In other words, just exactly HOW sure are you that Osama Bin Laden is *real*?
People in 1984 thought Emmanuel Goldstein was real.
It's in the best interests of the 'Powers that Be' for you to think he's real, anyway. But if you should have your doubts, here's some links to explore. Here's some alternate takes on what might be happening (from the man who Greg Palast replaced at the Guardian).
The Theory and Practice Of Oligarchical Collectivism is a fictional book which is an important element in both the plot and the overall theme of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, first published in 1949.
Orwell's novel describes a totalitarian society ruled by the all-powerful Party. Emmanuel Goldstein figures in state propaganda as the chief enemy of the state--a former Party member who conspires against the "wise" leadership of Big Brother. Early in the novel, Orwell introduces the concept of the book supposedly written by Goldstein: "There were...whispered stories of a terrible book, a compendium of all the heresies, of which Goldstein was the author and which circulated clandestinely here and there. It was a book without a title. People referred to it, if at all, simply as The Book." In the text of the novel, The Book is usually written in italics, although there are exceptions such as occurs in the Signet Classic Centennial Edition print of Nineteen Eighty-Four, where The Book is simply in a different font.
Chapter 1: Ignorance is Strength
The first chapter, Ignorance is Strength details the perpetual class struggle of the fictional world of Nineteen Eighty-Four.[2] It begins with the observation that throughout history, all societies have been divided into a caste system of three groups or classes: the High, who are the rulers; the Middle, who yearn to take over the position of the High; and the Low, who are typically so suppressed that in their drudgery they have no goals beyond day-to-day survival (if they are at all able to formulate any political agenda, it is to establish a society where all people are equal). Time and time again down the ages, the Middle have overthrown the High by enlisting the Low on their side, pretending to the Low that after the revolution a just society will emerge. However, once the Middle have taken over, they simply become the new High and thrust the Low back into servitude, and as a new Middle group eventually splits off, the pattern repeats. The Middle only speak of justice and human brotherhood as long as they are seeking power; once they are in power, they simply become the new oppressors of the Law.
Chapter 3: War is Peace
Winston reads Chapter 3, War is Peace before he reads the first chapter. Chapter 3 explains the full meaning of the Party slogan after which it is named. The author reviews how the three superstates of the world came into being: The United States absorbed the British Empire to form Oceania, Russia absorbed Europe to form Eurasia, and "after a decade of confused fighting" Eastasia emerged as the third superstate; it comprises China, Japan, Korea and some other adjacent areas. In various combinations, these superstates have been at war for twenty-five years. No concrete years are mentioned, but since the present is supposed to be 1984, the implication is that the war began at the end of the fifties--and to make room for the "decade of confused fighting", Oceania and Eurasia must have come into being virtually immediately after Orwell published his novel in 1949. However, it is unlikely that The Book was written in 1984. Thus, it is possible that the war could have started as early as 1939, in which case World War II would have been the beginning of the war.
The never-ending war between the superstates is seemingly pointless--"it is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference". (As this chapter of The Book reveals, all three superstates are based on very much the same totalitarian ideology as Big Brother's Oceania.) However, the Party and its counterparts in the rival superstates have excellent reasons to keep the war going.
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