people have radios? No, they don't. If the TV screens were connected by cable, then there isn't even the possibility of other nations jamming the signal.
** The government confiscates all the radios, shoots anyone who possesses one, and maintains the viewscreen network exclusively.
*** This explanation is all but WordOfGod; see Orwell's "As I Please" column of May 12, 1944.
* On the other hand, the entire world may be under the control of one government that sends its citizens off to remote areas to fight one another under the pretense that they are fighting in a war. Notice how the heaviest fighting is always at sea, Africa, Antarctica or mainland Asia, not in the more populated regions, and always wavers back and forth?
** This is especially logical, since if Eastasia and Eurasia are essentially indistinguishable from Oceania, then they would likewise mimic the "allied with one against the other" gimmick. But with only three nations, you can't have all of them allied with one against the other; one of them will be left in the cold to go it alone. The only way to do it would be for the war to be a fiction maintained for the reasons outlined in the book-within-a-book. So, while the question of three superstates or just one is up grabs, the existence of the war is completely out of the question.
*** They might not all be able to go two-on-one at the same time... But they could fake it. That, or maybe they occasionally go through "we are at war with the rest of the world; we have always been at war with the rest of the world" phases.
*** It's also possible that each country always has soldiers fighting the other two countries, and that those soldiers are just constantly told "We're always at war with this country, we're allied with this other country." Since the allies never communicate on a basic level, the three countries don't even have to be in sync. Oceania could claim war on Eastasia and ally with Eurasia; Eastasia could declare war on Eurasia and ally with Oceania; and Eurasia could declare war on Oceania and ally with Eastasia, for example, and all three just ship soldiers out to fronts around the world, and no one would question it.
* Why there would be a need to suddenly switch enemies ''in the middle of a speech''? If the fictional enemies only exist as a means to waste, wouldn't one enemy be enough?
** Perhaps the speaker simply mixed up the names Eurasia and Eastasia and [[SureLetsGoWithThat ran with it]].
** Remember, the Party's motivation is stated explicitly to be pure power. They're quite capable of pulling stunts like that just to revel in the fact that they can. In addition, by constantly changing "reality" and by coercing people into going along with it, they destroy people's confidence in their own memories, making it that much easier to change what is important. In other words, changing "who our enemy is" is effectively a way to train people to change their own memories when the State desires it.
*** It could also be a form of deliberate {{Gaslighting}} to destroy the sense of actually real reality anyone might still possess.
*** Even if the enemy countries are indeed fictional (which isn't confirmed, just conjectured), remember that party members honestly believe every single one of their own lies. Which means if they happen to decide to switch enemies in the middle of a speech, they've got to go through the motions that decision implies.
** It would also explain why Oceania is never at war with both Eurasia and Eastasia. Why is it those two would always be enemies, trading alliances with Oceania?
* This troper always thought that they switched to keep shaking things up. Otherwise, the war hype would plateau, especially since it's likely that many people believe it's a lie already. And keep in mind when the book was written. Also, switching during the speech, as well as the power thing mentioned above, could've been done as a display of said power, as no-one openly acknowledged the change, thus preventing others from being open about it, too.

[[WMG:The rest of the world is progressing much as it always did (barring a few AlternateHistory elements), but Britain has become a North Korea-like dictatorial black-hole of a nation.]]

No one is allowed in or out (easier because it's an island), and the government tightly monitors all communications, making it possible for the government to tell the people whatever the hell they like and have everyone believe them, with a few rockets being chucked at their own people and a few dissidents or foreign infiltrators dressed up as 'prisoners of war' to parade in front of the masses to convince them that they're constantly at war.
* Orwell specifically mentioned that most of the world was under the control of at least one of the super states. The areas that weren't were war zones. He also said that Oceania included most of western Europe, as well as almost all of the Americas, so it wasn't just an island. These might just be lies made by the Party, though.
** All the maps show all of continental Europe being controlled by Eurasia, which is presumably supposed to be an alternate USSR that kept pushing past Germany all the way to the coast. It makes sense if you follow the "Oceania is only Britain and the rest of the world is just fine" thing. "Yeah, we control an empire spanning across several continents. But the only part you'll ever get to go to is a dinky little island because the rest of it is separated by thousands of miles of ocean, and it's too dangerous for normal citizens to make that kind of trip during wartime.
*** [[UnreliableNarrator The Party]] '''[[UnreliableNarrator made]]''' [[UnreliableNarrator those maps, duh!]]
** This WMG sheds a new light on Winston's memory of the fallout shelter incident. It could be that he government staged a nuclear holocaust on the British Isles, to the extent of convincing their own citizens that it was about to happen, so that the rest of the world would think the island was an irradiated, uninhabitable ground zero. This way no outside forces could come snooping around and stumble upon the state, which they might attempt to liberate. Anyone who ''does'' find a way in would be thrown in with the lot of those executed in public as Eur/Eastasian war criminals.
* This theory is the base assumption for [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=97316 this thread on the Alternate History forum website]]. Basically, the Ingsoc regime is the product of a socialist revolution in an alternate-history Britain of the 1950's, which was then overthrown in turn by hardliners in the revolutionary movement who set up the whole edifice of lies (with [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/OswaldMosley as Big Brother!]]), transforming Great Britain into an alternate-history version of North Korea.
* Which brings up the intriguing possibility of people doing a runner to France, and being surprised when it's not part of Oceania, as Oceania doesn't exist.
** I think you meant "Eurasia"...

[[WMG:O'Brien ''is'' a [[DeepCoverAgent rebel]].]]

He's smart enough to see that even Inner Party members are oppressed under Ingsoc and that the Party is destroying the world. He can control his face so that people instinctively see him as trustworthy. The reader's led to think that this and his mind reading come from advanced Inner Party psychological science, but this contrasts with other things in 1984's world seeming decidedly backward; if they're innate abilities instead, then he could be using them on the Party as well. It's true that he destroyed Winston and Julia, but that was because he needed to maintain his cover; he couldn't trust them fully unless they showed they couldn't be broken.
* It has been pointed out that the essay on Newspeak is written in regular English and in the past tense. This implies that Ingsoc will eventually fall. If this was Orwell's intention, then it is quite possible that the Party is being subverted from within.
** How the hell does Newspeak being in the past tense imply Ingsoc is going to fall? I honest to God do not get the train of thought.
*** The essay on Newspeak is part of the Nineteen Eighty-Four universe, meaning that if it's in the past tense, either the Party stopped using Newspeak and went back to regular English, which doesn't make sense because the Party was using Newspeak to restrict expressiveness in language, or the Party fell and people went back to using normal English because they had free will again.
*** There is no indication whatsoever that the appendix is "part of the Nineteen Eighty-Four universe." It would make as much sense to suggest that the rest of the novel is an InUniverse post-Ingsoc biography of Winston.
* And he never admits nor denies the existence of the Brotherhood. He just tells Winston that he will never know if the Brotherhood is real or not.
** This I can see-ish.
* Going one better, if Winston's shooting himself was just a fantasy, rather than reality, then O'Brien saved him -- it was either stop rebelling or get executed. And he may survive in the long term if Oceania loses the war.
* A slightly more sadistic version: O'Brien, being something of a psychopath, finds that he enjoys torture, but does not want to die. So he allies himself with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood, recognizing his value, view him as a tool and allow him to join Miniluv. While his purpose is partially to spy, it is also partially to find people like Winston and Julia whom he can excusably torture without harming the Brotherhood either way.
** One of the great ironies of torture is that an organization like the Ministry of Love has no use for someone who does it for fun, in the same way that serial killers rarely make good executioners: such a person can't be relied upon for anything beyond getting his own individual jollies, and effective torture, in the sense that a Miniluv (or indeed an NKVD) employs it, is an applied science requiring discipline and detachment of its practitioners.
* Also, he wanted to recruit Winston and Julia during their secret meeting and the whole questioning was a SecretTestOfCharacter which Winston failed as he said yes to many vile acts including throwing sulphuric acid in a child's face. O'brien wanted to test if Winston was aware of the dangers of hypocrisy as taking down an evil superpower wouldn't do much good if you just become another evil to replace it. Also, once Winston failed, O'brien was still interested in recruiting Julia, leading him to asking "the both of them" if they are prepared to separate and never see each other again.

[[WMG:1984 either takes place before or ''after'' the events of Franchise/TheMatrix.]]

Before is kind of obvious (machines get superpowerful, overthrow humanity -- same ol', same ol'). However, 1984 taking place ''after'' ''Film/TheMatrix'' due to humans being restless after rebuilding the world.
* Before wouldn't make much sense. The point of 1984 is that there isn't a surplus, and technological progress is therefore static, and doesn't exceed whatever the State needs -- in fact it seems to have receded. They wouldn't be able to progress to the point where the Matrix would be possible.
* But After would also make no sense. If This Troper would choose between a virtual AndIMustScream versus a virtual AndIMustScream without the feeling of AndIMustScream due to modified illusions in the neurons, I would choose the latter.
** How about 1984 takes place within the Matrix?
*** How does that make any more sense than either of the others?
*** There were multiple forms of The Matrix before the one seen in the movie, based on 1999 society. There was a utopia Matrix that was too good and humans wouldn't accept its reality, and there was a dystopia Matrix which was too bad and humans wouldn't accept its reality. The world of 1984 could very well be that dystopian Matrix.

[[WMG:1984 takes place in Creator/HarryTurtledove's Timeline-191.]]

In 1984 it's mentioned that there was a nuclear war. In [=TL191=], Britain was nuked by the German Empire three times.

Oceania is comprised of North and South America along with Britain. [=TL191=] has the US annex UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} and later the CSA.

Eurasia: The still living [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Russian]] Empire.

Eastasia: [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] Empire.

Clearly, after losing the war, Britain suffered another revolution that got the Party into power.

* This troper identifies Eurasia as the German Empire and its collection of European puppet kingdoms and principalities instead, while the USA-led republics merged into Oceania (this means that the empires of UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}} and UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} were overthrown at some point during the German-Monarchist/American-Republican UsefulNotes/ColdWar analogue). Post-War Republican Britain escaped German supervision thanks to closer relations with the United States and the greater American naval strength compared to the German one.
** An interesting theory except for one small detail: The book mentions that the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] had formed the superstate Eurasia, where as in TL 191 Russia remained a monarchy. Good theory, but doesn't work.
** It doesn't work for a much more fundamental reason than that: TL-191 ''doesn't depict a nuclear war''. What we see in the last days of the Second Great War is a short series of strictly limited strategic exchanges -- essentially Hiroshima and Nagasaki writ large. That's nothing at all like the all-out, apocalyptic exchanges envisioned by Orwell and everyone else who ever used the phrase "nuclear war" after World War II.

[[WMG:The Party is insane and/or clinically depressed.]]

Think about it: Earth has become a massive nuclear hellhole where [[HumansAreBastards humans are definite bastards or]] [[HumansAreMorons morons]], while the Party themselves repressed their own biological instincts, destroyed even a single semblance of curiosity, became the political equivalent of AndIMustScream, and been in tyrannical isolation for an indefinite amount of time. This is because they've become so miserable and nihilistic they feel the need to project their depression onto the rest of the citizens. They can't even be DrivenToSuicide because their collective sadistic power-hunger is the only thing keeping them going.

* The Party is sane by definition, because it controls the definition. Clinical depression is an individual condition; no close analog exists in mass psychology.

[[WMG:The Ministry of Love is actually exempt to the policy of sexcrime.]]

Why would everyone describe Winston's torture as a rape anyway?

* Because "rape" is a handy, albeit semiotically sloppy, shorthand for "violation", hence the proliferation of phrases like "mind rape".
* Also, there's a strong argument to be made that actual ''rape'' rape, as perhaps might be perpetrated from time to time in Room 101, would not fall under the definition of sexcrime, which after all is sex that's indulged in for any reason ''other than the benefit of the Party''.

[[WMG:The Proles are the failsafe for the Party.]]

While he was reading the book that basically started the whole party system, Winston found a part that mentioned a failsafe in case the party got out of control, but he never did find out what it was. Later, at the end of the story, Winston decided that all hope somehow lies with the Proles. Then you realize that the Proles make up the majority of Oceania's population. Based on the inferred logic of the book, the best chance for change would be to get the Proles to rebel on behalf of the Outer Party. At the end of it all, the Inner Party would become the Outer Party, the Outer Party would become the Inner Party, and the Proles would still be Proles since they were never anything more than pawns. Not only is it possible, but with the manipulative editing of history, it's probably happened several times before!

[[/folder]]
----




[[WMG:The Proles are the failsafe for the Party.]]

While he was reading the book that basically started the whole party system, Winston found a part that mentioned a failsafe in case the party got out of control, but he never did find out what it was. Later, at the end of the story, Winston decided that all hope somehow lies with the Proles. Then you realize that the Proles make up the majority of Oceania's population. Based on the inferred logic of the book, the best chance for change would be to get the Proles to rebel on behalf of the Outer Party. At the end of it all, the Inner Party would become the Outer Party, the Outer Party would become the Inner Party, and the Proles would still be Proles since they were never anything more than pawns. Not only is it possible, but with the manipulative editing of history, it's probably happened several times before!