1984

           Theyweregovernedbyprivateloyaltieswhichtheydidnotquestion. Whatmatteredwereindividualrelationships,andacompletelyhelplessgesture,anembrace,atear,awordspokentoadyingman,couldhavevalueinitself. Theproles,itsuddenlyoccurredtohim,hadremainedinthiscondition. Theywerenotloyaltoapartyoracountryoranidea,theywereloyaltooneanother. Forthefirsttimeinhislifehedidnotdespisetheprolesorthinkofthemmerelyasaninertforcewhichwouldonedayspringtolifeandregeneratetheworld. Theproleshadstayedhuman. Theyhadnotbecomehardenedinside. Theyhadheldontotheprimitiveemotionswhichhehimselfhadtore-learnbyconsciouseffort. Andinthinkingthisheremembered,withoutapparentrelevance,howafewweeksagohehadseenaseveredhandlyingonthepavementandhadkickeditintothegutterasthoughithadbeenacabbage-stalk. 

           ‘Theprolesarehumanbeings,’hesaidaloud. ‘Wearenothuman.’ 

           ‘Whynot?’saidJulia,whohadwokenupagain. 

           Hethoughtforalittlewhile. ‘Hasiteveroccurredtoyou,’hesaid,‘thatthebestthingforustodowouldbesimplytowalkoutofherebeforeit’stoolate,andneverseeeachotheragain?’ 

           ‘Yes,dear,ithasoccurredtome,severaltimes. ButI’mnotgoingtodoit,allthesame.’ 

           ‘We’vebeenlucky,’hesaid‘butitcan’tlastmuchlonger. You’reyoung. Youlooknormalandinnocent. Ifyoukeepclearofpeoplelikeme,youmightstayaliveforanotherfiftyyears.’ 

           ‘No.I’vethoughtitallout. Whatyoudo,I’mgoingtodo. Anddon’tbetoodownhearted. I’mrathergoodatstayingalive.’