I really wish that I had gotten the chance to read 1984 so I could understand this situation a bit more, but here I go. I agree partly with Sam's last comment. Even though the younger generation as brainwashed, I don't think that it limits their personal knowledge. Using the example of freedom, they probably had many experiences already. They already demonstrated the freedom of choice. They chose to listen to the Party and to accept what they were told. However, I do agree with Sam that without any verbal knowledge of freedom, the concept wouldn't be entirely understood, and it wouldn't be followed by many, which shows the effectiveness of Newspeak.
If I were to put it in Hayakawa's terms with maps and territories: It's as if they know the territory and have been there many times before, but the map is in the hands of the Party. Therefore, the younger generation has no idea about the importance of the territory that they walk through and are oblivious as to what can be done with it. So even though freedom is not acknowledged, it still exists in their lives, ready to be discovered by those who are able to draw their own map.
(Mary Quien)
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2 comments:
I like this illistration, using the idea of the maps and territories. It seems to fit, and Winston seems to be the one to discover freedom by drawing his own map. Even though his escaping with Julia on occasion and renting a room in the antiques shop isn't exactly "freedom," per se, by the common definition, it is the map of freedom that he drew for himself. Because Winston's experience in the "territory" of freedom was so limited, the "map" of experience that he could draw wasn't completely accurate. The main idea, though, is that Winston knew that what the Inner Party was impressing upon the Proles and the Outer Party was NOT freedom.
(Emily Thompson)
Just a little confused, but I thought that "maps" had to be of the "verbal intensional world?" So wouldn't Winston's experience in the upper room be "territory"? Perhaps Goldstein's book could be the "map"?
(Eric Wei)
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