....or is it?

The totalitarian world portrayed in George Orwell's 1984 truly is a terrifying one, where one's actions, thoughts, and desires are controlled and monitered by Big Brother. Once a single power has gained so much control over the world, even just a portion of the world, that they have the ability to control past, present, and future, there is no turning back. It is a scary thought, that once all people who had lived in a time before the rule of this power are dead, no one could know that things had once been better, no one could question the authority of this power which had been there all their lives, and no one could rebel. The thought that one generation could grow up knowing abseloutely nothing of the generation before them, and thus be likely to follow blindly any person who offers them a treat, is a scary thought. And what's scarier is that, to a degree, it is happening today. The last four words of Orwell's chilling and cautionary novel, "It means us too", offer a sort of warning to us. My interpretation of this phrase is of the importance of history, and the constant and diligent education of the youth of today. Nearly every day we hear of how NOW is the time for change, how NOW is the turning point in history, how we must act NOW to preserve a better future for our posterity. To the typical teenager forced to endure school for 35 hours a week, it seems like a lot of suffering now with no immediate payoff. But when we remember that the weight of countless future generations rests on our shoulders, isn't that worth something? For me, historical accuracy is something I treasure dearly. I cherish the oppurtunity I have been given at this time to learn anything and everything I want to learn, and to know with some amount of certainty that what I am learning in the history books is true. And so, I would like to express my appreciation for the people who write those dull and monotonous history textbooks. Because remember, children are indeed the future. The kids you see around you are, whether you like it or not, the leaders of tomorrow. But children need their parents, they need someone to guide them. So without the records of their parents and their parent's parents, would not they be leading blindly? It means us, too. Four powerful words, that had best not be forgotten.

THE END

After months of secretly rebelling against the government and doing enough illegal acts to earn him to be killed hundreds of times over, Winston has been betrayed, caught, tortured and broken. He now believes that 2 + 2 = 5, and Big Brother has finally gotten inside that last few inches in his head, and he owns it. In a last act of desperation and self preservation, Winston betrayed Julia, showing that nothing else mattered to him, that any ties he once had to her were severed, and that Big Brother owns him. When he is set free, even when he meets Julia he is uninterested. His will has been broken, his thoughts of revolution shattered, and he even admits that in the end, he loved Big Brother.

Characters

Winston:

Smart

Curious

His parents and younger sister were killed during one of the great purges of 50's and 60's.

His job is to update the past, so that it matches with the future.

He is a thirty-nine-year-old.

Winston hates his government, and dreams of revolution.

Winston is in love with Julia.

He knows that one day he will be caught, but feels that he should rebel against Big Brother anyway.

O'Brien:

A member of the inner party.

Mysterious.

He tricks Winston and Julia into thinking he's part of the Brotherhood, and betrays them.

Julia:

Hates the party.

Loves Winston, but later betrays him, and vice versa.

Vastly different from Winston.

Quotes

There are many memorable quotes from this book, which is part of why when I'm reading this I frequently have to stop for a moment and go 'WAHT?!' at a certain line. So, here's a few of those lines.

"WAR IS PEACE - FREEDOM IS SLAVERY - IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." - Chapter 1, the Party's slogans. This line, rightfully so I believe, made me stop and think. This shows the Party's attempts at brainwashing the Party members. If they actually believe these things, the Party has much more control over the general public.

"Winston had never been able to feel sure-- even after this morning's flash of the eyes it was still impossible to be sure--whether O'Brien was a friend or an enemy. Nor did it even seem to matter greatly. There was a link of understanding between them more important than affection or partnership. 'We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness,' he had said. Winston did not know what it meant, only that in some way or another it would come true."
- Chapter 2
I don't know what it was about this particular passage, but something about this quote made me stop and think. Especially the part about whether O'Brien being a friend or an enemy not mattering greatly, that struck me somehow. The thought that in a world where there are no friends, for everyone is simply comrades, that that kind of bond could be formed, made me think.

"Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull." - Chapter 2
I don't think 'WAHT?!' is exactly the right word to describe this quote, I think this is more of a 'WOAW!!!!' moment. Immediately another quote from the movie/graphic novel V for Vendetta came to mind, "Our integrity sells for so little, but it's all that we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free." Within this seemingly hopeless book, with Big Brother watching everyone closely, and in a time and place where not even your thoughts are always your own, there is a tiny part of you, your power to think, your integrity, call it what you will, but this tiny part of you no one can take from you. That is, without you giving them permission to do so.

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date." - Chapter 4
To explain, what happens in the world of 1984 is that since whatever Big Brother says must be correct, if he predicts that the war will be over in 1 year, and one year from that day he says it will be over in 1 more year, then people go back and edit all the papers, television shows, etc. to make it seem like he predicted in the first place for the war to be over 2 years from that date. What scares me about this quote is that it is so plausable. Historical accuracy is something I appreciate in this day and age, and to think that history could be destroyed, edited and redone so easily is a scary thought.

That is all the quotes I have for now, and now with all this heavy stuff swimming around in my head, I am off to attempt at sleeping. Goodbye, dear interwebs, and goodnight.

1984 - Part One

....WOW.

This book is much more depressing than I had previously suspected. Before I cracked the spine of this classic and beloved novel, my knowledge of it's plot was sketchy at best. I knew that it was about the horrors of totalitarian barbarism, and that the premise was that in 1984, roughly 25 years from when this book was written, the world has turned into a horrible distopia, and Great Britain was virtually dissolved and is now ruled by one 'Big Brother', who is always watching you. But as I began to read further into the book, I realized it was about much more. The only problem I have found in this book so far (I am about at page 50), is that it makes you think too much. I can hardly read one page without having to stop and having an internal ethical debate for several minutes before continuing. This book is very dense, and takes quite a while to read. Unfortunately, I don't have a while in which to read it, so I'm in quite a predicament. But alas, an assignment is an assignment and as this blog has been assigned for me to do by a higher power which I have no control over, I must do my best. And so, internet, wish me luck, and away we go.