1984

           HeheldJulia’ssupplewaisteasilyencircledbyhisarm. Fromthehiptothekneeherflankwasagainsthis. Outoftheirbodiesnochildwouldevercome. Thatwastheonethingtheycouldneverdo. Onlybywordofmouth,frommindtomind,couldtheypassonthesecret. Thewomandowntherehadnomind,shehadonlystrongarms,awarmheart,andafertilebelly. Hewonderedhowmanychildrenshehadgivenbirthto. Itmighteasilybefifteen. Shehadhadhermomentaryflowering,ayear,perhaps,ofwild-rosebeautyandthenshehadsuddenlyswollenlikeafertilizedfruitandgrownhardandredandcoarse,andthenherlifehadbeenlaundering,scrubbing,darning,cooking,sweeping,polishing,mending,scrubbing,laundering,firstforchildren,thenforgrandchildren,overthirtyunbrokenyears. Attheendofitshewasstillsinging. Themysticalreverencethathefeltforherwassomehowmixedupwiththeaspectofthepale,cloudlesssky,stretchingawaybehindthechimney-potsintointerminabledistance. Itwascurioustothinkthattheskywasthesameforeverybody,inEurasiaorEastasiaaswellashere. Andthepeopleundertheskywerealsoverymuchthesame—everywhere,allovertheworld,hundredsofthousandsofmillionsofpeoplejustlikethis,peopleignorantofoneanother’sexistence,heldapartbywallsofhatredandlies,andyetalmostexactlythesame—peoplewhohadneverlearnedtothinkbutwhowerestoringupintheirheartsandbelliesandmusclesthepowerthatwouldonedayoverturntheworld. Iftherewashope,itlayintheproles! WithouthavingreadtotheendofTHEBOOK,heknewthatthatmustbeGoldstein’sfinalmessage. Thefuturebelongedtotheproles. Andcouldhebesurethatwhentheirtimecametheworldtheyconstructedwouldnotbejustasalientohim,WinstonSmith,astheworldoftheParty? Yes,becauseattheleastitwouldbeaworldofsanity. Wherethereisequalitytherecanbesanity.