That isn't really a new thought though. But I realized that there are some aspects that line up. Goldstein is the guy who wrote the book on how IngSoc works. The Inner Party keeps this a secret and demonizes Golstein in the 2 Minutes of Hate for all others. The Outer Party does the bidding of the Inner Party without knowing how the whole thing works.

Goldstein is Marx, who wrote the book on how it all works, Capital. The Inner Party are wealthy elites who try to obscure or hide how IngSoc, Capitalism, really works. The Outer Party are petite-bourgeoisie. The Proles are the proletariat.

Or did I read this somewhere in the past and my brain just thought of it as if I'd just came up with it? Dang human brain.

  • emizeko [they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    interesting lens to view 1984 through even if Orwell was probably going for Trotsky. death of the author and all that

  • glimmer_twin [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I haven’t read it in like 15 years, but aren’t the proles in 1984 more lumpen than actual proletarians?

  • LeninsCat [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Idk if I'm fucking stupid but I thought goldstein was meant to represent trotsky more than marx?

  • Young_Lando [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    George Orwell is a fuckin loser. Literally materially supported the kinds of police state activity he shit on in his book, and his entire body of work is used to split the left by calling everything "Orwellian" or a"Big Brother" without any sort of critical thinking or self awareness.

    Reading 1984 is genuinely a waste of time

  • gay [any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    No, it's about Stalin bad and Orwell's internalized misogyny. But I respect your opinion and wish it was true.