! Spoiler Warning: This entry may contain spoilers that would really ruin the story. So read the story first, or suffer the consequences of spoiler-ness. !
If Orwell strongly believed in what he was writing, then would he also believe that, like Winston, he was writing to a future that wouldn’t even know of him? Yet the book became so popular that years after his death he is still known for his work. So therefore, he succeeded. He wrote for the future, and got the minds of others to see the government’s wrongdoings and to rebel! He succeeded where Winston had failed. In writing 1984, he wrote that Winston had been found out and forced to love BB. But Orwell, unlike Winston, succeeded in publishing his books and writings.
Although Orwell wrote in 1984 that “you cannot write for the future,” this turned false in his case whether he believed this phrase or not. He wrote for the future, and the future took it in. Even now, many years after his death, his book is still widely popular. What kind of impact has it had on the world? People have studied his work, picking through every detail and writing critical essays on it, trying to figure out just what Orwell was trying to say. It was very obvious: down with totalitarianism. Just what kind of world Orwell imagined to be decent and good remains a mystery. He did not believe in a utopia, yet he did not believe in a dystopia. Did he believe there was some kind of middle ground? Or maybe he would’ve rather just left the world alone and stayed in the freedom of the ‘proles’ of his time, free in thought and in body.
As more and more people read Orwell’s writing, especially younger people with minds that can still be molded, I believe more and more people are becoming influenced by his beliefs. Our government today can be whatever it wants to be, and can show us as much of itself as it desires, but what’s really happening inside is something the people of the middle and lower classes can never know for sure. In order for Winston to be more aware of the government’s abilities to alter the past and mold the future, he had to be a part of it, which he was. Working in the Ministry of Truth, he witnessed countless acts of deceit every day. He worked to change physical evidence of the past in order to justify Big Brother’s supposed truth.
People everywhere are becoming influenced by 1984 and Orwell’s other books. How could they not? Would it not interest someone who has no knowledge of the government’s ideals and actions to read about a world in which the government rules its people’s actions and thoughts? In the end, all that BB wanted was power. Power to control, power to do anything. And as many of us know, someone holding a great power can be easily tempted into misusing that power. BB abused the power, and easily at that. It is not unexpected for people to read this book and become influenced by it. This could lead to change: but will it be a good change?
If more and more people became influenced by 1984, there could be major changes: rebellions, revolting, protesting; while these things are important, they can also be deadly. Like the proles, it might be easy to combine every individual’s voice to become a roar louder than the government, but at the same time, “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” (1984.) If there were a group that stepped forward to attack the government, would they succeed? If they did, what would happen?
This book has the potential to change the world. How? As Martin Luther King Jr. influenced many with his speech, Orwell has influenced many with his books. Essays, poems, music, anything could be made from Orwell’s inspiring book. One way that Orwell’s words could gain more power is through music. As I was listening to a song by a favorite band of mine, I realized that the words could easily have been influenced by 1984. This, I knew, could influence dozens more people. Orwell’s books and essays are like the seeds of trees planted, and when they spout and grow, the branches they reach out with are like the different forms of inspired works. As long as this tree continues to grow and become stronger, it could become larger than the tree of the government.
It’s not unusual that Orwell has been described as insane. Many think he is, but many also think he was incredibly ingenious. I happen to think he was one of the most amazingly clever and intelligent people, one of few who can see through the government’s disguises and into the horrifying truth within. He was fearless; he put himself in a place where he could be ridiculed and put down, or worse. He continued, relentlessly, making more and more proof that justified his views of the government, producing this proof without holding back. I have been deeply affected by this story; my views of the government have changed and I now look toward political parties with a certain suspiciousness. I don’t know if anything will ever change within the government, but if it does, I feel I will be completely prepared for what could happen.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Novel Project - Biography of George Orwell
! Spoiler Warning: There is a chance this entry may contain some spoilers for 1984, but seeing as to how I'm too lazy to read over the whole thing and decide officially, you might just want to not read this until you've read 1984. But it's up to you. !
It seems to me that Orwell is very much so against authority. In school or in a war, Orwell is reported to hate any kind of authority around him, so much that he writes essays and a few books about his experiences. An example would be when he attended a school called St. Cyprian’s, where he had many bad experiences that he wrote about in his book Such, Such Were the Joys. Later in life, Orwell fought for the Republicans in a group called POUM (Workers’ Party Marxist Unification). He wrote a book based off of his experiences there called Homage to Catalonia. In it, he talked about how he approved of Spain’s loose class structure. Later in Orwell’s life, he became poor and homeless, wandering the streets of Paris and London and encountering others who he took a liking to because of their lack of routine and their uniqueness. He must have enjoyed his time with them, seeing as to how he despises authority. At one point during his homeless experience, he attempted and succeeded in getting arrested for being drunk, so that he could see what it was like in prison. Although a bit crazed, Orwell was clever in gaining knowledge to write about his hate of authority.
The connection between Orwell and his character Winston is really incredible. If you take Winston’s character and traits and compare them with Orwell’s, there is little difference. In 1984, Winston is against totalitarianism, as is Orwell. When Winston talks of the bad things that the government in his world is doing, they are all things that Orwell truly believes. At one point in Orwell’s life, he was involved with the BBC, and reports that the ‘truth’ he was broadcasting there was altered from its original form. In 1984, Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, altering facts to coincide with BB’s ‘truth.’
In 1984, Winston, on many occasions, talks of the proles with a sense of admiration about him. One particular prole that he seemed attached to was the big lady with the ‘brick red forearms.’ He would stand by the window in his hideout, listening to her sing in a very bad voice, but loving the way she sang nonetheless. When Orwell talks about how he was poor and lived among the homeless like himself, he notes that they are eccentric but free people.
The layout and plot of 1984 is a collection of Orwell’s most critical life experiences and beliefs. The government he has created in 1984 is a representation of all the terrible and powerful leaders he has seen in his lifetime. Like a scientist, Winston’s theory that totalitarianism will one day rule over everyone is not accepted by everyone. Some people think he is completely insane, and some think that he is absolutely right. Either way, he has written these amazing books and will continue to disgust and inspire people for a long time. Orwell has planted a deep seed that will continue to grow so long as even one person agrees with him. Eventually, more seeds planted by people inspired by Orwell’s work will grow, and Orwell will be at the center of it all, the ‘father’ of anti-totalitarianism.
It seems to me that Orwell is very much so against authority. In school or in a war, Orwell is reported to hate any kind of authority around him, so much that he writes essays and a few books about his experiences. An example would be when he attended a school called St. Cyprian’s, where he had many bad experiences that he wrote about in his book Such, Such Were the Joys. Later in life, Orwell fought for the Republicans in a group called POUM (Workers’ Party Marxist Unification). He wrote a book based off of his experiences there called Homage to Catalonia. In it, he talked about how he approved of Spain’s loose class structure. Later in Orwell’s life, he became poor and homeless, wandering the streets of Paris and London and encountering others who he took a liking to because of their lack of routine and their uniqueness. He must have enjoyed his time with them, seeing as to how he despises authority. At one point during his homeless experience, he attempted and succeeded in getting arrested for being drunk, so that he could see what it was like in prison. Although a bit crazed, Orwell was clever in gaining knowledge to write about his hate of authority.
The connection between Orwell and his character Winston is really incredible. If you take Winston’s character and traits and compare them with Orwell’s, there is little difference. In 1984, Winston is against totalitarianism, as is Orwell. When Winston talks of the bad things that the government in his world is doing, they are all things that Orwell truly believes. At one point in Orwell’s life, he was involved with the BBC, and reports that the ‘truth’ he was broadcasting there was altered from its original form. In 1984, Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, altering facts to coincide with BB’s ‘truth.’
In 1984, Winston, on many occasions, talks of the proles with a sense of admiration about him. One particular prole that he seemed attached to was the big lady with the ‘brick red forearms.’ He would stand by the window in his hideout, listening to her sing in a very bad voice, but loving the way she sang nonetheless. When Orwell talks about how he was poor and lived among the homeless like himself, he notes that they are eccentric but free people.
The layout and plot of 1984 is a collection of Orwell’s most critical life experiences and beliefs. The government he has created in 1984 is a representation of all the terrible and powerful leaders he has seen in his lifetime. Like a scientist, Winston’s theory that totalitarianism will one day rule over everyone is not accepted by everyone. Some people think he is completely insane, and some think that he is absolutely right. Either way, he has written these amazing books and will continue to disgust and inspire people for a long time. Orwell has planted a deep seed that will continue to grow so long as even one person agrees with him. Eventually, more seeds planted by people inspired by Orwell’s work will grow, and Orwell will be at the center of it all, the ‘father’ of anti-totalitarianism.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Novel Project - Third Entry for "1984"
! Spoiler Warning: This entry contains spoilers that could potentially ruin the story "1984" for anyone who has not read it. I suggest you read the story before you read this. !
o---Disappointed Satisfaction---o
During Winston’s torture, I kept thinking: come on, rebel, rebel! I knew he would! But he never did. He gave in, and gave up, easily at that. I was really upset yet pleased that Winston gave in and in the end succumbed to the Party’s power. As the reader, of course I want Winston to rebel and change the world, ending the Party’s reign, but as a criticizer of stories I was satisfied that Orwell didn’t end the story with a cliché. Sure, it would have been great if Winston had won and destroyed the party and gone off to live happily ever after with Julia, but it would have been terribly cheesy. The fact that he didn’t, and the fact that the Party won all the same, made the story’s ending more enjoyable for my criticizing mind, but a bit sad for my general viewing mind. It’s just a natural instinct for readers to want the hero in a book to always win.
o---O'Brien = Ingsoc = O'Brien---o
When Winston was being tortured by O’Brien, I began to get the distinct feeling that O’Brien was Big Brother. In the world of the Party, Big Brother’s stern, silent expression is always the same, and probably will be forever. However, I have the feeling that they change leaders when the oldest dies or is killed off for thoughtcrime or some other wrongdoing. Perhaps the original Big Brother, the founder of Ingsoc was the man on the poster, and as time went on, new and newer leaders were chosen to take his place. If that were the case, O’Brien could definitely qualify as the new leader. He doesn’t just repeat and understand the principles of Ingsoc, he is the principles of Ingsoc, so much so that he can manipulate anyone’s minds with the powers of crimestop, doublethink, and blackwhite. Whenever a rebellious thought passed through Winston’s mind, even one that was tiny and fleeting, O’Brien knew exactly what he was thinking and how to reverse it. O’Brien deceived him and helped him, killed him and saved his life. Just as doublethink works, O’Brien blessed Winston and doomed him at the same time. To explain this theory: he saved Winston the grief and stress of being a rebel of the Party, yet doomed him because Winston will be shot, eventually. He deceived him and helped him by being his friend and his enemy at the same time.
o---Winston's Changes---o
The way I picture Winston: When he was being tortured, he described himself in the mirror and I pictured a frail, sticklike body, like an anorexic person. I saw his skin gray as smoke, and his face sunken in with dark, depressed eyes. After he began to recover I pictured him coming slightly back to normal but not looking quite right, like trying to put a puzzle back together after a few crucial pieces had been lost. And when he finally evened out and got out of the Ministry of Love, I pictured him looking like one of the round, beete-like men he had often described throughout the book. These changes were very drastic in my mind, but in reality I’m sure he would’ve looked somewhat the same through it all. Inside himself, however, his drastic changes really made a huge impact. Mentally, he had become someone else. Outside that, he was still Winston, but inside he was just another man among many who believed in Ingsoc and loved Big Brother.
o---The Party is Indestructible---o
In the end, everyone betrayed Winston and he basically betrayed himself. The story, when you look at it in a nutshell, is very mind-bending and intricate. The Party, if it were real, really could be indestructible. With the way Orwell describes it, the Party can never be defeated. In Ingsoc, no traitor goes unnoticed. It has become so strong and clever that it can detect any kind of betrayal to the system. Winston may have thought he was safe for a small time, but he was doomed from the start. Ingsoc is so powerful that even if it itself were to rebel against its own principles, the principles, which have the capability to run forwards and backwards, would stop it and restore order. It’s almost as if doublethink and blackwhite are invisible entities keeping Ingsoc going. Now the question remains in my mind: how often is our own government using these principles against us? What are our wars doing for us? Making peace, or destroying it? Will the world end up being something like Oceania one day?
o---Disappointed Satisfaction---o
During Winston’s torture, I kept thinking: come on, rebel, rebel! I knew he would! But he never did. He gave in, and gave up, easily at that. I was really upset yet pleased that Winston gave in and in the end succumbed to the Party’s power. As the reader, of course I want Winston to rebel and change the world, ending the Party’s reign, but as a criticizer of stories I was satisfied that Orwell didn’t end the story with a cliché. Sure, it would have been great if Winston had won and destroyed the party and gone off to live happily ever after with Julia, but it would have been terribly cheesy. The fact that he didn’t, and the fact that the Party won all the same, made the story’s ending more enjoyable for my criticizing mind, but a bit sad for my general viewing mind. It’s just a natural instinct for readers to want the hero in a book to always win.
o---O'Brien = Ingsoc = O'Brien---o
When Winston was being tortured by O’Brien, I began to get the distinct feeling that O’Brien was Big Brother. In the world of the Party, Big Brother’s stern, silent expression is always the same, and probably will be forever. However, I have the feeling that they change leaders when the oldest dies or is killed off for thoughtcrime or some other wrongdoing. Perhaps the original Big Brother, the founder of Ingsoc was the man on the poster, and as time went on, new and newer leaders were chosen to take his place. If that were the case, O’Brien could definitely qualify as the new leader. He doesn’t just repeat and understand the principles of Ingsoc, he is the principles of Ingsoc, so much so that he can manipulate anyone’s minds with the powers of crimestop, doublethink, and blackwhite. Whenever a rebellious thought passed through Winston’s mind, even one that was tiny and fleeting, O’Brien knew exactly what he was thinking and how to reverse it. O’Brien deceived him and helped him, killed him and saved his life. Just as doublethink works, O’Brien blessed Winston and doomed him at the same time. To explain this theory: he saved Winston the grief and stress of being a rebel of the Party, yet doomed him because Winston will be shot, eventually. He deceived him and helped him by being his friend and his enemy at the same time.
o---Winston's Changes---o
The way I picture Winston: When he was being tortured, he described himself in the mirror and I pictured a frail, sticklike body, like an anorexic person. I saw his skin gray as smoke, and his face sunken in with dark, depressed eyes. After he began to recover I pictured him coming slightly back to normal but not looking quite right, like trying to put a puzzle back together after a few crucial pieces had been lost. And when he finally evened out and got out of the Ministry of Love, I pictured him looking like one of the round, beete-like men he had often described throughout the book. These changes were very drastic in my mind, but in reality I’m sure he would’ve looked somewhat the same through it all. Inside himself, however, his drastic changes really made a huge impact. Mentally, he had become someone else. Outside that, he was still Winston, but inside he was just another man among many who believed in Ingsoc and loved Big Brother.
o---The Party is Indestructible---o
In the end, everyone betrayed Winston and he basically betrayed himself. The story, when you look at it in a nutshell, is very mind-bending and intricate. The Party, if it were real, really could be indestructible. With the way Orwell describes it, the Party can never be defeated. In Ingsoc, no traitor goes unnoticed. It has become so strong and clever that it can detect any kind of betrayal to the system. Winston may have thought he was safe for a small time, but he was doomed from the start. Ingsoc is so powerful that even if it itself were to rebel against its own principles, the principles, which have the capability to run forwards and backwards, would stop it and restore order. It’s almost as if doublethink and blackwhite are invisible entities keeping Ingsoc going. Now the question remains in my mind: how often is our own government using these principles against us? What are our wars doing for us? Making peace, or destroying it? Will the world end up being something like Oceania one day?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Novel Project - Second Entry for "1984"
! Spoiler Warning: This entry contains some spoilers that might make you mad if you haven't yet read 1984. Don't read if you don't want the story spoiled. !
o---Winston and Julia---o
Well, my suspicions of Winston and ‘the dark haired girl’ are true after all, but not quite so much in the case that I was imagining. Julia, who reveals her name later on, and Winston end up being lovers. I was afraid that that would make the story turn cliché and romantic, but it did not. Adding in love to a story, many authors seem to focus on nothing but the love and it becomes dreadfully boring, but Orwell still keeps the story the same, just with an added flare of love and lust. It is important, however, for the story, and for Winston, to have Julia involved. She keeps Winston much more sane, and much more willing to oblige to the rules and practices of the Party so that he seems less suspicious. Julia is very clever and dexterous, but at the same time she is very naïve when it comes to the deeper things hidden in the Party, such as the destruction of the past. Winston, however, is obsessed with the past, trying to find out what exactly it was like. So all in all, I am only a little bit disappointed that he and Julia ended up in love, but I’m very pleased with the way that Orwell kept it so far from cheesy or cliché.
o---Sugar Pills---o
During the section of the book where Winston is reading the book (Goldstein’s book for The Brotherhood) I lost a lot of interest, especially when Goldstein is talking about the geography of the world. However, I understood the main ideas behind it all. There are three superstates, they are at ‘war’ for the land that rests between them, but the only reason they have a ‘war’ is to keep everyone on different levels of society. It really is an intense and confusing scheme, and a very clever one at that. It reminds me very much of sugar pills: the clever doctors know that the power of the brain is amazing, and so they give an ailed person pills they claim to be actual medicine, and the person gets better, off of sugar pills. It seems to me that the Party is feeding its people sugar pills. As for why Big Brother wants to erase the past and keep its people angry and hateful, it remains a secret I do not yet know. Winston stopped reading the book and set it aside, and if he ever gets to read the rest remains a question only Orwell can decide.
o---Newspeak---o
I’ve learned a few more Newspeak words that I would like to share. One of them is blackwhite. It is a very interesting word. Basically, it means to believe whatever the Party throws at you, even if the things may contradict. Such as: If the party tells you to believe that black is white, you must oblige, but not only must you oblige, you must be ready to accept that if they tell you that white is black, you must agree all the same. Another word is an old one I had been trying to understand: doublethink. To be frank, doublethink means “the power of holding two contradictory belief in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” The reason it requires doublethink to understand doublethink is because if you believe it, you also must disbelieve it, and so on forever. It’s a crazy spiral that I find very clever and ingenious on Orwell’s part.
A former friend has turned out to be a member of the Thought Police, turning in Winston and Julia, so I am very excited (and nervous) to read the last section of 1984.
o---Winston and Julia---o
Well, my suspicions of Winston and ‘the dark haired girl’ are true after all, but not quite so much in the case that I was imagining. Julia, who reveals her name later on, and Winston end up being lovers. I was afraid that that would make the story turn cliché and romantic, but it did not. Adding in love to a story, many authors seem to focus on nothing but the love and it becomes dreadfully boring, but Orwell still keeps the story the same, just with an added flare of love and lust. It is important, however, for the story, and for Winston, to have Julia involved. She keeps Winston much more sane, and much more willing to oblige to the rules and practices of the Party so that he seems less suspicious. Julia is very clever and dexterous, but at the same time she is very naïve when it comes to the deeper things hidden in the Party, such as the destruction of the past. Winston, however, is obsessed with the past, trying to find out what exactly it was like. So all in all, I am only a little bit disappointed that he and Julia ended up in love, but I’m very pleased with the way that Orwell kept it so far from cheesy or cliché.
o---Sugar Pills---o
During the section of the book where Winston is reading the book (Goldstein’s book for The Brotherhood) I lost a lot of interest, especially when Goldstein is talking about the geography of the world. However, I understood the main ideas behind it all. There are three superstates, they are at ‘war’ for the land that rests between them, but the only reason they have a ‘war’ is to keep everyone on different levels of society. It really is an intense and confusing scheme, and a very clever one at that. It reminds me very much of sugar pills: the clever doctors know that the power of the brain is amazing, and so they give an ailed person pills they claim to be actual medicine, and the person gets better, off of sugar pills. It seems to me that the Party is feeding its people sugar pills. As for why Big Brother wants to erase the past and keep its people angry and hateful, it remains a secret I do not yet know. Winston stopped reading the book and set it aside, and if he ever gets to read the rest remains a question only Orwell can decide.
o---Newspeak---o
I’ve learned a few more Newspeak words that I would like to share. One of them is blackwhite. It is a very interesting word. Basically, it means to believe whatever the Party throws at you, even if the things may contradict. Such as: If the party tells you to believe that black is white, you must oblige, but not only must you oblige, you must be ready to accept that if they tell you that white is black, you must agree all the same. Another word is an old one I had been trying to understand: doublethink. To be frank, doublethink means “the power of holding two contradictory belief in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” The reason it requires doublethink to understand doublethink is because if you believe it, you also must disbelieve it, and so on forever. It’s a crazy spiral that I find very clever and ingenious on Orwell’s part.
A former friend has turned out to be a member of the Thought Police, turning in Winston and Julia, so I am very excited (and nervous) to read the last section of 1984.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Independent Reading - Week Twelve and Thirteen
I'm sort of writing this in a hurry, so it may not be very long.
For week twelve I wasn't here, and I didn't read anything while I was out, and for week thirteen I read more from my novel project book, 1984. It is SO good so far. I'm very impressed by the story and the way it's written. I'm excited to finish it, but also a little scared of what might happen.
For week twelve I wasn't here, and I didn't read anything while I was out, and for week thirteen I read more from my novel project book, 1984. It is SO good so far. I'm very impressed by the story and the way it's written. I'm excited to finish it, but also a little scared of what might happen.
Writing Four - Persuasive Writing - Video Games
Persuasive Writing
Old and New Video Games
By: Deylah McCarty
Since I was a kid, I’ve played video games that are challenging. I really enjoy the harder games because they provide more opportunities to think rather than sitting there and pressing buttons. Games that were made in my childhood were usually challenging and tricky. As I grew older, however, the games did not grow harder. Instead, they grew much easier, which was very disappointing for me.
The newer games that were coming out were getting easier and easier. It was taking me a very short time to beat them, while the older ones had taken me years to finish. In older games, you have one mission at a time; very simple. In the newer games, you always have two or more things to do at once and it became extremely frustrating. An example of this would be: Brave Fencer Musashi versus Kingdom Hearts 2. In Musashi, you have one mission at a time, and you can take as long as you want to finish it. In Kingdom Hearts 2, you have numerous things to do at once and often can get overloaded with missions. In KH2 there are different worlds you can visit, and often it gets frustrating trying to figure out which one to go to first. This also applies to the graphics in the game.
The graphics in newer games are often very confusing. A great example of this is in Kingdom Hearts 2. During battles, you often can barely see what’s happening because of all the fancy attacks that everyone can do. The monster(s), you, and your two allies attacking at once adds up to one giant mass of exploding color and confusion. The only reason I can manage to understand what’s happening is because of my video game experience, but if I were playing it for the first time I would be highly frustrated. In older games, their archaic graphics may be annoying, but to make up for it the gaming quality and plot is very good. In newer games, they flaunt their graphics so much that the storyline is cliché and the gameplay is boring. Because of this, the thinking level required for older games is much higher than that of newer games.
After playing so many new games, I began noticing I was predicting practically everything that was going to happen and how I was going to win. It was disappointing that the plots were all structured the same way and there were rarely any surprises. A good representation of this would be The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. In this game, the graphics are beautiful, but the plot is very predictable and the game was only a little challenging for me. A predictable plot in a video game usually goes something like this: there’s an evil person you have to beat, and in order to get to them you must go through many useless perils to different areas until finally you find them in their evil lair and defeat them. This very unoriginal plot is fairly common and can get very irritating after a while.
In older games, the menu systems used in the game were usually complex, such as in RPG games where you can use magic and items. In Final Fantasy 8, you can use something called ‘junctioning,’ which enables you to junction magic, items, or even guardian creatures to a character to enhance their strength and abilities. There are countless variations to what you can do to one character. In another game, Final Fantasy 10, the menu system is very simple and not confusing in the least. Menu systems are getting progressively easier, until the point where all you have to do is equip a character with a single item to enhance them.
In the gaming world, there is always going to be a period where new games fade into the distance and get replaced with better games. It is inevitable. Because of this, there is always going to be games that are good, and games that are bad, games that are easy, and games that are hard. It is up to you to decide now: which kind would you rather choose?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Novel Project - First Journal Entry for "1984"
! Mild Spoiler Warning ! This entry may contain some slight spoilers... but nothing too bad. :)
1987 is a very interesting book so far. Nearly every book I read I can predict, but this one is extremely unpredictable for me. I am growing really addicted to it, which is good since I haven’t really been addicted to a book in a long time. I find the character Winston very interesting. He’s seemingly the only one against Big Brother, and he seems to be going a little crazy because of that. Well, I would too if I were him. I think this book is especially appealing to me because I really enjoy books with a slight sense of fear lingering in every page.
When I first began to read it, I knew it was going to be a good book. I was also pretty confused at first because the storyline was confusing and hard to grasp. I love stories that involve a dystopia. As I read 1984 I’m really reminded of the book The Giver and the movie "V for Vendetta," probably because they include dystopias in them as well. Another sort of example is the movie "War of the Worlds," only that doesn’t quite involve a dystopia but more of a ‘human extermination’ kind of theme. Book and movies like those really spark my interest. I’m not exactly sure why, but it must have something to do with the fact that I’m not in a dystopia or a world being attacked by aliens. I suppose if I was, I’d like to read stories about individuals who are free and out of harm’s way.
"Writing for the future," Winston wrote in his diary. What he means is that even though he is forbidden to write in a diary, he is, and it is for the future. Winston states, "How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive?" He later states that he is writing to O’Brien. I think that whether or not he’s writing to anyone or not doesn’t quite matter at the moment. Writing seems to be something that keeps him reasonably sane, the only way for him to vent.
In the world of Big Brother, you are allowed to think on your own, you are allowed to do what you want, but at the same time you are restricted from everything. One wrong little move or even the slightest suspicious action could get you killed. Even if you have done nothing, you could be killed, it seems.
In the world of Winston, there is a constant uncomfortable nervousness, a fear that the world around him is blasphemy. He seeks for an impossible answer of truth to what his world could have once been. Was it better before, as he suspected, or was it worse, as Big Brother so often stated?
Questions, questions: Why is Big Brother turning everyone into mindless slaves under his control? Does he want an equal world? Why and how did Big Brother get everyone to follow his leadership? There must be more rebels than just Winston. Perhaps there are more rebels, and they are doing just what Winston is, waiting and watching. Also, how did Big Brother regulate such a brilliant plan as to even get rid of the rebels? How did all great leaders succeed in gaining so many followers? I’ve noticed, however, that all great or terrible leaders of this world have eventually fallen. Doesn’t that mean that eventually Big Brother will fall too? Hitler, all the Presidents of the U.S., even leaders in households eventually fall. The natural order of things, whether that means the leader was killed, impeached, or dead from old age or sickness, always prevails. Always.
On another note… Winston is disturbed, but very clever. He must be the hero of this story because he is, as far as we know, the only one against Big Brother. As for O’Brien, we can only rely on Winston’s suspicious of him as a rebel of Big Brother, but who knows for certain. Also, the black haired girl seems to be an important role in the story, providing a lot of confusion and anger for Winston. I suspect that she is actually on Winston’s side. She seems to be stalking him when he goes off on his own, but perhaps she is actually drawn to him or is trying to tell him something. I know that when I feel drawn to someone I tend to follow them or ‘gravitate’ to them. This is why I have my suspicious about her. At the same time I’m afraid they (Winston and the dark haired girl) will end up being friends or maybe more, because of a cliché I have seen many times in stories. (Boy sees girl, boy likes girl, boy pretends to hate girl, girl likes boy, girl pretends to hate boy too, and then they fall in love and live happily ever after.) So with that being said, I hope they don’t end up that way. However, I have a feeling George Orwell will put everything in place as he often so ingeniously does.
This is the last paragraph, I swear! Finally, I would like to talk about Newspeak. To be simple, I think it is incredibly ingenious. Taking the English language and squishing it together. Why didn’t I think of that? Rather than create some weird, alien language, Mr. Orwell simply uses the English language as the basis of his new language. But back to the point: Newspeak is just so clever to me. There are a few words I found particularly interesting: For starters, unperson. I thought this was a very eerie word to describe those who were ‘vaporized.’ Also, double-think. I still have yet to completely understand this concept, but as far as I know, it requires double-think to understand double-think… I think. The last word I can think of off the top of my head is thoughtcrime, a word which describes simply thinking about committing a crime, being suspected of it, and getting taken away, or even killed.
On a final note, I am really looking forward to how this book is going to turn out.
1987 is a very interesting book so far. Nearly every book I read I can predict, but this one is extremely unpredictable for me. I am growing really addicted to it, which is good since I haven’t really been addicted to a book in a long time. I find the character Winston very interesting. He’s seemingly the only one against Big Brother, and he seems to be going a little crazy because of that. Well, I would too if I were him. I think this book is especially appealing to me because I really enjoy books with a slight sense of fear lingering in every page.
When I first began to read it, I knew it was going to be a good book. I was also pretty confused at first because the storyline was confusing and hard to grasp. I love stories that involve a dystopia. As I read 1984 I’m really reminded of the book The Giver and the movie "V for Vendetta," probably because they include dystopias in them as well. Another sort of example is the movie "War of the Worlds," only that doesn’t quite involve a dystopia but more of a ‘human extermination’ kind of theme. Book and movies like those really spark my interest. I’m not exactly sure why, but it must have something to do with the fact that I’m not in a dystopia or a world being attacked by aliens. I suppose if I was, I’d like to read stories about individuals who are free and out of harm’s way.
"Writing for the future," Winston wrote in his diary. What he means is that even though he is forbidden to write in a diary, he is, and it is for the future. Winston states, "How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive?" He later states that he is writing to O’Brien. I think that whether or not he’s writing to anyone or not doesn’t quite matter at the moment. Writing seems to be something that keeps him reasonably sane, the only way for him to vent.
In the world of Big Brother, you are allowed to think on your own, you are allowed to do what you want, but at the same time you are restricted from everything. One wrong little move or even the slightest suspicious action could get you killed. Even if you have done nothing, you could be killed, it seems.
In the world of Winston, there is a constant uncomfortable nervousness, a fear that the world around him is blasphemy. He seeks for an impossible answer of truth to what his world could have once been. Was it better before, as he suspected, or was it worse, as Big Brother so often stated?
Questions, questions: Why is Big Brother turning everyone into mindless slaves under his control? Does he want an equal world? Why and how did Big Brother get everyone to follow his leadership? There must be more rebels than just Winston. Perhaps there are more rebels, and they are doing just what Winston is, waiting and watching. Also, how did Big Brother regulate such a brilliant plan as to even get rid of the rebels? How did all great leaders succeed in gaining so many followers? I’ve noticed, however, that all great or terrible leaders of this world have eventually fallen. Doesn’t that mean that eventually Big Brother will fall too? Hitler, all the Presidents of the U.S., even leaders in households eventually fall. The natural order of things, whether that means the leader was killed, impeached, or dead from old age or sickness, always prevails. Always.
On another note… Winston is disturbed, but very clever. He must be the hero of this story because he is, as far as we know, the only one against Big Brother. As for O’Brien, we can only rely on Winston’s suspicious of him as a rebel of Big Brother, but who knows for certain. Also, the black haired girl seems to be an important role in the story, providing a lot of confusion and anger for Winston. I suspect that she is actually on Winston’s side. She seems to be stalking him when he goes off on his own, but perhaps she is actually drawn to him or is trying to tell him something. I know that when I feel drawn to someone I tend to follow them or ‘gravitate’ to them. This is why I have my suspicious about her. At the same time I’m afraid they (Winston and the dark haired girl) will end up being friends or maybe more, because of a cliché I have seen many times in stories. (Boy sees girl, boy likes girl, boy pretends to hate girl, girl likes boy, girl pretends to hate boy too, and then they fall in love and live happily ever after.) So with that being said, I hope they don’t end up that way. However, I have a feeling George Orwell will put everything in place as he often so ingeniously does.
This is the last paragraph, I swear! Finally, I would like to talk about Newspeak. To be simple, I think it is incredibly ingenious. Taking the English language and squishing it together. Why didn’t I think of that? Rather than create some weird, alien language, Mr. Orwell simply uses the English language as the basis of his new language. But back to the point: Newspeak is just so clever to me. There are a few words I found particularly interesting: For starters, unperson. I thought this was a very eerie word to describe those who were ‘vaporized.’ Also, double-think. I still have yet to completely understand this concept, but as far as I know, it requires double-think to understand double-think… I think. The last word I can think of off the top of my head is thoughtcrime, a word which describes simply thinking about committing a crime, being suspected of it, and getting taken away, or even killed.
On a final note, I am really looking forward to how this book is going to turn out.
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