1984 #8

"Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again. You were lifted clean out of the stream of history. And yet to the people of only two generations ago, this would not have seemed all-important, because they were not attempting to alter history. They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, and embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself (Orwell 165)." This quote is significant because it is a perfect example of how much the way of life had changed in only a short time span. It makes it clear that people who had lived only 20 years before would not be frightened by hearing of these changes, simply because they were completely unfamiliar with the Big Brother way of life. People in the days that Winston is suffering through do not get to experience all the little things in life that mean the most. Because the people of the previous generations were familiar with those little things, rather than simply living in fear and obeying the Party, they would not nearly understand how difficult it is to live such a restrained lifestyle.