1984

           Everythingfadedintomist. Thepastwaserased,theerasurewasforgotten,theliebecametruth. Justonceinhislifehehadpossessed—AFTERtheevent:thatwaswhatcounted—concrete,unmistakableevidenceofanactoffalsification. Hehadhelditbetweenhisfingersforaslongasthirtyseconds. In1973,itmusthavebeen—atanyrate,itwasataboutthetimewhenheandKatharinehadparted. Butthereallyrelevantdatewassevenoreightyearsearlier. 

           Thestoryreallybeganinthemiddlesixties,theperiodofthegreatpurgesinwhichtheoriginalleadersoftheRevolutionwerewipedoutonceandforall. By1970noneofthemwasleft,exceptBigBrotherhimself. Alltheresthadbythattimebeenexposedastraitorsandcounter-revolutionaries. Goldsteinhadfledandwashidingnooneknewwhere,andoftheothers,afewhadsimplydisappeared,whilethemajorityhadbeenexecutedafterspectacularpublictrialsatwhichtheymadeconfessionoftheircrimes. AmongthelastsurvivorswerethreemennamedJones,Aaronson,andRutherford. Itmusthavebeenin1965thatthesethreehadbeenarrested. Asoftenhappened,theyhadvanishedforayearormore,sothatonedidnotknowwhethertheywerealiveordead,andthenhadsuddenlybeenbroughtforthtoincriminatethemselvesintheusualway. Theyhadconfessedtointelligencewiththeenemy(atthatdate,too,theenemywasEurasia),embezzlementofpublicfunds,themurderofvarioustrustedPartymembers,intriguesagainsttheleadershipofBigBrotherwhichhadstartedlongbeforetheRevolutionhappened,andactsofsabotagecausingthedeathofhundredsofthousandsofpeople. Afterconfessingtothesethingstheyhadbeenpardoned,reinstatedintheParty,andgivenpostswhichwereinfactsinecuresbutwhichsoundedimportant. Allthreehadwrittenlong,abjectarticlesin‘TheTimes’,analysingthereasonsfortheirdefectionandpromisingtomakeamends.