Chapter 7

           Ifthereishope,’wroteWinston,‘itliesintheproles.’ 

           Iftherewashope,itMUSTlieintheproles,becauseonlythereinthoseswarmingdisregardedmasses,85percentofthepopulationofOceania,couldtheforcetodestroythePartyeverbegenerated. ThePartycouldnotbeoverthrownfromwithin. Itsenemies,ifithadanyenemies,hadnowayofcomingtogetherorevenofidentifyingoneanother. EvenifthelegendaryBrotherhoodexisted,asjustpossiblyitmight,itwasinconceivablethatitsmemberscouldeverassembleinlargernumbersthantwosandthrees. Rebellionmeantalookintheeyes,aninflexionofthevoice,atthemost,anoccasionalwhisperedword. Buttheproles,ifonlytheycouldsomehowbecomeconsciousoftheirownstrengthwouldhavenoneedtoconspire. Theyneededonlytoriseupandshakethemselveslikeahorseshakingoffflies. IftheychosetheycouldblowthePartytopiecestomorrowmorning. Surelysoonerorlateritmustoccurtothemtodoit? Andyet—— 

           Herememberedhowoncehehadbeenwalkingdownacrowdedstreetwhenatremendousshoutofhundredsofvoiceswomen’svoices—hadburstfromaside-streetalittlewayahead. Itwasagreatformidablecryofangeranddespair,adeep,loud‘Oh-o-o-o-oh!’thatwenthummingonlikethereverberationofabell. Hishearthadleapt. It’sstarted!hehadthought. Ariot! Theprolesarebreakinglooseatlast! Whenhehadreachedthespotitwastoseeamoboftwoorthreehundredwomencrowdingroundthestallsofastreetmarket,withfacesastragicasthoughtheyhadbeenthedoomedpassengersonasinkingship. Butatthismomentthegeneraldespairbrokedownintoamultitudeofindividualquarrels. Itappearedthatoneofthestallshadbeensellingtinsaucepans.