1984: Topic A

Topic A:

          "  “How many fingers, Winston?”

             “Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five.”

“Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see them?

“Really to see them.”

“Again,” said O’Brien.

Perhaps the needle was at eighty - ninety. Winston could only intermittently remember why the pain was happening. Behind his screwed-up eyellids a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in sort of a dance..."

              This passage reveals the type of control Oceania has established over its people. O’Brian forces Winston to accept the rule of the Party without question by inflicting pain when he challenges that they sent forth. To the reader, the part in which Winston sees  three fingers as five helps clarify the nature of doublethink. The totalitarian government is made out to be all controlling and all powerful. This helps establish the fear and disgust at their actions that Orwell wanted to generate in his readers.

                Overall, Orwell uses painful images to accentuate the horrors of a totalitarian government. By letting ourselves be manipulated and losing control over our own actions, Orwell attempts to stress the loss of humanity that society would suffer under such a regime. Winston, who represents society, is constantly beaten in and before the scene. This demonstrated the absolute control a totalitarian government would establish over its people. Orwell attempts to make us fear a totalitarian government and those who would regulate information in an attempt to warn us from heading in that political direction. He does this because of his dreadful experiences in the Soviet Union under Stalin, and the flat out lies that the government told their people.

1984: Journal #2

Topic C

After Orwell witnessed the control that the soviet government was placing upon its people, he felt compelled to write 1984. In the novel, the government attempts to control the people’s perception of reality itself by enforcing the use of doublethink, which is the automatic self-convincing by someone to make something untrue become true. By ignoring the negative aspects of the people’s lives and replacing it with good thoughts, and through the slow implementation of newspeak, the government in the novel hopes to gain complete control over a people that have ultimately become more machine than human. It is possible that Orwell is attempting to warn us of the danger of the media; about the lies that they put forth that are quickly gobbled up by the populace. If we allow ourselves to be stripped of out independent thought then we will ultimately lose our humanity in the process, just like the people in 1984.

Orwell, at the same time, presents a measure of hope to his readers. While O’Brian dismisses the ability of the Proletarian population to overthrow the Party, at the same time Orwell brings a sense of separation to these people while emphasizing the size of their group and the potential that they hold. It is possible that by comparing these lower-class people’s lifestyles to the lifestyles that the majority of his readers live, he was attempting to communicate the potential of the lower classes and the ability for them to sage a revolt against the increasing injustices of their government.

1984: Journal #1

Topic B

    In "1984", one of the main goals of the Party is to reduce the complex nature of human consciousness in order to curb and eventually eliminate any possibility that the people of Oceania will revolt. They do this by slowly changing the vocabulary and grammar of the English language, inventing things like newspeak and doublethink. Over the course of the novel, Winston attempts to defy the control of the Party by committing the act of thoughtcrime, mainly through the act of secret sex with his lover Julia, in a hope that the Party’s influence is not as absolute as it seems. In the back of his mind, however, he expresses his belief that his treasonous thoughts have doomed him from the moment they entered his head.

    While this belief in itself shows the incredible influence that the Party has over even Winston, it is later shown to be correct as he finds out that the Party has known of his relationship for nearly the entire time. The consequences for his actions lead to a fate worse than death for Winston – a trip to the ministry of love to be reeducated and reformed to match the Party’s vision of a perfect Oceanian citizen. After a series of intense tortures over a long period of time, Winston finds himself subscribed to the concept of doublethink and states his firm admiration for Big Brother. This, even though he might not truly believe it himself, shows the effectiveness of the concept and the absolute control the Party is gaining over society.