Tuesday, April 5, 2011

1984 - Paradox

"Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain," (279).

This paradox appears as Winston is trying to force himself to conform to the ideals of the Party. He does everything in his power to stop his prior thoughts from escaping his mouth. Winston is intelligent and he knows it. He is certain of the fact that the Party lies and that the world used to be greatly different. But in order to survive such a world, he needed to get rid of this intelligence or find a way to bury it away so it would not be clear to others. Stupidity was what all the true followers of the Party had. Stupidity was conformity without any thought. It meant never questioning, being curious, or seeking answers. It meant blind acceptance of whatever was handed to you. Winston recognized such stupidity in his world which is what drove him to seek revolt. After torture though, he seems to wish he was just as stupid as all the rest.

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