Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 543 Let Lionel Sorel feel the wrath of the Empire!
That afternoon, Charles Whitman, the head of distribution at Good Words, sat in the editorial office with a pile of letters in front of him, all about 1984.

He opened one letter; it was a cancellation notice. He opened another; it was also a cancellation notice. The third letter was a letter of condemnation, stating that *Good Words* had published "inflammatory works" and demanding an apology.

Charles Whitman sighed; he had expected this to happen.

Yesterday morning, the editor-in-chief, Everard, frantically demanded that he retrieve the supplement, but it was already too late.

Around noon, the first batch of reader feedback arrived. The wealthy middle class, nobles, and merchants sent their male servants to deliver the first letters of protest.

By the afternoon, a massive influx of unsubscribe emails began to arrive, exceeding two hundred by evening.

Charles Whitman knew this was just the beginning.

He picked up a letter with neat handwriting. The sender's address was Trinity College, Cambridge, and the letter read:
Although the book "1984" published in your journal is fictional, its description of the British Empire goes beyond the scope of literary criticism and is entirely malicious speculation.

I can no longer support this magazine, so I am canceling my subscription!

Whitman tossed the letter aside. He knew who these letters came from—the elite within the system, university professors, retired officials.

They were either frightened by "OLD LADY", stung by "Ministry of Truth", or terrified by the torture at the end of the novel.

Whitman herself found the memory terrifying.

In the prison of the "Ministry of Love," "Thought Police" O'Brien uses rats to deal with Winston, ultimately destroying the last vestige of conscience in Winston's heart.

[…O'Brien picked up the iron cage: "If I press the button again, these starving little beasts will burst out like a volley of arrows."]

They'll pounce on your face and bite down hard. Sometimes they'll bite your eyes first. Sometimes they'll bite your cheeks first, then your tongue.

……

He lost his mind in an instant, becoming a screaming beast. But he clung tightly to one thought and finally struggled out of the darkness.

There was only one way, the only way, to save himself—that was to insert another person between him and the rat to keep the rat away.

……

So he shouted desperately over and over again:

"Bite Julia! Bite Julia! Don't bite me! Julia! You can bite her however you want. Bite her face off, gnaw on her bones. Don't bite me! Julia!"

Don't bite me!

Julia was his lover, and he ultimately betrayed her to avoid the torture of being gnawed by rats.

However, the cruelty of *1984* goes far beyond that. Winston and Julia meet again, and their conversation extinguishes the last glimmer of hope in the reader's heart—

"I betrayed you," she said nonchalantly.

“I betrayed you,” he said.

She gave him a look of disgust.

“Sometimes,” she said, “they threaten you with something you can’t stand, something you can’t even bear to think about. So you say, ‘Don’t do this to me, do it to someone else, do it to so-and-so.’”

Later you might be able to pretend that it was just a tactic, that you said it to make them stop, and that you didn't really mean it that way.

But that's not right. That's exactly what you meant back then. You believed there was no other way to save yourself, so you were willing to use this method to save yourself.

You really wish this would happen to someone else. Whether he could handle it or not, you don't care at all. You only care about yourself.

“You only care about yourself,” he chimed in.

“After that, your feelings for that other person changed.”

“It’s different,” he said. “You’ll feel the difference.”

There seemed to be nothing else to say. The wind blew their thin work clothes tightly around their bodies. Sitting there in silence immediately made you feel awkward, and it was too cold to sit still. He said he had to catch the subway, so he stood up to leave.

"See you later," he said.

“Yes,” she said, “see you later.”

Yes, Julia also betrayed Winston, and both of them were quite at ease about it, even taking it for granted.

This is true "torture"—it destroys not only the body but also the will.

Charles Whitman worked in the publishing industry for twenty years and saw far too many manuscripts—dark, wicked, disgusting, rebellious, insane…

But a film like 1984 was the first, in which the author Lionel Sorel exposed the empire's darkest side.

From the "Ministry of Truth" that distorts reality to the "Ministry of Friendship" that uses torture to change people's minds...

"1984" made him realize for the first time: Oh, so what we do every day can lead humanity into an abyss of suffering!

Charles Whitman shook his head and began writing a reply to the readers who had unsubscribed—thinking about it was useless; he had to keep his job.

There's still no word from boss Alexander Strand, and Everard has locked himself in his office, refusing to let anyone see him.

Whitman had to deal with the situation on his own. He went back to his table, sat down, and began to write in standard format:

"Thank you for your feedback, we will consider it carefully..."

----------------

That evening, in a small pub in East London, a few workers sat in a corner with beer and a copy of "1984" in front of them.

They were illiterate, but there was a newspaper reader in the tavern reading the novel aloud—it was "Mr. James Bond's" latest work, so they naturally had to listen. The novel wasn't as interesting as his "Sherlock Holmes" and "Captain Jack Sparrow," and the beginning even surprised them a little.

Did the British Empire unify the world? And did it establish four ministries—"Truth," "Friendship," "Peace," and "Prosperity"—to manage the entire world?

This sounds a bit strange.

But when the newspaper reader read out “OLD LADY IS WATCHING YOU”, a young worker smiled.

He said, “I know that phrase well. My mother used to say it like that—'Behave yourself, someone is watching.'”

Others laughed too.

But the reader continued reading, describing Winston's life—going to work every day, filling out forms, following the rules—but something always felt off.

The young worker's smile vanished; as he listened, his brows slowly furrowed.

He muttered, "Don't let this guy's job for the government fool you, he's living a really miserable life!"

An old worker nearby said, "Who isn't? If you go to the docks to find a decent job, you have to fill out forms, you have to have someone recommend you, and you have to wait for someone to notify you."

After waiting for ages, they finally tell you it won't work. Why won't it work? I don't know. It just won't work.

Another worker chimed in: "My son wanted to work at the post office last year. He passed the exam, but didn't get the job. When he asked the post office why, they said, 'The quota is full.'"

But I heard that the postmaster's third mistress's nephew got arrested.

They quieted down and listened as the newspaper reader continued.

Reading the “Department of Wealth”—the department responsible for making economic data look good, but in reality, making life increasingly difficult for most people.

A worker slammed his glass on the table, splashing beer all over his hand: "Isn't this the Empire's Ministry of Finance? They're always saying the economy is great. But what's the result?"

When I read the “Peace Department”—that department that talks about maintaining peace all day long, but in reality, it’s always fighting wars—I read that.

Another person said, "It's like the Navy. They talk about protecting peace all day long, but their ships are heading to Egypt and killing thousands of civilians."

The more they listened, the more familiar it seemed. Although it wasn't exactly the same, the feeling was just too familiar.

The young worker picked up the book "1984," turned to the cover, and looked at the line "A gift to Her Majesty the Queen and her subjects."

"Mr. Bond, you really dare to write that."

"What's the point of writing? What can writing change?"

"At least it lets us know that it wasn't our problem, but the Empire's problem."

"That's right, even if the empire rules the whole world, nothing will change!"

"Those who are destined to be poor will remain poor, and those who are destined to be executed will still be executed, just like Winston, who ultimately betrayed his lover, but it was all for naught."

The tavern was quiet for a while. Then someone changed the subject and started talking about what kind of work was available at the docks tomorrow.

----------

At 11 p.m., the Cabinet meeting room at 10 Downing Street was still lit.

The long table was packed with people. Prime Minister Gladstone sat at the head of the table, with Home Secretary Harcourt to his left and Chancellor of the Exchequer to his right.

The other cabinet members lined up in order—the Foreign Secretary, the Army Secretary, the Navy Secretary, the Secretary of State for India Affairs, the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs… everyone was there.

No one spoke; each person had a copy of "1984" in front of them.

Prime Minister Gladstone took off his glasses and placed them on the table.

He glanced around and then said, "I have summoned you all tonight because Her Majesty the Queen has summoned me."

He glanced around and noticed that each of his colleagues had straightened their backs a little.

"Her Majesty was furious. She believed that the publication of '1984' was not a coincidental literary event, but a premeditated and systematic attack."

From last year's "The Happy Prince," to the earlier "Pirates of the Caribbean," and now this book—

Lionel Sorel, this French writer, is gradually tarnishing the image of the British Empire!

He picked up the copy of "1984" and waved it: "His Majesty said that this is not merely slander. It is an attempt to destroy the very foundations of the British Empire's rule."

The meeting room became even quieter.

Gladstone continued, “Her Majesty knows that, according to the Constitution, she should not interfere in specific policy matters. But as the monarch of the British Empire, she has the right to remind the Cabinet—”

The empire's crisis lay not only in colonial wars, but also in the spiritual war waged by the French.

He looked at everyone, his gaze finally settling on Harcourt: "So, this matter has now escalated to a national affair!"
We must take the strongest measures to eliminate the influence of "1984" and severely punish Lionel Sorel.

Even if he's in France, he must feel the wrath of the empire!

He stopped and waited for his colleagues' response.

After a few seconds of silence, Foreign Minister Earl Granville spoke up: "I understand your meaning and I also understand His Majesty's concerns."

But Lionel Sorel is in France, and he is a French citizen. How do we 'punish' a foreign citizen on foreign territory?

This left everyone speechless...

(Two chapters finished. I wrote too late yesterday and couldn't stay awake today. There will be 3-4 chapters tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)