1984

           Hemustbecutofffromthepast,justashemustbecutofffromforeigncountries,becauseitisnecessaryforhimtobelievethatheisbetteroffthanhisancestorsandthattheaveragelevelofmaterialcomfortisconstantlyrising. ButbyfarthemoreimportantreasonforthereadjustmentofthepastistheneedtosafeguardtheinfallibilityoftheParty. Itisnotmerelythatspeeches,statistics,andrecordsofeverykindmustbeconstantlybroughtuptodateinordertoshowthatthepredictionsofthePartywereinallcasesright. Itisalsothatnochangeindoctrineorinpoliticalalignmentcaneverbeadmitted. Fortochangeone’smind,orevenone’spolicy,isaconfessionofweakness. If,forexample,EurasiaorEastasia(whicheveritmaybe)istheenemytoday,thenthatcountrymustalwayshavebeentheenemy. Andifthefactssayotherwisethenthefactsmustbealtered. Thushistoryiscontinuouslyrewritten. Thisday-to-dayfalsificationofthepast,carriedoutbytheMinistryofTruth,isasnecessarytothestabilityoftheregimeastheworkofrepressionandespionagecarriedoutbytheMinistryofLove. 

           ThemutabilityofthepastisthecentraltenetofIngsoc. Pastevents,itisargued,havenoobjectiveexistence,butsurviveonlyinwrittenrecordsandinhumanmemories. Thepastiswhatevertherecordsandthememoriesagreeupon. AndsincethePartyisinfullcontrolofallrecordsandinequallyfullcontrolofthemindsofitsmembers,itfollowsthatthepastiswhateverthePartychoosestomakeit. Italsofollowsthatthoughthepastisalterable,itneverhasbeenalteredinanyspecificinstance. Forwhenithasbeenrecreatedinwhatevershapeisneededatthemoment,thenthisnewversionISthepast,andnodifferentpastcaneverhaveexisted. Thisholdsgoodevenwhen,asoftenhappens,thesameeventhastobealteredoutofrecognitionseveraltimesinthecourseofayear.