New

There is a long table in the middle of the room. On one side there sits two persons – a man with a large jaw and a woman with a fair face. K recognizes the former. That’s Mr. Charrington, the Minister of Art. He is frowning so hard that his face could have easily buried into the furrows.

But the one who speaks is the woman who K does not know, “Pray sit down, Mr. Director. I suppose you know the Museum is running a huge deficit. Either we could put up a plan today to fix the problem, or we would have it filed for protection under Chapter 11.”

K is puzzled. No, he understands what Chapter 11 means. (In case you don’t, it is, in essence, bankruptcy.) What K doesn’t know is who this woman is.

Mr. Charrington seems to know K’s difficulty, “Oh, let me introduce. This is Ms. O’Brien. She represents the Ministry of Harmony.”

“That’s what the Newspeak calls those people from the Home Office. Things are not going in the right direction.” K said to himself.

“Sir, what do you suggest to do?” K turns to his own minister.

“You know, we should open a new wing to attract more visitors.” Mr. Charrington says.

“But, what are we going to put up there? We have no money to expand the list of our collection.” K says.

“That’s not a problem,” Ms. O’Brien interjects, “We can use the new wing to display paintings of students from the Oceania Kindergarten.”