1984
Chapter 2
‘Itwillnotlast,’saidO’Brien. ‘Lookmeintheeyes. WhatcountryisOceaniaatwarwith?’
Winstonthought. HeknewwhatwasmeantbyOceaniaandthathehimselfwasacitizenofOceania. HealsorememberedEurasiaandEastasia; butwhowasatwarwithwhomhedidnotknow. Infacthehadnotbeenawarethattherewasanywar.
‘Idon’tremember.’
‘OceaniaisatwarwithEastasia. Doyourememberthatnow?’
‘Yes.’
‘OceaniahasalwaysbeenatwarwithEastasia. Sincethebeginningofyourlife,sincethebeginningoftheParty,sincethebeginningofhistory,thewarhascontinuedwithoutabreak,alwaysthesamewar. Doyourememberthat?’
‘Yes.’
‘Elevenyearsagoyoucreatedalegendaboutthreemenwhohadbeencondemnedtodeathfortreachery. Youpretendedthatyouhadseenapieceofpaperwhichprovedtheminnocent. Nosuchpieceofpapereverexisted. Youinventedit,andlateryougrewtobelieveinit. Youremembernowtheverymomentatwhichyoufirstinventedit. Doyourememberthat?’
‘Yes.’
‘JustnowIheldupthefingersofmyhandtoyou. Yousawfivefingers. Doyourememberthat?’
