WHY SO MANY 3s IN 1984?

To Orwell Today,

I was wondering what you believed could be the significance of the number 3 as it appears repeatedly in Orwell's novel 1984.

- 3 nations at war
- 3 party slogans
- 3 main characters (Julia, Winston, O Brien)
- 3 men killed
- 3 year plans
- in many of the times, like 3:00 or 10:30 (always thirty), etc.

Thanks and I hope you can help me reach some conclusion on this puzzling idea.

-Victoria Haas

Greetings Victoria,

I must say I've never given your question any thought before, having never noticed the repetition of the number "3" in "1984".

However, now that you bring it to my attention, it could be part of Orwell's description of BIG BROTHER being a pyramidal organization with its ministries housed in pyramidal buildings:

Four buildings towered vast and white above the grimy landscape. They were startingly different from any other objects in sight. They were enormous pyramidical sructures of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 metres into the air. So completely did they dwarf the surrounding architecture that from the roof of VICTORY MANSIONS you could see all four of them simultaneously. They were the homes of the four Ministries between which the entire apparatus of government was divided. The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. the Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. Their names in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty.

At the apex
of the pyramid
comes BIG BROTHER.

Below BIG BROTHER comes the Inner Party
(the High), its numbers limited to six millions
or something less than 2% of the population of Oceania (the brain).

Below the Inner Party
comes the Outer Party (the Middle) which may be justly likened to (the hands).

Below that come the Dumb Masses
(the Low), who are habitually referred to as
'the proles', numbering perhaps 85 percent of the population (the body).

The slave populaton of the equatorial lands,
who pass constantly from conqueror to conqueror, are not a permanent or necessary part of the structure.

Pyramids, as we all know, have three sides, so perhaps Orwell was repeating this "3" number as another of his cryptic messages to us in his attempt to drive the point home and warn us about BIG BROTHER'S New World Order as best he possibly could, which was his purpose in writing "1984".

All the best,
Jackie Jura

5.Pyramidal New World Order and WHY ORWELL WROTE 1984

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

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