Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Mutability of the Past

"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Winston is confronted by this Party doctrine which articulates the government's control over all elements of history. By removing all physical evidence of past events and by editing others, The Party dictates the entire history of London. This control forces us to wonder whether the past can truly be altered at will.

On the face of things, this apparent "mutability of the past" is entirely possible. Our newspapers, history books and countless other physical media contain evidence the past, but these media are all corruptible. Even personal memory is fallible and can be manipulated. So, the question emerges: does the past actually exist anywhere or can it be fabricated?

I have a natural inclination to say that the past does indeed exist. Of course, any human would. The idea that nothing we experience or do has any lasting effect whatsoever is simply abhorrent. Perhaps the answer lies in this instinctual rejection of "the mutability of the past". The past may not have an objective existence, but it is hard to deny the impact that everyday occurrences have on our present and future. Whether measurable or not, our instincts and inclinations are formed by past experience.

No account may exist, but the past is latent in everything we do and everything we are. That past, is not mutable.

-The English Student