In terms of optimistic book passages, I can't say this one is at the top of my list. Basically what we learned from chapters III-V of Part Three is that the Party will rule the world for all of eternity, and there is no situation in which they will not succeed. Winston protests when O'Brien tells him this, arguing that the Party will self-destruct at some point, or at least some spiritual force in the universe will prevent the eternal rule of the Party. However, O'Brien just mocks Winston. O'Brien makes a very convincing case for the Party, but there is one potential loophole that could topple the Party - decreasing devotion to the cause.
In revolutions, the most passionate generation is the one that actually revolts (obviously). In 1984, that is the group that is currently running the Party. However, as authoritarian regimes pass down through the generations, this revolutionary fervor dies down, and those in power either loosen their grip enough to destabilize themselves or tighten their grip so much that there is widespread outrage and they are overthrown. Even though O'Brien seems confident in the Party's strategy of becoming more and more controlling, there is no guarantee that future Inner Party members will stick to this plan correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if this revolutionary generation passes down its cockiness without the devotion to precision required to back it up.
What do you guys think? Will the Party hold on forever, like O'Brien says? Or is their collapse only a matter of time?
Ooh, great question. I am not an optimistic person by nature, but I do think their collapse is only a matter of time. Species and systems evolve, change, and adapt by nature, or they disappear. At some point enough people will be tired of that boiled cabbage smell and will realize they have nothing to lose by trying to change things.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point that I hadn't thought about. My best response is that we won't be able to tell. The only perspective that we get on this is Winston's fevered rebellion and O'Brien's equally fevered counter. Theoretically, if the Inner Party's current members are able to pick and groom future members with the same kind of devotion, the system won't fail. I'm not sure if we should characterize the Party as vulnerable to human error, because we have never seen that to be the case. I'm sure that is what Orwell intended. TL;DR -- I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteI think that their collapse is inevitable, if not for the reasons you've mentioned about the Party losing a willing audience, then the Proles (who make up an unreasonably high percentage of the population) must have some realization at some point, right? Sure they have thoughtpolice on the Proles too, but you don't necessarily have to be "smart" to start a revolution.
ReplyDeleteI think a collapse could be possible at some point. It's only been, what, 40 or 50 years so far? I feel like a collapse from inside seems more likely than a revolution from the outside though. The proles don't look like having the motivation to revolt, even as the Party rule changes hands. The cockiness is certainly still within the Party though, and I could see the Party slowly fall apart. Though I think it would take a significant time, as the further away from the original controlling generation, the more likely the rulers will ease off.
ReplyDeleteNothing lasts forever (yay! Nihilism!), so I can only imagine that someday, somehow, the Party will run out of steam and be toppled. However, the Party has done a phenomenal job indoctrinating children into their system to the point where Winston thinks they're the most dangerous of all Party members, so Big Brother may last longer than totalitarian regimes have tended to in real life. However, like you said, it's totally possible that someday, a generation will fail to press the necessary reverence of Big Brother onto their successors, and that will bring the Party down. I don't think that will happen in the generation after 1984, but eventually it might.
ReplyDeleteI want to say that the Party will collapse, because nothing, especially not societies, last forever. However, they've held on for quite a while and their power is only growing (as seen by the victory in the end of the book), so there's a chance they will prevail.
ReplyDeleteThe collapse is probably inevitable for the reasons you mentioned. After all why would children brought up in the next generations care about "power" just for its own sake? I could be wrong, but I feel that later on, people will lack fervor for the Party unless they keep editing history and the public actually believes it.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem likely to me that as the Party goes on, the generations ruling it will be more and more lax, to the point of allowing certain things to go on with no punishment. The important thing is that as the top becomes more and more corrupt or more and more careless, the system will collapse on its own.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to believe that change is inevitable and that the natural motivation for people to constantly improve and challenge what could be made better will help accelerate that collapse. It's impossible for one system to work for so long without any changes being made, especially as time progresses and different needs must be addressed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question. Obviously, Orwell intentionally made the ending ambiguous, but in my opinion, the Party's rule will eventually end. Maybe they'll be overthrown by an external or internal uprising, maybe their enemies will defeat them in a war, maybe their tactics will simply stop working as time progresses and people change, or maybe they'll become overconfident/careless and start making mistakes (their control over the proles is already relatively lax). Nothing lasts forever.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Orwell leaves us at a very weird point in the book where the Party has ultimately succeeded, I do think the Party's rule will end. It may take some time, but I completely agree with your point that decreasing devotion for the cause will impact this dystopian regime in future years.
ReplyDelete