When does Power Lie?

[Ian]

How many people does it take to make a belief a fact? If one person believed, for example, that the world was flat, everyone else would say that that person is wrong. However, if it were not just one person, but a hundred people, or a thousand people, or a hundred-thousand people, would it be true then? What if everyone else but one person believed that the world was flat? Would it be truth then? In Winston Smith's dystopian world, he observes that everyone around him seems to mindlessly accept what they are told by those in power. For example, although the chocolate ration is reduced from 30 to 20 grams, when the party tells everyone over the loudspeaker that the chocolate ration was raised to 20 grams. Or for example, the Party tells the masses that Goldstein changed the records so that Oceania was not really in a war with Eurasia, but with East Asia, does that really mean that it is true? Or that they're even in a war at all? In a world like this, how can anyone discern what's real from what's not when everyone around you seems to be a lie?

[Loren]

The party creates an enviroment where questioning the truth is not possible. With strict punishment for questioning the party, or even being anything that party doesn't deem as acceptable the people are placed in a position where they have to accept what they are told. When the inner party member announced mid-speech that it was not at war with Eurasia but indeed with East asia, the whole crowd agreed immediately. It is what the Party had made standard for them, it is a matter of survival to accept the Party's decrees.

[Randie]

As I've said in class before, the truth is insignificant if you're the only one who believes it. Power is the ability to persuade a majority of people that one thing is fact. Once this persuasion is successful, the truth no longer has any value. Contrary to Winston's beliefs, I do not agree that one person who is not under the power of the government matters. Winston alone cannot make a change; there has to be a generl consensus that the government is evil and needs to be abolished. The power of the Party is simply too strong and too omnipotent to overthrow alone. Winston's allies in Julia and O'Brien (are they allies) are meek compared to the power of the Thought Police and Big Brother. Power has the ability to take on any shape, and naturally, like anything else, it is able to lie.

[Ling]

Randie, I agree that "power is the ability to persuade a majority of people that one thing is fact." However, I don't agree that the truth loses its significance. The majority of people in Oceania believe that the Party is telling the truth. However, that doesn't change the actual truth.
First of all, if people want to bring about change, they have to learn the truth and the significance of the truth. Then, they have to be brought together in order to bring about change, and in the book's case, to overthrow the Party. Yes, it is impossible for Wiston alone to bring about change. That's why an organization such as theBrotherhood is so important(if it exists). But people still have to hold on to the truth, because this is there only chance at bringing the truth out to everyone.

[Hillary]

I definitely agree that one person's belief will not make a difference against the beliefs of many. Winston's ideas do not have significance or power against the Party. In terms of discerning the truth, Oceania as a whole is comprised of a majority of people (the proles, specifically) who are too oblivious to realize how often the truth has been changed. Simply put, the proles are not mentally capable of discerning the truth from the lies. The information that they are delivered through the telescreens seems to satisfy them, and therefore they have no real reason to question what they are being told. The Party is intelligent and manipulative enough to distort the truth as much as they desire. As long as no one dares to speak out against what the Party tells the people, then the truth will not outwardly be argued.

[Ilana]

I agree with what you say about this being "their only chance to bring the truth out to everyone". Ifthe party succeeds in making Newspeak the lingua franca of Oceania, people will not be able to communicate the old truths and ideals to other people because they will not know any words with which to express them.

[Rachel]

Ian, you raise fantastic questions. In the last example you give, calling upon the instance of one person versus the entire world and his or her perception of what is believed as fact, I had to think of Winston. Throughout the entire novel, Winston was the one person who truly stood by his beliefs. Take, for example, the wars in which Oceania partakes. Winston is sure that the enemy has been switched. Even after receiving the first shock of memory-erasing pain from O'Brian, Winston eventually regains his memory and conviction of truth in what he believes - that Oceania's enemy has been switched. This, to me, demonstrates the idea that truth is what we believe whole heartedly. To each person, it is different. However, the point you are getting at, or the question you are raising, is, in essence, what is truth? To that, my friend, I have no idea.