Saturday, May 13, 2017

What is Syme's observation about Winston's appreciation of Newspeak?

In Part One, Chapter Five, Syme observes that Winston does not have a "real appreciation" of Newspeak. He bases this opinion on Winston's writing, like his articles for The Times newspaper, which demonstrate that he prefers the original form of English, or Oldspeak, as the Party calls  it:


"In your heart you'd prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning."


For Syme, this is a sad state of...

In Part One, Chapter Five, Syme observes that Winston does not have a "real appreciation" of Newspeak. He bases this opinion on Winston's writing, like his articles for The Times newspaper, which demonstrate that he prefers the original form of English, or Oldspeak, as the Party calls  it:



"In your heart you'd prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning."



For Syme, this is a sad state of affairs. He thinks that Winston does not appreciate the inventive and unconventional nature of Newspeak, a language which is based on the "destruction of words" and prides itself on "narrowing the range of thought."


In contrast, the fact that Winston does not appreciate Newspeak shows that he wishes to return to the old way of living, before the Party took control and when people had the freedom of self-expression. In other words, by rejecting Newspeak, Winston rejects the Party's rule.

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