It allows leaders to see previous mistakes and to learn from them to in turn make the world a better place. When history becomes a lie or is altered in books and journals, that is when the society suffers as a whole, whether it be physically or mentally. In the novel, the party falsifies records to their favor to gain as much control as they can over society. This is done by them for the sole purpose to control society members and to squelch their thought process. Winston realized this and told Julia, his companion, that the past was constantly being erased and rewritten like the past was a journal and the Party a man with a pencil. History is one of the aspects the party uses to control society and this fact highlights how awful it would be to live in this type of society. This is the reason why Winston feels helpless and whatever he does to change history it will be erased no matter how hard he tries. He will eventually forget the past as it was and he can not do anything to stop it from happening. Everything is being destructed right before his