The social criticism in george orwell'S 1984

4.3.2 Syme
Syme is one of the Party‘s worker, this one Winston's friend also has critical 
thinking like Winston's thought. He even expressed his criticism of Newspeak. He 
said: 
―Don‘t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the rangeof 
thought? In the end, we shall make thought crime literally impossible, 
because there will be no words in to express. Every concept that can ever be 
needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly 
defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten (Orwell, 
1961:52). 
―There is a word in Newspeak,‖ said Syme, ―I don‘t know whether you 
know it: duckspeak, to quack like a duck. It is one of those interesting words 
that have contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it is abuse; 
applied to someone you agree with, it is praise‖(Orwell, 1961:54). 
In addition, Syme's criticism of the Party's treatment of the prole is 
expressed in public. 
― The prole are not human being,‖ he said carelessly.‖ By 2050 earlier, 
probably all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole 
literature of the past will have been destroyed (Orwell, 1961:52-53). 

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According to Syme states that slogan and all rules of the Party will be 
replaced like, "freedom is slavery ''. 
Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the slogans will change. 
How could you have a slogan like ‗freedom is slavery‘ when the concept of 
freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. 
In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means 
no thinking not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness‖ (Orwell, 
1961:53). 
Seeing the treatment of his friend, Winston thought that one day Syme 
would be eliminated. The thought is too clever, he reads too much, he hangs 
around the Chestnut Tree Café too often, it's said that the place is where the rebels 
often appear, what Syme thinks and speaks are not wrong, but his revelation 
clearly makes him the target of Thought police. 
One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will 
be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too 
plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is 
written in his face (Orwell, 1961:53). 
He said things that would have been better unsaid, he had read too many 
books, he frequents the Chestnut Tree Café, yet the place was somehow ill-
omened. The old, discredited leaders of the Party had been used to gather 
there before they were finally purged. Goldstein himself, it was said, he 
sometimes been seen there, tears and decades ago (Orwell, 1961:55). 
Apparently Winston's alleges disappearance of Syme really proved, one day 
Syme disappeared and now no one is talking about Syme. The party makes Syme 
never existed, everything related to Syme has been destroyed. 

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83 
Syme had vanished. A morning came, and he was missing from work; a few 
thoughtless people commented on his absence. On the next day nobody 
mentioned him (Orwell, 1961:147). 
On the third day Winston went into the vestibule of the Records Department 
to look at notice board. One of the notices carried a printed list of the 
members of the Chess Committee, of whom Syme had been one. It looked 
almost exactly as it had looked before nothing had been crossed out but it 
was one name shorter. It was enough. Syme had ceased to exist; he had 
never existed (Orwell, 1961:147).