In book 1 chapter 7 of 1984, Winston says, if there is hope it lies in the proles. He's referring to the working class. Only a rising up of the majority can overthrow the party which has omnipotent power. In his alcove, he takes out a children's history book loaned to him by Mrs. Parsons.
He copies a passage that describes the horrors of capitalism. He wonders how much of what he's copying is actually true. Winston thinks that he's held in his hand by the power of the rich.
proof that the party history is not true. In the 1960s, many original leaders of the Revolution were declared traitors. Many others were killed. A few went into hiding, including Goldstein.
Three men who survived were Jones, Aronson, and Rutherford. The three confessed and were temporarily paroled. Winston had seen them once at the Chestnut Tree Cafe.
Five years later, a photograph came across his desk, rolled inside another piece of paper. It showed the three at a party function on which they had confessed to having been on enemy soil. Here was proof positive that the party did lie about history.
He did not hold onto it, but he also never forgot it. Winston begins questioning his own sanity. Even though his job entails revising documents, history should not be alterable.
The party believes that it is. If he is right and the party is wrong, does that make him crazy? Or will also...
also poses this for the readers to consider. If a person is the only one to believe something, does that make that person a lunatic, or does it simply make that person a minority of one? Winston reflects, there was a time when a person declared that the earth goes around the sun, rather than the sun going around the earth. He was proved right, and therefore wasn't crazy.
The chapter ends with Winston writing, freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. Winston admits that if the photo had come across his desk now, he'd keep it. He considers how his actions would be different now and how his desire for an engaged rebellion is growing. Before the revolution, London was not the beautiful city that the party declares it is today.
If people hear a lie long enough and there are no dissenting voices, they begin to believe it. This is another of Orwell's themes. Be vigilant. Remember the past. Recognize lies.