Friday, January 24, 2014

Winston describes Emmanuel Goldstein's treatment as "..... an attack so exaggerated and perverse that a child should have been able to see through...

Winston observes the treatment of Emmanuel Goldstein during the Two Minutes Hate, a program in support of the Party that appears on the omnipresent television screens. The "attack" referenced in the quote is the tirade delivered by a facsimile of Goldstein on the screens against the Party and its values, and in favor of personal liberty. Winston characterizes the speech as "exaggerated and perverse" because Goldstein's style of speech sounds like a parody of Party representatives, due to its "rapid polysyllabic" nature and excessive use of Newspeak. The nature of the attack is also absurd because in less than thirty seconds the image of Goldstein rapidly states every opinion banned by the party; he denounces the Party, Big Brother, and the war with Eurasia, while promoting the old Revolutionary values and a wide variety of freedoms. Other "exaggerated and perverse" features of the speech include Goldstein sobbing in hysterics and the image of endless Eurasian soldiers marching behind him. Winston finds the speech absurd and unconvincing because of Goldstein's characterization, Party-like speech patterns, and the background of Eurasian soldiers, but concedes that one less "level-headed" than him might be fooled into genuinely believing (and experiencing rage at) the video.

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