O'Brien's Intentions

"' Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!" (300)

Winston promised himself that he was not going to betray Julia, it was the one piece of integrity that he had left. But from reading the quote, it's pretty obvious that he gave up and lost the last promise he made to himself. But what I want to get into is the reasoning of all of this. Why did O'Brien simply stop the torture after Winston gave up his promise? Why did he not just continue with the process. Yes, he doesn't want to "destroy his enemies," but just to merely "change them" but was he simply trying to break up their relationship? We know that two minds are greater than one, despite the intelligence of the individual, if you have two minds working together, they will function better than one mind working alone. So, does any type of connection between, not only Winston and Julia, but any two people have to be broken apart? Is that how the Party controls the people? Because from O'Brien's answer to why, he includes the fact that mother and child will be separated and there will be a significant decrease of human interaction. Is that O'Brien, or the Party's intention? Less individualism = more power to the Party? 

The Chestnut Tree Café

1) At the beginning of the novel, the Chestnut Tree Café was the place were criminals spent their time. Now, after Winston has been released, the all go there. Although the Chestnut Tree Café does not seem like the ‘happiest’ environment to be in, it is in a way ironic that Winston is happy there. He has ended up loving Big Brother, having nothing else to worry about. In a way, we now see the significance and meaning of the slogan “Freedom is Slavery.” 

Winston also meets Julia there, and they find out that they both don’t love each other anymore. At one point, after they are done speaking, Winston hears lyrics from a song coming out of the telescreen stating, 

“Under the spreading chestnut tree

I sold you and you sold me--” (Orwell, 307).

What can you say about this quote and what the Chestnut Café represents and/or symbolizes? 

2) After reading through the end of the novel, I thought that it was really well written, and a good way to end the novel, but the quote below stood out to me:

“Winston, sitting in a blissful dream, paid no attention as his glass filled up. He was not running or cheering any longer. He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything forgiven, his soul white as snow. He was in the public dock, confessing everything, implicating everybody. He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bulled was entering his brain” (Orwell, 311).

If I can remember correctly, Winston stated previously in the novel that the Chestnut Café was the place of death, which is interesting as to how it is revealed in the end of the novel. The quote uses the simile “his soul white as snow” and the phrase “the white-tiled corridor,” both using the color “white,” which we learned often is used to represent purity. In this case, Winston is purified from his anti-Party thoughts, and is now “reborn” through the effects of physical control (torture), to be the ideal Party member.

My question is, what exactly do you think does the last part of the quote, “The long-hoped-for bulled was entering his brain” (Orwell, 311) represent?

Encounter between Julia and Winston after Room 101

In chapter 5, we are revealed that what is found in room 101, is what we fear the most. For Winston, it was rats. He betrays Julia after being exposed to the rats which convinces O’Brien that Winston “cured,” soon after he claimed his love for her in the previous chapter, which shows the dominance of physical control over physiological control. 

In the last chapter, when Julia and Winston meet, Julia states, “And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn’t really mean it. But that isn’t true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there’s no other way of saving yourself and you’re quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don’t give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself” (Orwell, 305). 

The torture of the room 101 has changed both of them. They have both ended up being selfish, to save their own selves from the misery and torture. By this, we conclude that nothing is stronger than the physical torture of room 101. Physical control includes and provides us with the psychological control (these are themes of the novel). Do you agree? Why or why not?

Feel free to add anything else on the encounter between Julia and Winston, Room 101, and/or the themes found in the novel.

Crimestop

"The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. ... Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak. ... He presented himself with propositions - 'the Party says the earth is flat', 'the Party says that ice is heavier than water'- and trained himself in not seeing or not understanding the arguments that contradicted them.  It was not easy. It needed great powers of reasoning and improvisation. The arithmetical problems raised, for instance, by such a statement as 'two and two make five' were beyond his intellectual grasp. It needed also a sort of athleticism of mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors." (292-3)

This is a long quote but I felt that it was necessary. This might lead into a bit of TOK, but I would argue that it has a great relation to the novel.

From the quote, we are able to recognize that there is an inability to go against what the Party has already declared. This is the same with modern day society, we have an inability to go against the information that we see in the most powerful of sources, google, textbooks, encyclopedias etc. How do we know that what we have learnt and absorbed into our minds is the truth? How does Winston know that the Earth is flat? Just because the Party said so, despite their immense amount of power and control, doesn't necessarily classify it as fact.

This is where I propose the question, how important is Winston's ability to think against the Party and how does he use that to his advantage or disadvantage? With the finger test that O'Brien interrogated him with, he argued continuously, making the statement that two and two make four, not five, as to what O'Brien insisted. 

Third and Final Fishbowl

Third and Final Fishbowl is tomorrow, Tuesday, January 15: Think about and be prepared to address the questions below:

• What do you think of O'Brien's assertion that "The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them" (265)? And later: "It is intolerable to us that an erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it may be" (267). Why would the Party care about powerless thoughts?
• What is O'Brien's answer to Winston's question why (re-read pages 276-282), and do you find it convincing? Logical? Compelling? What do you think of O'Brien's statement that slavery is freedom (277)? What is solipsism? Respond to the following quotation: "Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain. The old civilisations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred" (279).
• Discuss Room 101.
• Why is Winston finally released? Has he been cured? Is he sane?
• Discuss the end of the novel. Specifically, Winston's meeting with Julia, his days at the Chestnut Tree Cafe, and the final paragraph of the novel.

If you want a picture of the future ...

Terrifying and senseless, this image - more than any other - lingers with me each time I finish Nineteen Eighty-Four. What do you think?

The End.

We have finished the entire novel. And this question is pretty much obvious. What did you think of the ending?

Personally, I have mixed feelings for the ending. I feel that the ability for Winston to accept Big Brother like that, shows the greatness and the immense power that the Party has over the people in their society. They're power is so great, concluding to mind control. Also, it frustrates me how the society possess the inability to think for themselves.

But at the same time, I'm happy. I feel that the imagery on the final pages of the novel were so cleverly written that it dilutes my anger. The novel states, "Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory himself. He loved Big Brother"(311) For me, I enjoyed that greatly. I feel so much serenity after reading that. It is as if Winston found his peace, metamorphosed. But again, it was into a true Party member, which was not what I thought the novel was concluding into.

I don't feel fully satisfied because Winston lost all his individual aspects, his individuality. He is now, just another Party member, a slave. And maybe that's what it was all leading to. Slavery is freedom, right? So by being enslaved, he is finally free.

Power

‘’Power is inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of you own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow less but more merciless as it refines itself...’’ (279). 

I believe that this passage is very significant since it basically puts in words what we already knew. The spies, microphones and telescreens are just a manner to be able to control and, most importantly, punish. The system basically asks people to be rebellious and be against the Party. And maybe that is just what they want. To be able to live in a society where torment is an ‘‘everyday thing’’. You will be more likely to not commit a crime, yet it is kind of what the Party wants. Their hunger, or lets say Big Brothers’ power for hunger, destroys his own society since he want them to suffer even though they are innocent. This is also communicated in a character like Parson. I personally believe that this man was innocent, he could never cause any uprising because he really does love the Party. I don’t think he ever mumbled in his sleep ‘‘Down with Big Brother’’. Yet, de Party just takes him in, kills his personality (if he already had one), and kills him. So, the main reason is why? Why does the Party do this? Would this ‘‘strategy’’ work in todays society? Do you think this can exist for thousands of years? Would people be able to uprise together in a society of torture and pain? Would be people do it anyway because of the pain? What is Orwell trying to convey in this passage? 

The Cell

At the beginning of Book 3 we find that Winston is caught in a cell which is completely lighted and is surrounded by 4 telescreens leaving no place unwatched. This place is also known as the place of no darkness that O'Brien seemed to be referring to in Winston's dream. In his holding cell Winston meets 3 other people, the Prole woman that shares the same last name as Winston and speculates the idea of being his mother, she is also not very worried of what might happen to her. Ampleforth the poet who got caught for leaving the word god in a works in translation, Ampleforth is terrified of what might happen to him. He also meets Parsons who accepts his punishment of whatever will come to him seeing as he believes that he deserves it, as Parsons is shown to be a strong follower of Big Brother. The question that I have for you is: What do you think the significance of this segment of showing these people in the cell?

Love and rehabilitation

"You hate him. Good. Then the time has come for you to take the last step. You must love Big Brother. It is not enough yo obey him: you must love him." 295

Spooky stuff as we reach the end of page 295. For this nearing the final pages of the book and for some flipping back frantically as I did, I'd like to discuss this whole idea of Winston's time in the Ministry of Love as a "curing" process. O'Brien as we know from the reading is not there to get information out of Winston and is not there for a confession, for as we know Big Brother already is all knowing and all powerful. But instead he is there for rehabilitation so to speak, in our minds it is a backwards sort of rehabilitation in that he is being taught that black is white and 2+2=5. Now the answer to the why is already answered, unfortunately we weren't left with something so interesting to discuss but my question is will Winston be cured? Or will he still live on hating Big Brother, or will the love supersede the hate? As a discussion that came up in class earlier on; what is stronger, love or hate? Winston has a strange bond with O'Brien, do you think this will play or has played an affect on his rehabilitation process?

More on language and Sapir-Whorf

 Only tangentially related to Nineteen Eighty-Four and very TOKish, but a mind-blowingly interesting article nonetheless: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/24/121224fa_fact_foer

Room 101

"You know what is in Room 101, Winston. Everyone knows what is in Room 101." 273

As we near the end of the book, I think it would be interesting to make some predictions about what will come about to Winston. What are your thoughts on Room 101, what do you think is in there? (Obviously if you've read ahead don't spoil it) Why do you think everyone is so fearful of this place?

The Naïvety of Winston and Julia

After reading the last few chapters of the book a few questions were raised for me as Julia and Winston seem to be having their fun. Of course the initial questions were how they got around so easily however this question was already answered once the end of Book 2 was read. However what really raised the questions for me was how naive Winston and Julia seemed to be as they thought they were being vigilant when really they were being watched the whole time. They seemed to underestimate the party and what it could do to them once caught as they were talking about their interrogation and how the party would make them speak but wouldn't make them stop loving each other. 
My question to you is: Do you think Winston and Julia are being so Naive? Do you think it is from their desire to be with each other that makes them overlook the power of the party or do you believe it is how they were built and that they were always naive from the start?

Interrogation with O'Brien

Reading the first few chapters of Part III of the book I could not help but feel how right the blurb of our book was when it says that, "Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker, Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal". Orwell uncovers for us in an amazing progression of the story how people that Winston dearly thought he could connect to (and whom he had the intuitive feeling that he KNEW that they thought the way he thought) had after all, been part of the Inner Party and Thought Police. Charrington's identity is truly shocking and Winston soon learns that even Julia and O'Brien too, were merely "conspirators" who had been monitoring every movement of his during the past few years (seven).

 Winston, on the right, being electrocuted by the dial, which O'Brien on the left has control of 

What I thought was worth discussing is this :

1. Why would Winston still feel that "he had the feeling that O'Brien was his protector, that the pain was something that came from outside, from some other source, and that it was O'Brien who would save him from it? when it is pretty evident that it is he who inflicts the pain ? Is this out of a conscious will to not believe O'Brien's true identity?

2. Do you think it is very powerful what O'Brien said about there being no such thing as "martyrdom" because everyone is cured. Winston, according to him was not there to be punished, but made to suffer to accept the reality -  no one had ever left "uncured" from the capability to think such dissident thoughts - judging by what has been happening so far in the novel do you think Winston can be the one exception?

3. When in p.270 Winston actually sees five fingers (when there is actually four) what do you think has happened? Is his on his way to being "recuperated" as the Party wants him to be or is this a conscious act, a defense mechanism?

''We Are The Dead''

'' 'We are the dead,' he said.

'We are the dead,' echoed Julia dutifully.

'You are the dead,' said an iron voice behind them.

'You are the dead,' repeated the iron voice.

'It was behind the picture,' breathed Julia.

'It was behind the picture,' said the voice. '' (230)

I choose this quote because it represents and only obdurates Wilson's opinion about Goldenstein's book. The fact that sometimes people already know what they think, yet they are unable to put their thoughts into words. This relates to the moment of the quote I picked.  Both Julia and Winston knew that a microphone and/or a camera was hidden behind the frame. Yet they didn't try to prevent the inevitable. They wanted to believe in their own imaginary world, with their real coffee, they wanted to forget about reality. Also Orwell created the scene as strong as it could be. The actual moment that Winston and Julia were literally naked, and whispered to each other about the beauty of life, the singing of a bird. They shared the moment that it was time for the Party to end. This specific moment was chosen to arrest the lovers. I personally believe that this moment bound the their love and crushed it at the same time. While Julia ''grasps for her breath'', Winston ''dared not turn his head even by a millimeter'' (232). This predicts their faith and foreshadows their weakness for each other, but also the importance of individualism. And it shows that the Party has won since it openly destroyed their relationship.

     Besides, I also wanted to mention the importance of Winston's words. The fact that he says ''we are the dead''. Why does he say this? What does it mean? And who is ''we'' (the outer party members, the

Proles, the brotherhood)?    

picture: http://www.123rf.com/photo_4559529_an-empty-dark-dungeon-wall-golden-picture-frame-on-wall.html

The importance of rats

While Winston and Julia are in the room above Mr.Charrington  and they lie in the bed after loving each other a random visitor appears. A rat appears scaring Winston immensely. Why is the rat there? what is the purpose of the appearance of the rat and why is Winston so afraid of it? 

Would you agree to say that the rat is foreshadowing an event? I personally believe that the rat intrudes in the perfect little world that Winston and Julia have created from themselves to demonstrate that nothing is ever safe. They will be caught and there is nothing one could do about it. The rat is a very important and loaded symbol I would like to hear your opinions on. Rats are known for representing horror scenarios and are known to bring terrible things along with them like disease. Furthermore they are connected to the underworld, they know their way through underground tunnels and travel through the secret but of life. What would you say is the importance of the role of the rat? 

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=rat+sketch&um=1&hl=de&safe=strict&client=safari&tbo=d&rls=en&biw=984&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbnid=cb8NGnTvzaPE6M:&imgrefurl=http://katarinasart.com/sketchbook.html&docid=OUD_MPIVSuR_gM&imgurl=http://katarinasart.com/ratsketch.gif&w=307&h=223&ei=k7nRUPjSFKnP0QWLsYG4Bg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=579&vpy=134&dur=499&hovh=178&hovw=245&tx=103&ty=131&sig=104706566274776253960&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=187&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:96

It is true that rebellion is the thing that unites Julia and Winston; however, the more I read, the more differences i m able to recognize. First taking a step back we can see the different physical and background elements. Being free, and young in contrast to Smith being older and unhealthy man in a poor physical state ; her ideologies slightly differ from his. As we have seen, Winston has this obsession of the past and trying to find out what was hidden by it. He expresses that through the collection of objects , such as the coral object he bought at the junk shop. That leads us to see their different concepts of truth. As they speak of the news she claims that she doesn't watch it because they are "all lies anyway". In contrast to Winston who these kind of things revolt , she seems to have a pacifist approach, she does not seem to care that much about truth and lies. One can not deny their huge hatred for Big Brother , in fact it s what makes them fall in love. However she is less about taking action."She hated the Party... but she made no general criticism of it. Except when it touched upon her life she had no interest in Party doctrine." You can see that as long as she was left to live happy alone, she did not mind. Her life is about getting as much pleasure possible and of course covering up for herself. As we see, she is extremely involved in various activities which backs her up well. Concerning their relationship, Winston is a little more paranoid about it, or rather realistic, he knows their days are numbered meanwhile Julia seems to believe that her game is smarter than the parties and that she can go on without any danger. Also, for Winston's side, Julia is his first love experience that makes him gain courage and a little more hope in humanity, a hope for a better future. 

The image posted above, is something I found randomly and though it'll be interesting to look upon our society, are we truly free? Would love to hear your opinions 

December 18 2012

‘‘For a moment the lids flitted down over his eyes. He began asking his questions in a low, expressionless voice, as though this were a routine, a sort of catechism, most of whose answers were known to him already.’’ (179)

After reading a couple of pages, I fell on this one and I instantly knew that it was quiet different to the structure or meaning of this chapter/passage. It is the first time Winston describes O’Brien as being some kind of programed machine. I have the impression that all tension has vaporized instantaneously and that the world seems to be following a specific conduct. It reminds me of criminal T.V shows like NCIS, because It seems like Winston is the criminal and O’Brien the detective/cop. 

Regardless to the turned off tele screen, I still had the inside feeling that something was listening to them. After this weird sensation I do not trust O’Brien as much anymore, even though it is hard to trust any character in the book, O’Brien seems even more suspicious.

There are questions that I have been asking myself... 

• Are Winston and Julia able to trust O’Brien? 
• Is O’Brien actually a member of the so called ‘‘brotherhood’’? 
• Are we able to trust Julia? 
• Is the waiter, Martin, an actual actor, like Winston implies with stating ‘‘It struck him [Winston] that the man’s whole life was playing a part, and that he felt it to be dangerous to drop his assumed personality even for a moment’’? And does the ‘‘brotherhood’’ exist?
• Why does Julia’s presence seem to be unimportant? 

Tina: The Soviet Union and Oceania

During the Soviet Union the people were oppressed. Neighbors were sent to spy on their neighbors. Sisters were sent to spy on their brothers and mothers on their daughters. This caused a lot of doubt among the people and made them choose who to trust very carefully. This is similar to the struggle Oceanians have to face. However the children of the Soviet Union were always the ones that were not affected by the influence of the government. They were also the ones that came up with the ideas of revolution and change. If the children would have been monitored more closely would this have prevented the idea of a revolution in the Soviet Union? Furthermore in the Soviet Union it was common to live in small, grey, always alike apartments which Oceania and the USSR share in common. How would such a surrounding/ atmosphere impact the people and the mind and how does this benefit the government? I personally find it extremely fascinating how, unlike Oceanian citizens, the oppression and control bonded the people of the USSR having them understand that they can only depend on each other and that by helping others they will help them in return. It has caused people to rely more on each other and bonded the nation. Why is this the opposite in Oceania? Finally literature, music and art played an important role in the Soviet Union. A person that was involved in music, literature or dance was always someone that the others respected greatly. Most importantly out of the arts was ballet, it was always said that one could tell the political situation of the nation just by watching the ballet that was broadcasted on all channels. Of course every art, literature and music piece was sent to the department of art in Moscow that would give the permission for use. Why would Orwell eliminate this aspect in Oceania?

Tina: The lady with the laundry

While Winston is the room he rented above the Prole antique shop he observes a Prole lady hanging up laundry outside and singing at the same time. His thoughts wonder to the simplicity and purity of the task she is preforming influences him greatly. He starts to feel more of his constrain of freedom and thinks of future generations. How is this passage significant? and why did Orwell include it in the novel?