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Heather
Anything is possible when the truth behind it has been erased. In Oceania the party devotes a section of its population to reconstruct the past and “every record has been destroyed, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted” (155).. The party is then able to create their own versions of the truth, and ultimately whatever the party says goes. While 2+2 doesn’t actually equal 5 in mathematical terms, in the terms of the party it can. Winston, who argues with O’brien that 2+2 cannot equal 5 is tortured, electrocuted, and transformed, until he eventually agrees with O'Brian. The party has brainwashed him into believing that 2+2 does equal 5. This example doesn’t just correspond with math. It expands to the rest of Oceania. Winston defines freedom as the, “freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted all else follows”. The party has been able to control not only the thoughts and morals of the people under them, but alter basic facts through brainwashing techniques. By doing this Orwell is showing how all freedoms have been destroyed, the dystopian future described in “1984” is completely constricted.
Orville Kennedy
It's called brainwashing. Much like what ISIS is doing today.
Will G
Because the party says so
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