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O'Brien turns a dial and Winston receives a painful electric shock. The needle is at 40; O'Brien tells him he will increase the amount of electricity if Winston lies to him. O'Brien asks Winston if the past exists. Winston replies that it does. O'Brien responds that the past exists in the mind of the Party only.
O'Brien smiled faintly. ‘I will put it more precisely. Does the past exist concretely, in space? Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then where does the past exist, if at all?’ ‘In records. It is written down.’ ‘In records. And — —?’ ‘In the mind.
Part 3, Chapter 2. 2. He was lying on something that felt like a camp bed, except that it was higher off the ground and that he was fixed down in some way so that he could not move. Light that seemed stronger than usual was falling on his face. O'Brien was standing at his side, looking down at him intently. At the other side of him stood a man ...
Winston insists that the spirit of Man will defeat the Party. O'Brien tells Winston that he is the last man and orders him to remove his clothes and look in the mirror. Winston does, and is horrified at his changed appearance—he is emaciated, partially bald, gray with dirt, scarred, and has lost nearly all of his teeth. O'Brien mocks him.
With that said, like solipsism, the Party holds that they can actually alter external reality just by declaring it to be so (e.g. 2 + 2 = 5). O'Brien also extends the argument that, in a sense, the past only "exists" in written records and in peoples' memories; given that the Party controls both, they can (supposedly) rewrite history.
Jan 3, 2022 · Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part 3, Chapter 3 Full Text. ‘There are three stages in your reintegration,’ said O’Brien. ‘There is learning, there is understanding, and there is acceptance. It is time for you to enter upon the second stage.’. As always, Winston was lying flat on his back.
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O'Brien smiled faintly. 'You are no metaphysician, Winston,' he said. 'Until this moment you had never considered what is meant by existence. I will put it more precisely. Does the past exist concretely, in space? Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?' 'No.'
