Why does the party insist on "curing" people before they are killed.

This question is one that I always bring up when I use
this book to teach about totalitarian governments.  I believe that trying to "cure"
dissidents is useful for totalitarian governments like that of the Party because it
allows them to maintain what political scientists call
"hegemony."

Hegemony (in political science) is when an
oppressive government controls its people by getting them to believe in its ideas and
its power.  It does not have to kill people because it simply gets them to not even
think about rebelling.  This is why the Party wants to cure
people.

The Party wants people to realize that its ideas
are always right.  It wants people to see that even if you oppose the Party at some
point, you will always come around and "see the light."  This means that it is pointless
to rebel.

So the Party does this so that people will not
even want to rebel -- they will realize that everyone ends up believing in the Party and
that shows that the Party's ideas are correct.  If you realize the Party is always
right, you will not even want to
rebel.

That's why the Party doesn't kill -- imagine the
message it sends if it kills.  It sends the message that it can only control people by
violence.  It sends the message that its ideas are not right.  This will simply make
more people want to rebel.  If they cure people before killing them, they prevent this
from happening.