The Princess Bride and Frindle

 “How many fingers am I holding up Winston?

“Four”

“And if the Party says that it is not four but five, then how many?”

“Four”

This exchange on page 249 was very interesting and reminded me of the book Frindle. While I am aware that the point is that they can change what is true, they can control facts, I can’t stop seeing it as they control language. The words four and five in and of themselves are arbitrary, they mean nothing as themselves, their only meaning comes from how we define them. Here’s what reminded me of Frindle. In this book the main character, Nick, asks his teacher where words come from. Upon finding out that people create and define words he created the word frindle to replace the word pen. It becomes extremely popular and gains national attention, by the end of the book it’s been added to the dictionary. While this comparison obviously does not work in regards to changing historical events it does work in cases like four and five, where changing the word really has no life-changing effect. In a way the Party's ability to make a change such as four is now five, really just shows how much power they have. If with one statement they can change the long held definition of a word then there’s not a lot they can’t make people believe. If the Party controls language then they also control facts. 


On a separate note. The machine that O’Brien is using to torture Winston is really just the torture machine that’s in the pit of despair from the Princess Bride. The similarities are hilarious and “the pit of despair” is a very fitting name for both situations.

The above image is a perfect example for the comparison, sadly I can’t enter a GIF but here’s the link to the clip if you want to watch it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFo6iLDNzX0

Here’s the "not to fifty" bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MprgRbwYlHU

What do you think of either comparison?

Have you ever read Frindle?

Any other comments?






Comments

  1. L. MoffittMarch 2, 2021 at 9:36 AM

    THE PIT OF DESPAIR!!! Bahaha, I love a Princess Bride reference. I have not read Frindle but I need to check it out now. Good point about how the Party's control over language means they control facts. Language shapes perception; if you can't say it, you can't see it.

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  2. Mayahuel MalikMarch 2, 2021 at 9:54 AM

    i absolutely love the princess bride and i remember being so sad about the pit of despair as a kid. The chocolate ball always made me wonder what it would taste like, although im not sure winston will get a savior of the sorts that westley did.

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