Sunday, April 24, 2011

1984 By George Orwell







1984, written by George Orwell, is about a man named Winston Smith and is set in Oceania. Throughout the whole novel, there constantly is references to Big Brother and how he is watching everyone and their actions. Big Brother is a concern for some of the characters in the novel, because he has never actually been seen, so they wonder if he really is a real person. In everyone's rooms there are screens and camera's so the governement is able to see what each person is doing. Many of the actions within the novel show how governements are very ruling of everyone's actions. The Party which is the controling force in 1984 believes in no individual freedom and no thoughts of their own. It was a sin for a person to think of anything against the rules of what the party had set for them. The narrator states, "And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right"(Orwell 80). Whether a person said something that was right, te government had the power to tell them it was wrong and make their way right. Winston keeps a journal which he writes various thoughts that he has in it. He does this by hiding from the camera in his room. Soon in the novel, Winston meets O'Brien who pretends to be on Winston's side against the Party for most of the novel. The opposing force was the Brotherhood and they were out to destroy the Party. Later in the novel, Winston meets a pretty lady named Julia who he falls in love with. He ends up sneaking around and trying to hid their relationship from the government, since relationships with the other sex were prohibited in Oceania. The narrator states, "The Party was trying to kill the sex instinct"(Orwell 66). O'Brien secretly knows about their relationship and all of the thoughts that both Julia and Winston have towards each other. O'Brien learns many things about Winston due to his fake character. He later uses this to get Winston in trouble for thinking, because he really is a trained thought police. He turns Winston in and they obliterate Winston's brain and keep him confined. This gets him to no longer love Julia and will never go against the Party again. They allow him to be free, and he trusts in Big Brother and what the Party has to offer him.






1) If your society was being forced to go against their own moral thoughts due to their government like Winston in 1984, would you rebel against the government and try to have them change their ways?






2) The Party in the novel seems to ave a very strong policy on how each person is to live their life. What are your beliefs on how drastic a government should be in their rule? How far are they allowed to rule in a person's life before it gets to far?






3) Would you give up your love for someone, like Winston, to be the person the government wants you to be?






4) The belief in Big Brother is like belief in God, both of them are not able to be seen. Would you believe in someone like Big Brother if you saw all of the negative actions and thoughts that are related to him?

4 comments:

Nick E. 13-14 said...

3. I would never give up the love for someone I cared about, in order to please the government. Especially in modern society. Most governmental relations and areas are corrupted or media-driven. And neither of those aspects are worth giving up the emotion and feelings of love for another person.

Kara K. 5/6 said...

I totaly agree with you Nick. I feel that ones personal feelings should not be affected by the government. Media is a large aspect in out society today and it influences people and their actions. I feel that one should have their own personal views of things and should be able to express themselves as they please.

Erika B 13-14 said...

1. I truthfully do not believe I would be able to have the courage to rebel against the government alone, but if I were able to find a group of people to help me, I would attempt to tell the government that they need to change how they are governing. It is not right to force society to go against their own morals.

3. I would never give up my love for someone just because the government wants me to be someone else. When the government is controling personal lives, that is when they have gone too far, and by forcing someone to give up their love for someone, that shows that this government is way out of bounds.

Kara K. 5/6 said...

1. I agree Erika that is is not right to force people against teir morals. I feel everyone has the right to their own ways. I do not think I would have to courage to do it alone, but I would gather a large number of people to petition against the government.

3.I also agree with you here. The goverment has stepped over its line when that force people to change their emotions and feelings. Feelings are one thing that a person is unque to. Everyone has different feelings about different things. The government having control over feelings, makes every person almost the same.