1984 is an ambitious and complex book. It causes readers to question some of their closest-held beliefs and to ponder some ideas they may not have previously considered. Two of the most fascinating concepts discussed in this novel (which are rather inextricably intertwined) are reality and the past. What exactly is reality, and what exactly is the past? Is reality simply man’s perception of the world around us, or could it be something more? If everyone in the world believes that an event has occurred, has that event consequently occurred? 1984 raises these questions and presents potential answers.

The question of what exactly constitutes reality is first raised when the reader sees Winston Smith at work. Evidently, the Party, the ruling government of the time, is constantly modifying old documents to suit their needs without admitting that any changes were made. In this way, they are changing the written record of the past, effectively rewriting history. “Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news

Winston acknowledges that the Party does have the power to edit the written records of the past. He has played a part in doing this himself. But surely, he thinks, memories are sacred. The Party does not have absolute control over the human mind. The Party has not succeeded in controlling his mind. By the end of the book, though, the Party succeeds in brainwashing even Winston. The Party shows its power. Evidently, it can control the human mind, and as a result, by modifying records and controlling thoughts, the Party does in fact change the past as far as Winston is concerned.

The simple truth is that any idea based on the perception of man is inherently imperfect and by no means definite. Ultimately, the power to control thoughts and beliefs is the power to alter reality itself.

[Winston:] “In records. It is written down.”

Past events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records, and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it. It also follows that though the past is alterable, it never has been altered in any specific instance. For when it has been rec

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