#4

     George Orwell's 1984 tells of a society where everyone is seemingly asleep.  Those found in the Outer Party are asleep in that they go through the daily motions of being loyal party members while watching as the Party deals corruptly.  They accept everything the Party says even when they know for a fact that the Party is wrong.  Then there are the Proles, the Proles are the lowest class in Big Brother's society.  Though they are the lowest in all of Oceania their population is the largest with 85% of Oceania being Prole.  Such a large group would logically have the most power, yet due to their low position in society and the oppression of Big Brother this group has no voice in any matters of political and social importance.  The Proles have something that the other social groups lack: potential.  This potential is kept down because they do not realize it.  Winston writes that "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious" (Orwell 70).  The Proles are completely ignorant of their potential to completely shake up the Party's regime in Oceania, this is due to them being treated as mere animals by the government.  If only the Proles would wake up and find some way to be educated.  If they would look around them and realize that the lowly position they have been pressed into as beasts of burden for the government is a pure injustice.  Then and only then can the Proles rise up and take a stand.  However in the second part of Winston's statement he mentions that after the Proles have rebelled they cannot become conscious.  Here Winston says that even though the Proles have the potential to revolutionize Oceania after becoming conscious of the fact  that the way they have been treated is wrong they cannot keep the country in a stable state.  Like other peasant revolutions due to lack of education the Proles would falter and lack the consciousness and knowledge to know how Oceania should be run.  Thus there be hope in the number of Proles their ignorance limits their potential for bringing the change Oceania needs under Big Brother's totalitarian regime.