1984

           Themostsavageyellsofallcamefromtheschoolchildren. Thespeechhadbeenproceedingforperhapstwentyminuteswhenamessengerhurriedontotheplatformandascrapofpaperwasslippedintothespeaker’shand. Heunrolledandreaditwithoutpausinginhisspeech. Nothingalteredinhisvoiceormanner,orinthecontentofwhathewassaying,butsuddenlythenamesweredifferent. Withoutwordssaid,awaveofunderstandingrippledthroughthecrowd. OceaniawasatwarwithEastasia! Thenextmomenttherewasatremendouscommotion. Thebannersandposterswithwhichthesquarewasdecoratedwereallwrong!Quitehalfofthemhadthewrongfacesonthem. Itwassabotage! TheagentsofGoldsteinhadbeenatwork! Therewasariotousinterludewhileposterswererippedfromthewalls,bannerstorntoshredsandtrampledunderfoot. TheSpiesperformedprodigiesofactivityinclamberingovertherooftopsandcuttingthestreamersthatflutteredfromthechimneys. Butwithintwoorthreeminutesitwasallover. Theorator,stillgrippingtheneckofthemicrophone,hisshouldershunchedforward,hisfreehandclawingattheair,hadgonestraightonwithhisspeech. Oneminutemore,andtheferalroarsofragewereagainburstingfromthecrowd. TheHatecontinuedexactlyasbefore,exceptthatthetargethadbeenchanged. 

           ThethingthatimpressedWinstoninlookingbackwasthatthespeakerhadswitchedfromonelinetotheotheractuallyinmidsentence,notonlywithoutapause,butwithoutevenbreakingthesyntax. Butatthemomenthehadotherthingstopreoccupyhim. Itwasduringthemomentofdisorderwhiletheposterswerebeingtorndownthatamanwhosefacehedidnotseehadtappedhimontheshoulderandsaid, ‘Excuseme,Ithinkyou’vedroppedyourbrief-case.’