1984

           NobodyhaseverseenBigBrother. Heisafaceonthehoardings,avoiceonthetelescreen. Wemaybereasonablysurethathewillneverdie,andthereisalreadyconsiderableuncertaintyastowhenhewasborn. BigBrotheristheguiseinwhichthePartychoosestoexhibititselftotheworld. Hisfunctionistoactasafocusingpointforlove,fear,andreverence,emotionswhicharemoreeasilyfelttowardsanindividualthantowardsanorganization. BelowBigBrothercomestheInnerParty. Itsnumberslimitedtosixmillions,orsomethinglessthan2percentofthepopulationofOceania. BelowtheInnerPartycomestheOuterParty,which,iftheInnerPartyisdescribedasthebrainoftheState,maybejustlylikenedtothehands. Belowthatcomethedumbmasseswhomwehabituallyrefertoas‘theproles’,numberingperhaps85percentofthepopulation. Inthetermsofourearlierclassification,theprolesaretheLow: fortheslavepopulationoftheequatoriallandswhopassconstantlyfromconquerortoconqueror,arenotapermanentornecessarypartofthestructure. 

           Inprinciple,membershipofthesethreegroupsisnothereditary. ThechildofInnerPartyparentsisintheorynotbornintotheInnerParty. AdmissiontoeitherbranchofthePartyisbyexamination,takenattheageofsixteen. Noristhereanyracialdiscrimination,oranymarkeddominationofoneprovincebyanother. Jews,Negroes,SouthAmericansofpureIndianbloodaretobefoundinthehighestranksoftheParty,andtheadministratorsofanyareaarealwaysdrawnfromtheinhabitantsofthatarea. InnopartofOceaniadotheinhabitantshavethefeelingthattheyareacolonialpopulationruledfromadistantcapital. Oceaniahasnocapital,anditstitularheadisapersonwhosewhereaboutsnobodyknows. ExceptthatEnglishisitschiefLINGUAFRANCAandNewspeakitsofficiallanguage,itisnotcentralizedinanyway.