With his mendacity and increasingly virulent attacks on immigrants, Muslims, women, the press, the judiciary, the intelligence services, the F.B.I. - any group or institution that he finds threatening or useful as a scapegoat - Mr. Trump is attempting the Orwellian trick of redefining American reality on his own terms.
Interpretation
This quote critiques Donald Trump's strategy of manipulating reality to suit his narrative by attacking various groups.
In this quote, Michiko Kakutani highlights how Donald Trump's dishonest and aggressive rhetoric serves to distort the perception of reality in America. By targeting marginalized groups and institutions, he is seen as attempting to create a new version of truth, similar to the themes found in George Orwell's works, where language and meaning are manipulated for power.
In practice
During a political discourse, you might reference this quote to illustrate the dangers of spreading misinformation.
If a novelist had concocted a villain like Trump - a larger-than-life, over-the-top avatar of narcissism, mendacity, ignorance, prejudice, boorishness, demagoguery, and tyrannical impulses, she or he would likely be accused of extreme contrivance and implausibility.
I'm pretty omnivorous - in fact, I don't think of books in terms of genres. J. K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' books are no more Y.A. reading, to me, than John le Carre's 'Smiley' novels are spy stories.
For most of us, art is supposed to do something more than simply mirror the confusions of the world.
We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.
Political reform need not go hand in hand with economic liberalization.. I hold unconventional views about this.. I do not believe if you are a libertarian, full of diverse opinions, full of competing ideas in the market place, full of sound and fury, therefore you will succeed.
It is often suggested that the A.N.C. is controlled by the Communist Party, by Communists. Well, I have been long enough in the A.N.C. to know that that has never been true.
Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible.
The very first time a politician puts you in his target is sometimes a disappointment, because perhaps you thought you were friends and getting along well... But it is not something that you dwelled on. At least, I did not.
I want my son to grow up in a place where the people are more powerful than the government and not the other way around.
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