Page 6 - Discover Spring 2021

Editor’s Note

By Tim Ernandes

Recent events have inspired me to re-read story, I now realize that the most frightening
George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984. part of the novel was the Party’s insistence
on complete submission of thought. It wasn’t
I am often amazed at how little I remember
enough to keep silent against the Party’s views
from books and movies that I have seen in
and agenda. One was required not only to
the past, but not recently. I have been known
accept them; one had to embrace and believe
to watch one of my favorite movies without
them.
realizing that I have seen it, until very near
the end. In other cases, I have recalled scenes It’s fairly easy to intimidate people with
or dialogue that never appeared in the film, I opposing views into silence. With a bit more
suppose because they were mere figments of effort, it’s possible to get them to “go along

my imagination. to get along”. In 1984, it wasn’t enough to
acknowledge lies as truth. The Party demanded
So it was with 1984. As I have aged, I
much more than obedience. The Party
have learned not to rely on my memory. My
demanded that you believe the lies. Merely
recollection of the novel had huge holes in
spouting the Party line was unsatisfactory.
it, and in some cases, I remembered things
They required that you really believe it.
very differently from how they were actually
presented. To say that this goal was achieved through

brainwashing is a serious understatement.
Perhaps it can be blamed in part by my
People who are sympathetic to your cause or
latter day perspective on things. I had read
agenda are easily brainwashed. People who
the book in my youth, as it was customarily
oppose you can be forced to comply, but the
required reading in high schools back in the
Party’s ultimate goal in 1984 was not to defeat
Stone Age. I undoubtedly had seen the world
the opposition. Their goal was to banish its
differently in my naiveté, and certainly my
very existence.
decades of life experience since then have

taught me to think more critically. Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as
saying that you can fool all of the people some
What little I remember from reading it
of the time, and some of the people all of the
back in high school focused on revisionist
time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of
history and betrayal under torture. While
the time. Orwell seems to have considered this
these are certainly important aspects of the

4 Discover Smith Mountain Lake SPRING 2021