This is the end friend. Yes for the book and for the story. It definitely doesn’t have a happy ending but again, you can see the influence that the story has on 1984. It is almost the same story with different characters and a different plot story.

And now for a quick plot summary. D-503 was discovered and knocked out before he could implement the plot to hijack the Invictus. As a result, he is brought before the Benefactor to explain himself. D-503 revealed some details of the plot and was inexplicably let go again. This led to one final meeting with I-330 whereby D-503 revealed that he has already implicated I-330. He couldn’t bear to live with himself as is and decides to have the surgery to eliminate his imagination. After that, he confesses all and I-330 is captured and sentenced to death.

As you know, next week I will do a complete review of the book. But, before that what can we learn about this section? What I take away is that it is hard to do the thing that is contrary to the flow. It becomes even worse when that thing is potentially life risky.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I don’t think every 1940s German thought that Jews/Gypsies/and others should have been exterminated. We have heard plenty of stories of people that risked everything to save someone. But, that was a very difficult decision to make. In fact, I think that there were probably plenty of people that felt the same way, they were too scared to act on that belief.

To make it more complicated, what if it was your spouse on the target list and you were part of the Nazi party, totally bought in on the platform? Imagine the mental anguish in that situation? I think that most people would probably compartmentalize their safety over that of someone else. I am not making a value judgement, it is simply how I evaluate human nature. I don’t know how I would behave in that situation. I do know that I have had a number of opportunities to be a contrarian.

About two years ago, I went to the Elks meeting where we voted to accept and offer to sell the gun club. We already knew that the fix was in. The local lodge was in dire straights when it came to finances. A majority of the active members desperately desired to use the proceeds of the property sale to finance a new lodge. Mind you, this is the same group that is struggling to pay weekly bills.

Only two of the members voted no for approving the sale. It was me and the head trap coach. After the meeting was over, there were several members that came by us and said ‘I really wanted to vote no, but I was afraid of what so and so would think’. And that is the power of group think. People did actions that they otherwise did not believe in because of the potential repercussions.

So goes life. Fortunately, we are not dealing with a genocide decision. Probably what makes it easier for me is that I joined the Elks because of the range. That makes me an informal participant, not really what a member is supposed to do. In fact, you are technically supposed to ask for permission to not attend the weekly meeting. It is not that I don’t believe in the mission, but the reality is that I am less connected and so it is a lot easier to cast a dissenting vote and leave. I have other stories about situations where I am more invested but I will save that for another time.

Getting back on topic, D-503 is in an untenable position. He doesn’t have the guts and conviction to follow the lead of I-330 nor does he have the fortitude to stand against United State knowing that is likely a death sentence.

End Your Programming Routine: Truth and righteousness is really a subjective topic. Is it really lying if someone is asking questions that is none of their business? Yes, it is but the subjective part is whether they are worthy of the answer in the first place. Therefore, the morality question is much deeper than a simple binary truth/lie. We need to be prepared to justify our positions on contentious subjects if that is the case. I hope that you consider this point of view the next time someone is prying into your life.