“The book fascinated him, or more exactly it reassured him. In a sense it told him nothing that was new, but that was part of the attraction. It said what he would have said, if it had been possible for him to set his scattered thoughts in order. It was the product of a mind similar to his own, but enormously more powerful, more systematic, less fear-ridden.”
-p 200
In his 1984, Orwell uses a rather unique technique to express a large part of his philosophy. Instead of having his protagonist Winston express his political views, Orwell includes passages from a secret book by Emmanuel Goldstein. In his writing, Goldstein tells of the main principles behind Oceania’s adoption of Ingsoc. Goldstein reasons that the Party developed as a result of growing fears about atomic warfare. According to Orwell, the nations of the world soon realized the potential stability from continuous yet controlled warfare, which uses up nations’ supplies, limits excess wealth available to all economic classes, and therefore ensures that the middle and lower classes do not rebel against the upper class.
Based on Winston’s reaction to the book, it seems that Goldstein’s writing is a perfect example of rhetoric. It is through this rhetoric that Orwell attempts to persuade the reader to think as he thinks. He has already convinced the reader that the society which he has created is completely undesirable. The reader has long come to the conclusion that whatever Orwell states caused this world to occur must be avoided at all costs. It is not until Goldstein’s rhetoric, however, that the reader finally discovers the cause of this dystopia: atomic warfare of the 1940s has ravaged the world. Considering Orwell wrote this novel in the 1940s, it is clear that Orwell is employing this rhetoric to attempt to convince his readers of the danger of atomic warfare and adjusted moralities.
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