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[pisskop]

I loved the ending. It showed just how powerful the Party was, and how powerless the people are.

But I wanted him to die fighting, or to become a party activist.  Such a waste; and it did show how the party mentality worked.  But it was impractical to waste his life.

Its an idea that once free and fighting, the animal can never be tamed.

Once a bear attacks a person it must be put down.
Once a soldier/slave rebels, it will be an issue forever and the only solution is death.
There is only raised conformity in the future . . . One does not 'become' a citizen, you are or are not.

[Baffler]

They do kill him, or at least O'Brien says they will. He tells Winston that his brain simply "must be made clean before we blow it out" in his usual colorful manner. I assume it happened at some point after the end of the book.

[pisskop]

They do kill him, or at least O'Brien says they will. He tells Winston that his brain simply "must be made clean before we blow it out" in his usual colorful manner. I assume it happened at some point after the end of the book.

They brain him about the second from last sentence, 'execution style'.  But why not send him to do something?  sigh.

[StupidElves]

I loved the ending. It showed just how powerful the Party was, and how powerless the people are.

But I wanted him to die fighting, or to become a party activist.  Such a waste; and it did show how the party mentality worked.  But it was impractical to waste his life.

Its an idea that once free and fighting, the animal can never be tamed.

Once a bear attacks a person it must be put down.
Once a soldier/slave rebels, it will be an issue forever and the only solution is death.
There is only raised conformity in the future . . . One does not 'become' a citizen, you are or are not.

But the Party doesn't put you down. It breaks you first. It makes you the perfect citizen. And then they put you down. They do it because it's so soul crushing. And, because in the past if you put down a rebel the rebellion stayed. But if you killed someone that was a perfect citizen that wasn't a martyr, everything would be the same.

[pisskop]

What I think I hated about it was that its a waste.  Even with all the atrocities the party was able to commit, they went so far as to waste what was otherwise a good, dedicated life.


They put the resources into him to kill him.  Where was the payoff?  Its impractical, its a waste.  Nobody was supposed to know he was reformed, so its not soul crushing to any character in the book, only you and possibly those working directly with him.  It wasnt a public execution.  And the kicker is his death caused zero ripples.  iirc they even found a use for the female protagonist after her own reformation.


---

Its something I was never able to fully cast aside when reading about some of histories figures.  The waste of life.  Objectively, it irks me.

[tahujdt]

What I think I hated about it was that its a waste.  Even with all the atrocities the party was able to commit, they went so far as to waste what was otherwise a good, dedicated life.


They put the resources into him to kill him.  Where was the payoff?  Its impractical, its a waste.  Nobody was supposed to know he was reformed, so its not soul crushing to any character in the book, only you and possibly those working directly with him.  It wasnt a public execution.  And the kicker is his death caused zero ripples.  iirc they even found a use for the female protagonist after her own reformation.


---

Its something I was never able to fully cast aside when reading about some of histories figures.  The waste of life.  Objectively, it irks me.

There's quite a difference between executing someone while they are still defiant, and brainwashing them, forcing them to repent, and  then setting them free, with the promise of eventual execution.

As for why The Party goes through all of that trouble, remember: The Party does not like to lose. Any bad thing that happens was predicted to be much worse, no, really, you can go and read about it in the back issues of the newspapers. If a rebel dies defiant, he has a final minor victory, the knowledge that they can't do anything worse to him. When you make him love Big Brother before he dies, he's lost that last spark of defiance. He loses.

Also, it's worth pointing out that there may be many others like Winston, with the slightest scrap of defiance just waiting to get out. If that one guy, you know, that skinny guy who works at MiniTruth, if he starts acting funny and all of a sudden becomes a clerical error, all those others who might dissent will mark it as what might happen to them, and then they'll want to do something. But if he becomes one of the millions of perfect citizens out there, no-one's going to notice when he's the newest unperson on record. And wait... why would The Party want to kill a perfect citizen? They wouldn't, right? Maybe he really didn't exist and I'm imagining it.

I dunno. This is all a big WMG.

[Criptfeind]

• Only around 50% of people completed HL2:EP1

This one seems actually really high to me. At least from just casual perusal of the achievements page for some games it seems like most of the time people only finish games like 10% of the time or something. Heck, fifty percent seems more in line with the number of people who own the game and have played the game at all, at least in games that have a achievement for like playing the first five minutes of it. Perhaps it's something about the achievements though that doesn't get recorded...

[Lord Shonus]

I've found Steam to have a bad habit of losing game time after a couple of years. There's been more than a few games I put a lot of time into, stopped playing, and had 0 hours played when I went back to them.

[tahujdt]

@Lord Shonus
maybe they were going to me. When I first got TF2, I somehow managed to have more playtime than time actually having the game.

[scrdest]

Its impractical, its a waste.

That's sorta the point. Literally everyone would be better off if the whole setting didn't exist, even the Inner Party members, and the entire point of having a three-way war going on is to waste resources (and create a common enemy, but that's an added benefit).

The Party is not practical. They are just a nihilistic, power-for-power's-sake-seeking bunch of dickbags.

[Baffler]

Spoiler: NSFW (click to show/hide)

South Africa's got such a bad rape problem someone invented this.

It's got inwards spikes, and you put it in like a tampon. Someone tries raping you and their dick gets impaled and they have to go to a hospital to get it removed.

I mean, yeah, the rapist deserves it, but still, cringe-worthy.

This is the country that invents and sells deadly booby taps to put into your car, to punish and deter would-be thieves. A dick shredder is entirely in line with expectations.

[TD1]

But....what happens if a woman wants to damage...say, a boyfriend she thinks is cheating on her?

It's....like, the most efficient weapon EVER. Never expected, and the man is hardly (Usually) going to say no.

It is terrifying.

[pisskop]

But....what happens if a woman wants to damage...say, a boyfriend she thinks is cheating on her?

It's....like, the most efficient weapon EVER. Never expected, and the man is hardly (Usually) going to say no.

It is terrifying.

Guys.  Theres a little thing called foreplay?  Credit swipe?

Besides, thats a criminal charge of another kind.  No surprise some would take a safety tool and use it for a crime.  Guns much?  Tasers, or pepper spray?

[Neonivek]

But....what happens if a woman wants to damage...say, a boyfriend she thinks is cheating on her?

It's....like, the most efficient weapon EVER. Never expected, and the man is hardly (Usually) going to say no.

It is terrifying.

Guys.  Theres a little thing called foreplay?  Credit swipe?

Probably the same thing if you sell a gun to a jealous boyfriend or girlfriend and they chose to go on a killing spree.

I don't think any woman is going to use it as "revenge" who isn't already somewhat crazy.

[hops]

I've been reading 1984, and I found myself taking notes on what the Party did to keep power. I think this is why I should never be allowed to rule a country.

I'm pretty sure that's nearly what's going on in North Korea, except that the Party itself isn't limiting their own luxury.