Mirkheim, XIII.
Irwin Milner, commander of the planet-based Baburite occupation forces on Hermes, addresses Lady Sandra:
"'...the attack those Hermetian ships made on ours, their defiance of orders...Yes, yes, not your fault, madam. But if your navy had that many subversives in it, what about civilians? We might start getting sabotage, espionage, aid and comfort to enemy agents. That has to be guarded against, doesn't it?'" (p. 182)
Sandra does not agree. She merely asks him to continue. Milner is a master of doubletalk. Hermetians resisting invaders are "subversives." Anyone who might come from outside to resist the invasion is an "enemy agent." Well, yes, indeed, they would be enemies - of the invaders.
The regimes in 1984 go as far as they can toward destroying language. Applied to an enemy, the term "blackwhite" accuses the enemy of the absurdity of believing a contradiction whereas, applied to one's own side, the same term means loyal willingness to accept even a contradiction if it is decreed by the powers that be.
Also relevant is a wise epigram about treason.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
We saw similar abuses of language in the real world too--recall how language was warped and twisted by the Soviets and Maoists!
Ad astra! Sean
My understanding is that Orwell's "Newspeak" was based on the sort of thing the Soviets (and the Nazis?) did.
Orwell cites the example of abbreviating "Communist International" to "Comintern," thus shedding all the original connotations of "communism" and "internationalism."
Kaor, Jim!
It was! I esp. recall all the bafflegarble by the USSR about "the peace loving socialist peoples of the world united against the imperialist capitalist aggression of the US"! And lots more bull twaddle of that kind.
Ad astra! Sean
'tis all "My Tribe Good, Your Tribe Stinks", endlessly elaborated according to fashion and whim. But that's what it boils down to.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, but the Soviets and Maoists were esp. irritating and nauseating.
Ad astra! Sean
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