1984 Victory Gin

[davemarc]

From: The Great Quail <quail at libyrinth.com>
>
> I agree. In fact, you can buy Victory Gin at the Ministry cafeteria, and
it
> seems to be the one commodity the state is never without. Even though it
> helps Winston deaden the pain, alcohol is still a depressant. It's just
> another method of control for Party bureaucrats.
>
Yeah, and there's something funny about that Victory Gin, too.  It might
just be that it's awful, but you never know--there might be other stuff in
it, too.

On the subject of drugs, I also note that drug injections are part of the
brainwashing routine.  Orwell wrote a particularly moving passage that
suggests that drugs make Winston's mind much more "open" to O'Brien's
influence.

Certainly there's a connection between this and the Tube in Vineland and the
1984 Foreword.

d.