Let's be clear on this: George Orwell is not only a visionary, but a freaking prophet. I'm currently playing the part of Winston Smith in the stage adaptation of Orwell's, "1984." I really didn't have time for this show, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to participate in this iconic show. After having rehearsed multiple times and thought through my character, I've been moved to consider some of the ideas presented in the show. For instance, one of my lines includes a partial reading of a book called, "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism," which is a book written by the strawman antagonist, Emmanuel Goldstein. The line I read from the book deals with a daily event in the lives of those in 1984 which is called the Two Minutes Hate. According to the book, people are living in a world in which everything is controlled and the result of which is a discontent and unsatisfied life. As you may have experienced, when you have prolonged discontent, eventually it becomes a manifested emotion or action. Left unchecked, this discontent would typically be directed at the very entity that caused such discontent. In the case of, "1984,", it would be the political system; the Party and Big Brother. However, in order to avoid being the target of such discontent, the Party created another focal point for hate. This focal point is the Brotherhood, which is supposedly the group working against the Party. The Brotherhood is led by Emmanuel Goldstein, another focal point for the hate. The Party has also made it a crime to not focus your hate on that to which they are directing you. The purpose is to exhaust your hate and discontent such that it gets it out of your system. Once out of your system, you no longer feel the internal pressure to manifest a hate towards the Party.
