The Ghost of Winston Smith

Announcement to all Outer party members: Thomas Woodward is dead. He is an unperson. You are to incinerate anything in your possession that might be contaminated with his DNA. All memories of him are to be forgotten. It is rumored that some of you have been infected by his mentally deranged rants and poetry. More specifically, that a few pages from his personal journal may have been copied and passed among you. He was a madman, an agent of Goldstein. His confession of his many crimes was broadcast publicly, as you are all aware. You have heard that he wrote: "Happiness is the freedom to say, to think, to be and to do whatever one wishes." Such untruths have long been exposed and denounced by the Party. "Individuality is the future," another untruth propagated by a filthy mind. The Party has long held that oppression is freedom, and that individuality is delusion. There is no I, only we. There is no individual, only the collective. To think independently is to promote chaos, anarchy. The collective mind promotes peace, unity. The Party must survive, therefore the Party must remain united. Again we say, oppression is freedom. By bringing every thought, dream and aspiration into captivity, thereby obliterating individuality, the Party member becomes part of the unified whole and is thus free to love Big Brother with all his mind, heart, and strength. To love and serve the Party in perfect obedience is the pinnacle of existence. It is the greatest of all freedoms. Thomas Woodward is dead. He is an unperson. In fact, he never existed at all. One further announcement: Victory gin rations are to be increased by fifty percent beginning tomorrow. *artwork deviantart