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“The Proles are not human beings.”
-- Syme
This line just jumps out at me, and I think it is worth a particular mention. Well, I do not come from a family of lawyers or doctors or businessmen. We necessarily bring our own particular sensibilities into our reading.
As such, I take Syme’s observation to be a truth not only of dystopian Oceania, but a truth that has marked all urban living since the beginning of civilization. This is part of the kernel of reality that gives Orwell’s Oceania a striking bit of verisimilitude. As Jesus said, the poor will always be with us.
In the interest of context, Syme was discussing how Oldspeak will be entirely replaced, so that eventually no one will be around who will even know that language, as those fortunate denizens will only know Newspeak. Winston was about to point out that the proles will still know Oldspeak, and understanding the drift of Winston’s mind, Syme points out that the proles hardly matter.
Winston will express mixed feelings about the proles, which I imagine is fair to say of Orwell himself, but that Orwell also had a deep appreciation for their humanity, and this may be an expression of some of his lefty inclinations. We will monitor these attitudes as they are expressed in "1984" as we go along.
-- Syme
This line just jumps out at me, and I think it is worth a particular mention. Well, I do not come from a family of lawyers or doctors or businessmen. We necessarily bring our own particular sensibilities into our reading.
As such, I take Syme’s observation to be a truth not only of dystopian Oceania, but a truth that has marked all urban living since the beginning of civilization. This is part of the kernel of reality that gives Orwell’s Oceania a striking bit of verisimilitude. As Jesus said, the poor will always be with us.
In the interest of context, Syme was discussing how Oldspeak will be entirely replaced, so that eventually no one will be around who will even know that language, as those fortunate denizens will only know Newspeak. Winston was about to point out that the proles will still know Oldspeak, and understanding the drift of Winston’s mind, Syme points out that the proles hardly matter.
Winston will express mixed feelings about the proles, which I imagine is fair to say of Orwell himself, but that Orwell also had a deep appreciation for their humanity, and this may be an expression of some of his lefty inclinations. We will monitor these attitudes as they are expressed in "1984" as we go along.
