Hate week
Encyclopedia
Hate Week is an event in George Orwell
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
, designed to increase the hatred for the current enemy of the Party, as much as possible, whichever of the two opposing superstates that may be.
and his supporters, summarily torn down by the crowd, and quickly replaced with propaganda against the new enemy, thus demonstrating the ease with which the Party directs the hatred of its members. This ease of direction could also be partially attributed to the similarity in the terms "Eastasia" and "Eurasia" because they are more easily confused. All members of Oceania must show appropriate enthusiasm during Hate Week as well as the Two Minutes Hate
, ensuring that they are very against the opposing party and still very much allied with Big Brother.
Hate Week is celebrated in late summer. The events during that time include waxwork displays, military parades, speeches and lectures. New slogans are also coined and new songs are written. The theme of the Hate Week is called the Hate Song. It is mentioned that a unit from the Fiction Department was assigned to make atrocity pamphlets (falsified reports of atrocities committed by Oceania's enemies against her) designed to stimulate Oceania's populace further into enraged frenzy against all enemies. The aggregate effect of Hate Week thus is to excite the populace to such a point that they "would unquestionably have torn [captured enemy soldiers] to pieces" if given the opportunity.
Hate Week is introduced to the reader for the first time in the second paragraph of the first page of Nineteen Eighty-Four
; however, at this point in time, readers have no idea what Hate Week is. "It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week."
that followed. Scott Boulding argues similarities between the dystopian hate week and Stalinist efforts to supplant religion with devotional services to the state. Other theorists have compared American moments of anti-Soviet sentiment to Orwell's "Hate Week", as well as other cold war
campaigns against puppet states.
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
, designed to increase the hatred for the current enemy of the Party, as much as possible, whichever of the two opposing superstates that may be.
Plot summary
During one particular Hate Week, Oceania switched allies while a public speaker is in the middle of a sentence, though the disruption was minimal: the posters against the previous enemy were deemed to be "sabotage" of Hate Week conducted by Emmanuel GoldsteinEmmanuel Goldstein
Emmanuel Goldstein is a character in George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the number one enemy of the people according to Big Brother and the Party, who heads a mysterious and possibly fictitious anti-party organization called The Brotherhood...
and his supporters, summarily torn down by the crowd, and quickly replaced with propaganda against the new enemy, thus demonstrating the ease with which the Party directs the hatred of its members. This ease of direction could also be partially attributed to the similarity in the terms "Eastasia" and "Eurasia" because they are more easily confused. All members of Oceania must show appropriate enthusiasm during Hate Week as well as the Two Minutes Hate
Two Minutes Hate
In George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Two Minutes Hate is a daily period in which Party members of the society of Oceania must watch a film depicting the Party's enemies and express their hatred for them.-Details in Nineteen Eighty-Four:The film and its accompanying auditory and...
, ensuring that they are very against the opposing party and still very much allied with Big Brother.
Hate Week is celebrated in late summer. The events during that time include waxwork displays, military parades, speeches and lectures. New slogans are also coined and new songs are written. The theme of the Hate Week is called the Hate Song. It is mentioned that a unit from the Fiction Department was assigned to make atrocity pamphlets (falsified reports of atrocities committed by Oceania's enemies against her) designed to stimulate Oceania's populace further into enraged frenzy against all enemies. The aggregate effect of Hate Week thus is to excite the populace to such a point that they "would unquestionably have torn [captured enemy soldiers] to pieces" if given the opportunity.
Hate Week is introduced to the reader for the first time in the second paragraph of the first page of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
; however, at this point in time, readers have no idea what Hate Week is. "It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week."
Cultural impact
"Hate week" has been adopted by theorists and pundits as a comparator for real life efforts to demonize an enemy of the state. Soviet Literary theorist John Rodden notes that "Hate Week" depicted by George Orwell's 1949 novel anticipates some of the anti-American events in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
that followed. Scott Boulding argues similarities between the dystopian hate week and Stalinist efforts to supplant religion with devotional services to the state. Other theorists have compared American moments of anti-Soviet sentiment to Orwell's "Hate Week", as well as other cold war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
campaigns against puppet states.