Response to AP Literature OR from 1984

In response to the AP Literature Open Response from 1984:

In George Orwell’s 1984, the incorporation of the Two Minutes Hate in the first few pages of the novel serve to summarize the ultimate objective of The Party in Oceania as a means for sustaining social hierarchy by channeling negative emotions away from the government.

            Winston describes the Two Minutes Hate as a provocative campaign by The Party to redirect any negative emotions towards a state-denounced enemy. This is exactly what the exercise is meant to do. Since The Party obsesses with the idea of controlling human thought by erasing all forms of domestic dissonance, they have their citizens engage in group therapy where they verbally tear their enemy to shreds, seemingly reinforcing one anothers thoughts of hatred with the support of the group. Winston remarks how he is unable to prevent himself from screaming in disgust even though he understands that The Party is trying to brainwash him and his comrades. This scene stands out because it openly correlates The Party’s desired objectives with their policies and methods for completing goals. By effectively teaching their population to hate a sworn enemy, the government is eradicating all forms of disapproval that would lay in opposition to maintaining a social hierarchical system of an upper, middle, and lower class.

            In the end, The Party strives to maintain the typical hierarchy of classes that has existed in the generations that preceded them, and does so especially through numerous methods of limited expression. For example, The Party utilizes their own language (newspeak) in order to abbreviate words and offer a sense of duality that result in doublethink. Similarly, the Two Minutes Hate serves to diminish negative emotions of the current government, and instead promote aggression towards an enemy. In turn, this will lead the population to grow more of an appreciation for The Party on the basis that they are fending off foreign insurgents. What is most important to consider in this scene is how the transgression of anger and hatred is channeled from one inherently malevolent object to a seemingly harmless one. This merely represents how effective The Party can be when enforcing certain policies and beliefs for their own benefit. The example of Two Minutes Hate is effective because it encompasses both the objectives and the strategies of The Party, where in the end any negative emotion is satisfied and all there is left to do is appreciate the government for having defended their own personal rights, even if this may not be the case. Ultimately, the government wants to ensure the prosperity of the Inner Party (upper class) within this social hierarchy. There apparent strategy for doing this is seen through their efforts to minimize social aggression and dissent amongst the population.

            The Two Minutes Hate scene from Orwell’s 1984 is an effectively important scene from the novel because it depicts the strategy of The Party in maintaining a positive presence in the face of the public for the purpose of actually promoting the interests of the most prestigious class within societies hierarchy of classes.