goods in the
fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth
Three-Year Plan. Today's issue contained a statement of the actual output,
from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly
wrong. Winston's job was to rectify the original figures by making them
agree with the later ones. As for the third message, it referred to a very
simple error which could be set right in a couple of minutes. As short a
time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a
'categorical pledge' were the official words) that there would be no
reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was
aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty
at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for
the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to
reduce the ration at some time in April.
As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his


possible unconscious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes
that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be
devoured by the flames.
What happe