Inductive Reasoning

inductive reasoning: a form of reasoning which works from a body of fact to the formulation of a generalization (opposite of deduction); frequently used as the principle form of reasoning in science and history

"'In memory. Very well, then. We, the Party, control all records, and we control all memories. Then we control the past, do we not?'"
                                                                                            -1984
                                                                                    by George Orwell

Here O'Brien, a main character in 1984, reasons with Winston about the reality and finality of the past. The Party does in a sense control memories and records and they use this control to manipulate and "change" the past. Orwell shows this to send a wake-up call to his readers. He is trying to warn them of the future he perceives they are creating for the world. Orwell is warning against a government which controls people and matter and therefore events, history, and even future. Orwell uses this reasoning to make his readers think; though humanly impossible to control the past, by changing what people learn, read, and are able to see, one can force people to "forget" and accept what the "reliable" sources say is true. Orwell is forcing the reader to consider the validity of the claims made by O'Brien, and their possibilities in reality.