1984 Foreword "redefining a world in which the Holocaust did not happen"

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In a message dated 4/26/2003 7:55:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jbor at bigpond.com writes:


> This seems to confirm Pynchon's own representation in _GR_ of those on both
> sides of the war divide not wanting to think about the Holocaust, even 
> those
> who did know what happened in the death camps.
> 
> 

Right. And if one reads the reference provided by Dave:

George Orwell, "Antisemitism in Britain" (1945)
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/o/o79e/part24.html

that becomes even more apparent. Clearly Orwell was
very aware of how complex an issue anti-semitism could
be, and I think the essay demonstrates his dislike and
concern about it, but it also suggests that he missed
the connection with how such "stupidity" could mushroom
into the unbelievable magnitude of The Holocaust.

In what Dave quoted I do not see any evidence that Pynchon
is suggesting Orwell fell into the second category of
character you describe in GR:

"...those who did know what happened in the death camps."

But I think that Pynchon might be suggesting some less
malevolent motivation at work, i.e., to portray the disease of 
nationalism as the greater threat to humanity in general.
There is no proving it either way with what has been made
available. If Pynchon is absolving Orwell of anti-semitism, he
does so by underlining how naive people were, and how much
thinking has changed with respect to mass hatred based on
cultural and ethnic divisions, and, the failure of well-intentioned 
social engineering- a certain faith in which seeps through
Orwell's essay.

respectfully
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