1984 Book 2 Response

First of all, Winston is having difficult time accepting the words of Big Brother and The Party because he knows that they are full of lies. In fact, his profession is to replace the past truth with lies. He has bought into the system his entire life and now he is finally starting to realize that the government is lying to him. On the sixth day of hate week, for example, "at this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally". Obviously, Winston knows that this is a flat out lie by the government he works for. Just minutes earlier it was an established fact that Oceania had been at war with Eurasia. This is yet another attempt by the government to rewrite the past by substituting truth with lies.

Secondly, Winston's acts of mental questioning are not just acts of protests, they are by definition "thoughtcrime". Winston is generating thoughts that are detrimental to The Party's ideals. However, this is not only thoughtcrime. This is also "doublethink". For example, on page 176, Goldstein's book reads," Doublethink menas the power of holding teo contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. By generating contradictory thoughts while at the same time working for the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith is comitting doublethink. While his protests might seem small to him, The Party views them as a major threat to their empire.

Lastly, Winston's rebellion and Occupy Wall Street, even with completely different motives, still share some of the basic principles of a "little guy" movement. Basically, both parties are fighting for equality.Winston and the 99% both claim to be under control by the bigger party. However, the adversity they both encounter is much different. Occupy Wall Street is simply over the fact that the rich are getting paid and the poor are missing out. Regardless of a lack of motive or reasoning, what the protestors really want is for the slope of income and tax breaks to be leveled so that they can make more money simply by standing with carboard signs in New York City. Winston Smith, on the other hand, is in danger of losing his grasp on what is real and what is a lie. The government keeps feeding him and everyone else rewritten past and flat out lies. However, Winston has no way of proving it. As far as everyone else knows, the new truth has always been the truth. Winston has finally had enough of it. He has come to the point that he would rather die than continue to be part of such a corrupt governmental system.