Hate Week

    Hate week is one of the most interesting exercises the state uses in 1984 to try to maintain their mental stranglehold on the people of Airstrip One, especially the members of the outer party. Hate week, as well as the closely related Five Minutes of Hate, are exercises that focus on “hating” the major enemy of Big Brother and the state as a whole, Emmanuel Goldstein. In traditional Western fashion, the scale of good to evil is completely binary. Big Brother is the ultimate good, and Goldstein is the ultimate evil. This hate of Goldstein relies on mob mentality powered by an advanced understanding of the human psyche. Participants in the Five Minutes of Hate become caught up in a complete frenzy, surrounded by the extreme passion of other participants. In the end, perfectly normal people are throwing books at a picture of Goldstein, completely caught up in this mob. The party strips participants of their individualism through these measures, instead making them feel proud to be part of the mob. This technique strengthens the state's power and hold over their party members, which is the single top priority of the inner state at any time.

8.6.1