Chocolate ration reduced

The telescreen announces a glorious victory on the Malabar front, followed by the news that the chocolate ration is to be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty. Winston belches again, the gin wearing off and leaving a deflated feeling. The telescreen plays 'Oceania, 'tis for thee', and Winston stands to attention, though he is invisible in his alcove. He reflects on the mutability of the past and the Party's power to change facts. The chocolate ration reduction is a small but telling example of the constant shortages and lies that define life in Oceania.