"'Who controls the past,' ran the party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" (34)
Although, as Orwell stated in 1984, the people who control the past control the future, there is a gap between that and "who controls the present controls the past." The old-timers way back when (in the past) controlled the future that had yet to come. Once the said future was present, was reality, other systems were in control, and the ways of the future were no longer established by the people of the past. Then, those new people who were controlling at the present time could do whatever else they wanted to any other time period in the past. They had complete control of only the past, in fact, because they could shift events and forget others. People of a later generation would not remember what the truth really had been about the past, and we arrive at the fact that you can only truly control what has come before you, what has already and definitely happened. This slogan suggests, perhaps, that although Winston has these ideas of rebelling, he is by no means the one controlling the present, and although he wants to discover more about the past, never will.
do you need the perhaps if you have the suggests?
ReplyDeleteThis is a STRONG entry; well done thinking
"'Who controls the past,' ran the party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" (34)
ReplyDeleteAlthough, as Orwell stated in 1984, the people who control the past control the future, there is a gap between that and "who controls the present controls the past." The old-timers way back when (in the past) controlled the future that had yet to come. Once the said future was present, was reality, other systems were in control, and the ways of the future were no longer established by the people of the past. Then, those new people who were controlling at the present time could do whatever else they wanted to any other time period in the past. They had complete control of only the past, in fact, because they could shift events and forget others. People of a later generation would not remember what the truth really had been about the past, and we arrive at the fact that you can only truly control what has come before you, what has already and definitely happened. This slogan suggests that although Winston has these ideas of rebelling, he is by no means the one controlling the present, and although he wants to discover more about the past, never will.