Why would a diary be forbidden ? I cannot find the answer of this question if anybody knows, please help me
Why would a diary be forbidden ? I cannot find the answer of this question if anybody knows, please help me
A diary will contain facts written as they happen.Originally Posted by zbss
When the Party changes facts, it must change all of them, which is why newspapers were reprinted and all literature changed to reflect the situation as decreed by the Party.
A diary must therefore be thoughtcrime in itself, because who would want to keep a record which may differ from [the Party's] truth?
Go to work, get married, have some kids, pay your taxes, pay your bills, watch your tv, follow fashion, act normal, obey the law and repeat after me: "I am free."
Anon
A diary is suppose to be a personal thing, something that you keep to yourself. Yet, in the world of 1984, everything has to be seen and known by authority.
"there are people in the world so hungry that God can not appear to them except in the form of bread"
Mahatma Gandhi
It is a very simple answer. Diary=thoughtcrime. Recording your days events and thoughts is well known to be illegal. The fact that you have an opinion and can record it gets the Party riled. The diary would have to be edited daily to keep up with current news and what the party wants, it would turn into the same thing as a newspaper.
The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.
-Machiavelli
Thats incorrect. Recording your days events and thoughts are not illegal, as Winston tells us early in the novel that there are no laws in Oceania. He states it will get you killed for doing so, but still isn't illegal.
Having a diary means being able to construct your own personal identity, via a personal history. When you write down your thoughts or actions on a given day, you're recording it and claiming it as fact.
Of course, the Party has their own, constantly changing version of national history. If your personal history contradicts their version of history AND you act upon it, you're in trouble. And in newspeak terms, that's a thoughtcrime. It's the same reason that documents are destroyed...so that the Party can have total control of constructing any history they want.
It's basically a means of making your own reality through language. If something is said or written, it becomes true, and anyone who denies it is silenced.
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