1984 Chapter 11: English Reading for Beginners (Uma leitura guiada em inglês)

1984

Chapter 11

The Last Man

"There are three stages in returning you to society," says O'Brien. "There is learning, there is understanding and there is acceptance. It is time for you to begin the second stage."

As always, Winston is lying flat on his back. He is still tied to the bed, but these days he is not tied so tightly. The machine, too, is less frightening. He can stop them using it if he thinks quickly enough. O'Brien pulls the lever only when he says something stupid.

Winston cannot remember how long this stage has lasted - weeks possibly - or how many times he has lain down on the bed, talking to O'Brien.

"You have read the book, Goldstein’s book, or parts of it," says O'Brien. "Did it tell you anything that you did not know already?"

"You have read it?" asks Winston.

"I wrote it. I was one of the people who wrote it. No book is written by one person, as you know."

"Is any of it true?"

"It describes our situation truthfully, yes. Its solutions make no sense at all. The proles will never attack the Party or even criticize it. Not in a thousand years or a million. They cannot. I do not have to tell you the reason: you know it already. The Party will rule for all time. Make that the starting point of your thoughts. Now, let us turn to the question of why we are ruling. What do you think?"

Winston says what he thinks O'Brien wants to hear. "You are ruling over us for our own good," he says. "You believe that people are not able to govern themselves and so…"

He screams. Pain shoots through his body. The machine shows thirty-five.

"That was stupid, Winston, stupid!" says O'Brien. "You should know better than to say a thing like that." He switches the machine off and continues. "Now I will tell you the answer to my question. The Party is only interested in power - not in the happiness of others, or money, or long life. We want power, only power, pure power. And we will never, never let it go. Now do you begin to understand me?"

Winston thinks how tired O'Brien looks. O'Brien moves forward in his chair, bringing his face close to Winston's.

"You are thinking," he says, "that my face is old and tired. You are thinking that I talk of power but I cannot stop my own body getting old. Can you not understand, Winston, that each person is only a very small part of something much bigger? And when the small part needs changing, the whole grows stronger. Do you die when you cut your hair?"

O'Brien turns away from the bed and begins to walk up and down. "You must understand that power belongs to the group, not to one person. An individual has power only when he belongs to a group so completely that he is not an individual any more. The Party says that ‘Freedom is Slavery’ but the opposite is also true. Slavery is Freedom. Alone - free - a human being will die in the end. But if he can be completely part of the Party, not an individual, then he can do anything and he lives for all time. The second thing is that power means power over the human body but, above all, power over the human mind. We already control everything else.”

For a moment Winston forgets about the machine. "How can you say that you control everything? You can't control the weather. You don't even control the Earth. What about Eurasia and Eastasia? You don't control them."

"Unimportant. We shall control them when we want to. And if we did not, what difference would it make? Oceania is the world. Have you forgotten doublethink?"

Winston lays back on the bed. He knows he is right. O'Brien is saying that nothing exists outside your own mind. There must be a way of showing this is wrong?

O'Brien is smiling. "The real power," he says, "is not power over things, but over men." He pauses and for a moment looks like a teacher talking to a clever schoolboy. "How does one man show that he has power over another man, Winston?"

Winston thinks. "By making him suffer," he says.

"Exactly. By making him suffer. Power means causing pain. Power lies in taking human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choice. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are making? It is the opposite of the stupid worlds which people used to imagine, worlds of love and pleasure. We have built a world of fear and suffering and hate. We shall destroy everything else - everything. We are destroying the love between child and parent, between man and man, and between man and woman. In the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers when they are born. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. Nobody will laugh, except at an enemy they have destroyed. There will be no art, no literature, no science. If you want a picture of the future, Winston, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

Winston cannot say anything. His heart seems frozen.O'Brien continues: "You are beginning, I can see, to understand what that world will be like. But in the end you will do more than understand it. You will accept it, welcome it, become part of it."Winston is still just strong enough to speak. "You can't," he

says weakly."What do you mean, Winston?""If a society were built on hate, it would fall to pieces.""No, no. You think that hating is more tiring than loving. Why should it be? And even if it was true, what difference would it make?"Winston is helpless again, unable to argue, unable to find the

words to explain the horror that he feels. "Something will beat you," he says, finally. "Life will beat you."

"We control life, Winston. And we control the way people are. People can be changed very easily, you know."

"No! I know that you will fail. There is something in all human beings that will beat you."

"And are you a human being, Winston? Are you a man?"

Yes."

"If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind of man is finished. Do you understand that you are alone? You are outside history, you do not exist." His voice changes as he gives Winston a hard look. “And you think you are better than us, because we hate and cause pain?"

"Yes, I think I am better."

O'Brien does not speak. Two other voices are speaking. After a moment Winston recognizes one of the voices as his own. It is the conversation he had with O'Brien on the night he joined the Brotherhood. He hears himself promising to murder another person, to cause the death of hundreds of innocent people, to make a child blind and destroy its face. O'Brien presses a switch and the voices stop.

"Get up from the bed," he says.

Winston gets off the bed and stands up with difficulty.

"You are the last man," says O'Brien. "Are you really better than us? You're going to see yourself as you are. Take off your clothes."

Winston takes his dirty overalls off and sees himself in a three-sided mirror at the end of the room. He cries out at the horrible sight.

"Move closer," says O'Brien. "Look at yourself closely in the three mirrors."

Winston has stopped walking towards the mirror because he is frightened. A bent, gray-colored thing is walking towards him in the mirror. His face is completely changed. He has very little hair, his back is bent, he is terribly thin. This looks like the body of an old, dying man.

"You have thought sometimes," says O'Brien, "that my face - the face of a member of the Inner Party - looks old and tired. What do you think of your own face?" He pulls out a handful of Winston's hair. "Even your hair is coming out in handfuls. Open your mouth. Nine, ten, eleven teeth left. How many did you have when you came to us? And they are dropping out of your head. Look here!"

He takes hold of one of Winston's few front teeth between his thumb and two fingers. Pain fills Winston's face. O'Brien pulls out the loose tooth. He throws it across the cell.

"You are falling to pieces," he said. "You are dirty. Did you know you smell like a dog? What are you? Just a dirty animal. Now look into that mirror again. That is the last man."

Before he knows what he is doing, Winston has sat on a small chair near the mirror and starts to cry. "You did it!" he says, through his tears. "You made me look like this."

O'Brien puts a hand on his shoulder, almost kindly. "No, Winston. You did it yourself when you stopped obeying the Party." He pauses for a moment and then continues. "We have beaten you, Winston. We have broken you. You have seen your body. Your mind is in the same state. There is nothing that we did not make you do."

Winston stops crying. "I have not betrayed Julia," he says. O'Brien looks down at him thoughtfully. "No," he says. "No, that is true. You have not betrayed Julia."

Winston thinks again how intelligent O'Brien is. Nothing, it seems, can stop him from admiring the man. O'Brien has understood that Winston still loves Julia and that means more than betraying the details of their meetings.

"Tell me," he says. "How soon will they shoot me?"

"It might be a long time," says O'Brien. "You are a difficult case. But don't give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you."

---

Tradução: Miguel Toscano

Chapter 11
Capítulo 11

The Last Man
O Último Homem

"There are three stages in returning you to society," says O'Brien.
"Existem três etapas para retornar você à sociedade", diz O'Brien.

"There is learning, there is understanding and there is acceptance.
"Há aprendizagem, há compreensão e há aceitação.

It is time for you to begin the second stage."
É hora de você começar a segunda etapa."

As always, Winston is lying flat on his back.
Como sempre, Winston está deitado de costas.

He is still tied to the bed, but these days he is not tied so tightly.
Ele ainda está amarrado à cama, mas nesses dias ele não está amarrado tão forte.

The machine, too, is less frightening.
A máquina também é menos assustadora.

He can stop them using it if he thinks quickly enough.
Ele pode impedi-los de usá-la se pensar rápido o suficiente.

O'Brien pulls the lever only when he says something stupid.
O'Brien puxa a alavanca apenas quando diz algo estúpido.

Winston cannot remember how long this stage has lasted - weeks possibly - or how many times he has lain down on the bed, talking to O'Brien.
Winston não se lembra de quanto tempo durou esse estágio - semanas possivelmente - ou quantas vezes ele se deitou na cama, conversando com O'Brien.

"You have read the book, Goldstein’s book, or parts of it," says O'Brien.
"Você leu o livro, o livro de Goldstein, ou partes dele", diz O'Brien.

"Did it tell you anything that you did not know already?"
"Ele lhe disse alguma coisa que você já não sabia?"

"You have read it?" asks Winston.
"Você o leu?" pergunta Winston.

"I wrote it. I was one of the people who wrote it. No book is written by one person, as you know."
"Eu o escrevi. Fui uma das pessoas que o escreveu. Nenhum livro é escrito por uma pessoa, como você sabe."

"Is any of it true?"
"Alguma coisa é verdade?"

"It describes our situation truthfully, yes.
"Descreve nossa situação com verdade, sim.

Its solutions make no sense at all.
Suas soluções não fazem o menor sentido.

The proles will never attack the Party or even criticize it. Not in a thousand years or a million. They cannot.
Os proletários nunca atacarão o Partido ou sequer o criticarão. Nem em mil anos ou um milhão. Eles não podem.

I do not have to tell you the reason: you know it already.
Não preciso lhe dizer o motivo: você já sabe.

The Party will rule for all time. Make that the starting point of your thoughts.
O Partido governará para sempre. Faça disso o ponto de partida de seus pensamentos.

Now, let us turn to the question of why we are ruling. What do you think?"
Agora, vamos nos voltar para a questão de por que estamos governando. O que você acha?"

Winston says what he thinks O'Brien wants to hear. "You are ruling over us for our own good," he says.
Winston diz o que acha que O'Brien quer ouvir. "Vocês estão governando sobre nós para o nosso próprio bem", diz ele.

"You believe that people are not able to govern themselves and so…"
"Vocês acreditam que as pessoas não são capazes de se governar e assim…"

He screams. Pain shoots through his body. The machine shows thirty-five.
Ele grita. A dor percorre seu corpo. A máquina mostra trinta e cinco.

"That was stupid, Winston, stupid!" says O'Brien.
"Isso foi estúpido, Winston, estúpido!" diz O'Brien.

"You should know better than to say a thing like that."
"Você deveria saber que não pode dizer uma coisa dessas."

He switches the machine off and continues.
Ele desliga a máquina e continua.

"Now I will tell you the answer to my question.
"Agora vou lhe dizer a resposta à minha pergunta.

The Party is only interested in power - not in the happiness of others, or money, or long life.
O Partido está interessado apenas no poder - não na felicidade dos outros, ou dinheiro, ou vida longa.

We want power, only power, pure power.
Queremos poder, só poder, poder puro.

And we will never, never let it go. Now do you begin to understand me?"
E nós nunca, nunca vamos abrir mão dele. Agora você começa a me entender?"

Winston thinks how tired O'Brien looks.
Winston pensa em como O'Brien parece cansado.

O'Brien moves forward in his chair, bringing his face close to Winston's.
O'Brien avança em sua cadeira, aproximando seu rosto do de Winston.

"You are thinking," he says, "that my face is old and tired.
"Você está pensando", diz ele, "que meu rosto está velho e cansado.

You are thinking that I talk of power but I cannot stop my own body getting old.
Você está pensando que falo de poder, mas não posso impedir que meu próprio corpo envelheça.

Can you not understand, Winston, that each person is only a very small part of something much bigger?
Você não consegue entender, Winston, que cada pessoa é apenas uma parte muito pequena de algo muito maior?

And when the small part needs changing, the whole grows stronger.
E quando a parte pequena precisa mudar, o todo se fortalece.

Do you die when you cut your hair?"
Você morre quando corta o cabelo?"

O'Brien turns away from the bed and begins to walk up and down.
O'Brien se afasta da cama e começa a andar para cima e para baixo.

"You must understand that power belongs to the group, not to one person.
"Você deve entender que o poder pertence ao grupo, não a uma pessoa.

An individual has power only when he belongs to a group so completely that he is not an individual any more.
Um indivíduo só tem poder quando pertence a um grupo tão completamente que não é mais um indivíduo.

The Party says that ‘Freedom is Slavery’ but the opposite is also true. Slavery is Freedom.
O Partido diz que “Liberdade é Escravidão”, mas o oposto também é verdadeiro. Escravidão é Liberdade.

Alone - free - a human being will die in the end.
Sozinho - livre - um ser humano morrerá no final.

But if he can be completely part of the Party, not an individual, then he can do anything and he lives for all time.
Mas se ele pode ser completamente parte do Partido, não um indivíduo, então ele pode fazer qualquer coisa e viver para sempre.

The second thing is that power means power over the human body but, above all, power over the human mind.
A segunda coisa é que poder significa poder sobre o corpo humano, mas, acima de tudo, poder sobre a mente humana.

We already control everything else.”
Já controlamos todo o resto.”

For a moment Winston forgets about the machine.
Por um momento Winston se esquece da máquina.

"How can you say that you control everything?
"Como você pode dizer que controlam tudo?

You can't control the weather.
Vocês não podem controlar o clima.

You don't even control the Earth.
Vocês nem mesmo controlam a Terra.

What about Eurasia and Eastasia? You don't control them."
E a Eurásia e a Lestásia? Vocês não os controlam."

"Unimportant. We shall control them when we want to.
"Sem importância. Vamos controlá-los quando quisermos.

And if we did not, what difference would it make?
E se não o fizéssemos, que diferença faria?

Oceania is the world. Have you forgotten doublethink?"
A Oceania é o mundo. Você esqueceu do duplipensar?"

Winston lays back on the bed. He knows he is right.
Winston se deita na cama. Ele sabe que está certo.

O'Brien is saying that nothing exists outside your own mind.
O'Brien está dizendo que nada existe fora de sua própria mente.

There must be a way of showing this is wrong?
Deve haver uma maneira de mostrar que isso está errado?

O'Brien is smiling. "The real power," he says, "is not power over things, but over men."
O'Brien está sorrindo. "O verdadeiro poder", diz ele, "não é o poder sobre as coisas, mas sobre os homens".

He pauses and for a moment looks like a teacher talking to a clever schoolboy.
Ele faz uma pausa e por um momento parece um professor conversando com um estudante inteligente.

"How does one man show that he has power over another man, Winston?"
"Como um homem mostra que tem poder sobre outro homem, Winston?"

Winston thinks. "By making him suffer," he says.
Winston pensa. "Fazendo-o sofrer", diz ele.

"Exactly. By making him suffer.
"Exatamente. Fazendo-o sofrer.

Power means causing pain.
Poder significa causar dor.

Power lies in taking human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choice.
O poder está em desmontar mentes humanas e juntá-las novamente em novas formas de sua própria escolha.

Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are making?
Você começa a ver, então, que tipo de mundo estamos fazendo?

It is the opposite of the stupid worlds which people used to imagine, worlds of love and pleasure.
É o oposto dos mundos estúpidos que as pessoas costumavam imaginar, mundos de amor e prazer.

We have built a world of fear and suffering and hate.
Construímos um mundo de medo, sofrimento e ódio.

We shall destroy everything else - everything.
Destruiremos todo o resto - tudo.

We are destroying the love between child and parent, between man and man, and between man and woman.
Estamos destruindo o amor entre filho e pai, entre homem e homem, e entre homem e mulher.

In the future there will be no wives and no friends.
No futuro não haverá esposas nem amigos.

Children will be taken from their mothers when they are born.
As crianças serão tiradas de suas mães quando nascerem.

There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother.
Não haverá amor, exceto o amor do Grande Irmão.

Nobody will laugh, except at an enemy they have destroyed.
Ninguém vai rir, exceto de um inimigo que eles destruíram.

There will be no art, no literature, no science.
Não haverá arte, nem literatura, nem ciência.

If you want a picture of the future, Winston, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
Se você quer uma imagem do futuro, Winston, imagine uma bota pisando em um rosto humano - para sempre."

Winston cannot say anything. His heart seems frozen.
Winston não pode dizer nada. Seu coração parece congelado.

O'Brien continues: "You are beginning, I can see, to understand what that world will be like.
O'Brien continua: "Você está começando, posso ver, a entender como será esse mundo.

But in the end you will do more than understand it.
Mas no final você fará mais do que compreendê-lo.

You will accept it, welcome it, become part of it."
Você vai aceitá-lo, recebê-lo, tornar-se parte disso."

Winston is still just strong enough to speak. "You can't," he says weakly.
Winston ainda é forte o suficiente para falar. "Você não pode", ele diz fracamente.

"What do you mean, Winston?"
"O que você quer dizer, Winston?"

"If a society were built on hate, it would fall to pieces."
"Se uma sociedade fosse construída sobre o ódio, ela cairia em pedaços."

"No, no. You think that hating is more tiring than loving.
"Não, não. Você acha que odiar é mais cansativo do que amar.

Why should it be?
Por que deveria ser?

And even if it was true, what difference would it make?"
E mesmo que fosse verdade, que diferença faria?"

Winston is helpless again, unable to argue, unable to find the words to explain the horror that he feels.
Winston está novamente impotente, incapaz de argumentar, incapaz de encontrar as palavras para explicar o horror que ele sente.

"Something will beat you," he says, finally. "Life will beat you."
"Algo vai derrotar vocês", diz ele, finalmente. "A vida vai derrotar vocês."

"We control life, Winston. And we control the way people are.
"Nós controlamos a vida, Winston. E controlamos a forma como as pessoas são.

People can be changed very easily, you know."
As pessoas podem ser mudadas muito facilmente, você sabe."

"No! I know that you will fail.
"Não! Eu sei que vocês vão falhar.

There is something in all human beings that will beat you."
Há algo em todos os seres humanos que irá vencê-lo."

"And are you a human being, Winston? Are you a man?"
”Yes."
"E você é um ser humano, Winston? Você é um homem?"
”Sim."

"If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man.
"Se você é um homem, Winston, você é o último homem.

Your kind of man is finished. Do you understand that you are alone?
Seu tipo de homem está acabado. Você entende que está sozinho?

You are outside history, you do not exist."
Você está fora da história, você não existe."

His voice changes as he gives Winston a hard look.
Sua voz muda enquanto ele dá a Winston um olhar duro.

“And you think you are better than us, because we hate and cause pain?"
“E você acha que é melhor do que nós, porque nós odiamos e causamos dor?”

"Yes, I think I am better."
"Sim, eu acho que eu sou melhor."

O'Brien does not speak.
O'Brien não fala.

Two other voices are speaking.
Duas outras vozes estão falando.

After a moment Winston recognizes one of the voices as his own.
Depois de um momento, Winston reconhece uma das vozes como sendo sua.

It is the conversation he had with O'Brien on the night he joined the Brotherhood.
É a conversa que ele teve com O'Brien na noite em que se juntou à Irmandade.

He hears himself promising to murder another person, to cause the death of hundreds of innocent people, to make a child blind and destroy its face.
Ele se ouve prometendo matar outra pessoa, causar a morte de centenas de pessoas inocentes, cegar uma criança e destruir seu rosto.

O'Brien presses a switch and the voices stop.
O'Brien aperta um botão e as vozes param.

"Get up from the bed," he says.
"Levante-se da cama", diz ele.

Winston gets off the bed and stands up with difficulty.
Winston sai da cama e se levanta com dificuldade.

"You are the last man," says O'Brien.
"Você é o último homem", diz O'Brien.

"Are you really better than us?
"Você é realmente melhor do que nós?

You're going to see yourself as you are. Take off your clothes."
Você vai se ver como você é. Tire suas roupas."

Winston takes his dirty overalls off and sees himself in a three-sided mirror at the end of the room.
Winston tira o macacão sujo e se vê em um espelho de três lados no final da sala.

He cries out at the horrible sight.
Ele grita com a visão horrível.

"Move closer," says O'Brien. "Look at yourself closely in the three mirrors."
"Aproxime-se", diz O'Brien. "Olhe-se de perto nos três espelhos."

Winston has stopped walking towards the mirror because he is frightened.
Winston parou de caminhar em direção ao espelho porque está com medo.

A bent, gray-colored thing is walking towards him in the mirror.
Uma coisa curvada e acinzentada está caminhando em direção a ele no espelho.

His face is completely changed.
Seu rosto está completamente mudado.

He has very little hair, his back is bent, he is terribly thin.
Ele tem muito pouco cabelo, suas costas são curvadas, ele é terrivelmente magro.

This looks like the body of an old, dying man.
Isto parece o corpo de um velho moribundo.

"You have thought sometimes," says O'Brien, "that my face - the face of a member of the Inner Party - looks old and tired.
"Às vezes você pensa", diz O'Brien, "que meu rosto - o rosto de um membro do Partido Interno - parece velho e cansado.

What do you think of your own face?"
O que você acha do seu próprio rosto?"

He pulls out a handful of Winston's hair. "Even your hair is coming out in handfuls.
Ele puxa um punhado do cabelo de Winston. "Até seu cabelo está caindo aos punhados.

Open your mouth. Nine, ten, eleven teeth left.
Abra sua boca. Nove, dez, onze dentes restantes.

How many did you have when you came to us?
Quantos você tinha quando veio até nós?

And they are dropping out of your head. Look here!"
E eles estão saindo da sua cabeça. Olhe aqui!"

He takes hold of one of Winston's few front teeth between his thumb and two fingers.
Ele segura um dos poucos dentes da frente de Winston entre o polegar e os dois dedos.

Pain fills Winston's face.
A dor enche o rosto de Winston.

O'Brien pulled out the loose tooth. He throws it across the cell.
O'Brien arrancou o dente frouxo. Ele o joga pela cela.

"You are falling to pieces," he said.
"Você está caindo aos pedaços", disse ele.

"You are dirty. Did you know you smell like a dog?
"Você está sujo. Você sabia que cheira como um cachorro?

What are you? Just a dirty animal.
O que você é? Apenas um animal sujo.

Now look into that mirror again. That is the last man."
Agora olhe para aquele espelho novamente. Esse é o último homem."

Before he knows what he was doing, Winston has sat on a small chair near the mirror and starts to cry.
Antes que ele soubesse o que estava fazendo, Winston se sentou em uma pequena cadeira perto do espelho e começou a chorar.

"You did it!" he says, through his tears. "You made me look like this."
"Você fez isso!" ele diz, através de suas lágrimas. "Você me fez ficar assim."

O'Brien puts a hand on his shoulder, almost kindly.
O'Brien coloca a mão em seu ombro, quase gentilmente.

"No, Winston. You did it yourself when you stopped obeying the Party."
"Não, Winston. Você mesmo fez isso quando parou de obedecer ao Partido."

He pauses for a moment and then continues.
Ele faz uma pausa por um momento e depois continua.

"We have beaten you, Winston.
"Nós derrotamos você, Winston.

We have broken you.
Nós quebramos você.

You have seen your body.
Você viu seu corpo.

Your mind is in the same state.
Sua mente está no mesmo estado.

There is nothing that we did not make you do."
Não há nada que não tenhamos feito você fazer."

Winston stops crying. "I have not betrayed Julia," he says.
Winston para de chorar. "Eu não traí Julia", diz ele.

O'Brien looks down at him thoughtfully. "No," he says. "No, that is true. You have not betrayed Julia."
O'Brien olha para ele pensativo. "Não", diz ele. "Não, isso é verdade. Você não traiu Julia."

Winston thinks again how intelligent O'Brien is.
Winston pensa novamente como O'Brien é inteligente.

Nothing, it seems, can stop him from admiring the man.
Nada, ao que parece, pode impedi-lo de admirar o homem.

O'Brien has understood that Winston still loves Julia and that means more than betraying the details of their meetings.
O'Brien entendeu que Winston ainda ama Julia e isso significa mais do que trair os detalhes de seus encontros.

"Tell me," he says. "How soon will they shoot me?"
"Diga-me", diz ele. "Em quanto tempo eles vão atirar em mim?"

"It might be a long time," says O'Brien. "You are a difficult case.
"Pode demorar", diz O'Brien. "Você é um caso difícil.

But don't give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you."
Mas não perca a esperança. Todos são curados mais cedo ou mais tarde. No final, nós atiraremos em você."