In a way, the world?view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird.

Summary

This quote from George Orwell's novel "1984" suggests that the Party's totalitarian regime was most effective in controlling individuals who lacked the intellectual capacity or interest to comprehend the truth. These people blindly accepted the Party's propaganda and accepted the distortions of reality, remaining psychologically stable through their ignorance. The comparison to a bird digesting a grain of corn emphasizes how easily these individuals consumed and overlooked the falsehoods, leaving no trace or impact on their consciousness. This quote highlights the Party's manipulation of the masses through their limited comprehension and disinterest in questioning authority.

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