Blog post #6

"The Proles are human beings...We are not human" (Orwell 165).
Winston is considering the real difference between the comrades and the Proles; the Proles retain the freedom to be human, and to show normal human emotions. The Comrades can't show any emotion in the normal sense of the word. Emotional responses to events are truthful, and the comrades are constantly forced to lie about how they feel. They can only feel the emotions the party wants them to feel. Beyond that, they can only do anything the party wants them to do. They can't have desires, grudges, jealousy, anger, or dreams. The Proles, however, in being viewed as "non human" have actually retained the most human qualities of all. They are allowed to want, and to feel, two things that the Party constantly guards against. Winston finally realizes that the hope lies within the proles not because they are not under the control of the party, but because they are the only true humans left in the world.