Many of the layers and subtleties in Orwell’s 1984, though fixed for the sake of fiction, so perfectly reflect the non-fictional world – the impulses of totalitarian institutions and the spirit of individuals – that it has become a near timeless representation. Arguably the most significant political fiction ever written, 1984 begins with the daily Two Minutes of Hate during the time period “in preparation for Hate Week.”
Orwell knew… Hatred is a control mechanism.
The more repressed a society the more hateful all within must be. In order for oligarchical collectivism to take hold – in order for the few to benefit over the many without recognition or revolution – hatred must be infused. Hatred leads to the “us and them” mentality which drives clever reasoning to convince people to kill and be killed in the name of an institutional godhead. The more repressive and evil an institution, the more hatred they will drive and instill.
