1984

My thoughts and opinions about 1984

A book that has grasped attention of readers before 1984, in 1984 and after... This realistic yet unreal novel is a fantastic blend of cruelty, pain, torture, love, passion, the definition of right, slavery, freedom, the diminished emotions and the epic changes that occur in people as the story proceeds. Human nature has been highlighted in a marvellous manner throughout 1984. This novel reveals every human characteristic through Winston Smith, a citizen of a dystopian society. He is like every other man, every other human being today. In the dystopia he habituated, humans were not humans anymore. They were slaves of the government; of Big Brother. They trusted in every word that the Party said, they were taught to do so. The did not feel love, lust, passion or desire; in fact they did not know what "feeling" was. Why? again, because the Party had taught them not to feel. I think that this novel is an awakening to the planet. 1984 truly signifies the requisite needs of the appropriate POWER. This novel reveals the importance of "checks and balances" in the infrastructure of any government. I think that this novel is very essential for the good of the world, as 1984 sheds light on the dark side, revealing to readers, the intimidating visions of a pessimistic community and its effects on humans.

The one thing i loved about this novel was the brilliant use of Oxymoron such as:

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

WAR IS PEACE

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

I really adored the way Orwell plays with words and how the contradictory meanings result in being synonymous. He in my opinion really thought about every word he wrote.

This book should be recommended for teenagers fifteen and above. I think teenagers should read 1984 because they need to realize what the world can be like ; may be in the future.

Overall 1984 is a thought-provoking novel with its extraordinary illusions of a world that can exist someday, somewhere.

Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? Or disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

There are a number of events that are memorable in this novel. Everyone in Oceania was expected to love only one person BIG BROTHER. Winston however chose not to. He chose not to shut-up and listen to the Party. He chose not to be a robot like the others. He chose to be a human. He chose to love.Winston's choices leaves a great impact on me because he chose to do the right thing.

The outburst of human characteristics is also very interesting to observe in this novel. The ending especially, it has a bit of ambiguity i would say.The last words of this novel were:"He had won victory over himself. He loved Big Brother." I trust that he did not love Big Brother. He would never have. He said that he won victory over himself which shows that he had "taught" himself to do so, inside it was not love that he had for Big brother, it was hatred. Also the novel reveals that the-long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain. This is evidence to the fact that he would be shot very soon. He was dreaming about his future and tears filled his eyes. I feel that this part( the ending) is very emotional. It is like " forcing" a man to love (Big Brother), using him as a puppet. I loved the part when he writes in his diary: "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make a four. If that is granted, all else follows".

One thing that is a bit distracting about this book is that too much information is given about the Party some of which is irrelevant to the theme, which makes the first part of the book fairly boring. Another fact that I am very annoyed with is the fact that Winston describing other women (besides his lover Julia) in a perverted sort of manner; which got really unpleasant after a while.

THEY BELIEVE WHAT THEY SEE

Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, everyday date has been altered. And that process has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. I know of course that the past is falsified, but it would never be possible for me to prove it, even when I did the falsification myself. After the thing is done, no evidence ever remains. The only evidence is inside my own mind, and i don't know with any certainty that any other human being shares my memories."

The above quote has been derived from page 128 of the novel 1984. This quote highlights the "image" that has been created by the people of the Party, the sensation of rewriting history, the chilling effect of deleting memories and "creating" the truth. The power of making citizens of Oceania believe in what the Party decides to be right and true. I trust that this particular passage describes the fact that in Oceania past, present and future are "written". Also through 1984, it is revealed how people have been brainwashed over time. In Oceania people believe what they are told blindly without thinking because if they don't do so, the "Though police" takes action. This passage also signifies the distribution of power between the Party and the citizens. It is the Party that "makes" truth. Then again, what is truth? Citizens of Oceania would say: "truth is what the Party tells us".

The Party would say: "truth is what we make, what we say is truth is truth ."Every word is "re-made", every action is watched, choices diminished, every event that takes place is controlled. Thus "Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. " The Party rules. The Party orders. The Party kills. Thoughts are controlled.

This was life in Oceania, where you swallow what you are told, you never question, you believe what you see as everyone else. The whole point of this passage and the book is the revolution against the Party, a revolution of one woman and one man who resisted being brainwashed, resisted to believe that 2+2=5...

What is the mood of this novel? Do you find this novel saddens you in any way? Why?

This particular novel starts in a very predictable and monotonous manner. The mood builds up as the first signs of inhumanity are revealed such as the executions being watched, and the negative impact on people, in a society where "Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death." It is a crime to think beyond what the party wants you to think. I believe that the saddest part of it is, that the citizens do not realize that they are contributing to the development, of this dystopian society, every second of their lives without having the slightest idea that what they are doing is stupid.It is also very depressing that everyone is BEING WATCHED everyday everywhere. Voices are recorded. There is no privacy. Moreover emotions are squeezed out from the human body. Citizens are not human beings anymore, but "tin men" without hearts. They become slaves of the Party and lick their feet throughout their lives closing their eyes to everything else. They become robotic. The party controlled emotions."It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face… was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime..."

In addition to all this I personally feel that the restriction of love is cruel. I believe that love is essential, love is strength and if one thing can change this society it will be love. Evidence to this is that until he loved Julia (until he betrayed her) he could never be like everyone else(love Big Brother) . The moment LOVE was turned into betrayal by the Party, Winston changed. He decided to keep his hatred for the Party locked up. His heart was "broken" by the Party and was "reshaped". Also the disappearings, the murders and the executions add to the saddening effect of the novel with a blend of fear, anxiety and hatred. Overall the mood of this novel is very negative, very depressing and very intimidating...

What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?
The climax of this novel builds up from the point when Winston and Julia take the risk of constructing the secret conspiracy against the Party. They try to seek help from O'Brien who in the manupilates them later as the events proceed. It is astonishing to observe the fruad O'Brien turns out to be. O'Brien promised Wisnston and Julia that there was a secret conspiracy against the Party which he was a part of. Wisnton and Julia agreed to fight against the party and join the "Brotherhood". The climax reaches its peak when O'Brien appears at the ministy of love not as a help to Winston but quite the opposite. He tortures Winston, convinces him to believe that if the Party says 2+2=5 then 2+2=5... Moreoever he is determined to sqeeze out Winston's emotions and delete everything Winston knew about the past. Room 101 made it sucessful finally. Winston's greatest phobia was rats. He was scared to death at the sight of them. In room 101 he was tortured, he was caged, he knew that the huge, vicious rats would dig deep into his flesh. Winston was helpless, he wanted it all to end... He cried in grief and yelled aloud "Do it to Julia !Do it to Julia! Not me!" conradicting himself, his love and his trust. This was the climax, the point from which Winston had lost against himself, he had lost against the Party; against Big Brother...

In my opinion it was partly O'Brien's fault. O' Brien has power that he misuses. He is intelligent yet foolish. According to me intelligence is not obtained by supporting the "WRONG right" .Why would you change what is right and falsify it? why would you betray the one who trusted in you? the answer is for POWER. I believe that once you have power you want more, you are greedy, you are obsessed with it, finally you are selfish, you will kill to get more.

THE CHARACTERS

Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

The main characters of this novel are Winston, Julia, Big Brother and O'Brien. All these characters have their individual characteristics that are uniquely distinguishable.

Winston Smith: Winston is a middle aged man in his late thirty's . He has been separated from his mother and wife and he has no idea where they are. He is one of the few people in Oceania who does not take everything the Party says for granted. He hated the Party." I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to their bones" was what he said to Julia and he meant it, he felt that corruption amongst the people and by not following rules a conspiracy could be constructed to overthrow the Party. He was a true hero in my opinion. He has what it takes to make a change, but he alone cannot. It might occur to people that Winston is a looser because he was unable to destroy the Party, but honestly! How many people stand up against the cruel dictatorship? How many care? How many see reality? The answer would be very few...

He is also a passionate person who "feels" emotions, who takes pride in doing the right thing even if the definition of "right" is falsified .

Big Brother: Big Brother is a very mysterious character who's head appears on the telescreens every once in a while throwing orders. There is no evidence that Big Brother actually exists in a human form.Nobody has ever seen him, nobody knows where he is. At times Winston has questioned his existence. He was to be loved by the people. According to the Party he would never die. People were terrified of him, thus treated him like God. His word is law.

Julia: Julia is Winston's lover. In my opinion she is a romantic person. In the novel Julia reveals that " I adore it" and confessed to her lover that she had sex with many other men before which is highly contradictory as she is a member of the Anti-sex league. She is emotional unlike the other "robotic" folks of Oceania. She unites with Winston to fight for the right, but eventually the Party enables her to betray him, to tear her soul apart and 'recreate a new one' in the Party's image. I believe that the torture of the Party had affected her more than Winston. All her desire, lust and emotions had been erased after her "treatment" at the Ministry had been accomplished. It was depressing to observe her change in character, mentality and "hormones".

O'Brien: I would call O'Brien the "villain" of the novel even though he was the reason Winston had been alive. He is a high member of the Party. He is an alarmingly unfaithful person in my opinion. It has occurred to me several times that he posses supernatural powers of reading one's mind. He is intelligent. He is smart. He is brilliant. But he does not use his talent for good. The question is what is good? he is unaware of what is good. He does not question Big Brother. He believes in him. He is the kind of person who would convince you that 2+2=5 .. why? because Big Brother said so...

Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

Today, the world has faced abundant issues that were faced in this novel. A number of countries in the world today are communist which shares the same idea of this novel. North Korea for example. There is one ruler who rules( Kim Jong-il). Every word he says is law which exactly matches with the concept of Big Brother. The difference is however is that the North Koreans ( the citizens) know that the government is cruel unlike the people of Oceania who are literally "brainwashed".

Being watched has become a very common thing today. I am a dorm student and I am being watched by the R.A.'s or Dorm parents in the hallways. They will always know where I am in the Dorm. There is no escape, no chance that I can sneak out.

Back in the days, after this novel had been written, some of Orwell's predictions came true.

Joseph Stalin claimed himself a dictator which again relates back to Big Brother. Both these people had all the power. The three things that both Stalin and Big Brother "used" to rule were pain, fear and hatred.

1984 does not really cast a lot of light exactly on how to "fix" its actually quite the opposite. This novel show more of the ramifications of the things that would happen to the world if these problems remain "UN-fixed", which again runs as a warning for the future. Although sometimes it has occurred to me that Winston standing up against the Party reveals the fact that at least one man is doing the right thing. But what was the result? he was crushed. I trust that the only way to intolerant dictatorship is to unite. If every citizen of Oceania did not follow Big Brother's orders Big Brother would not have anyone to give orders to. After all "unity is strength".

What is the major theme of this novel?

According to me the major theme of 1984 is the fact that even if the whole world is wrong, someone somewhere stands up for the right thing. In this novel it was Winston and Julia who risked their lives in order to destroy the Party someday. Both Winston and Julia agree on the fact that "We are the dead". They know they will die. They know they will suffer in the end. They know that they don't know how many centuries it will take for the Party to be destroyed. The point is that they wanted to contribute and die with pride, integrity and the love for each other which was again shaped up by the Party. It is essential to note that they cannot be blamed for the events that followed. They were tiny specks of dust under the colossal, bloodthirsty Party overruling Oceania.

It is also very disturbing that everyone is being watched all the time. These are the measures that the Party takes to hold power. One of the important themes comprise of the fact that POWER is the root of all evils.

The power to "vaporise" citizens, the power to "brainwash" , the power to torture and kill and most importantly the power to have power. It is the Party(and Big Brother) that holds all the power, and the people? the people are powerless. They do not have rights they do not have freedom.

I think that through this novel George Orwell also tries to convey the harsh ramifications of communism. It is horrifying to discover the abusive means that the Party uses to "brainwash" prisoners which also reveals the fact that, in Oceania, inhuman means are applied to transform humans to "robotic" Party lovers. Citizens are transformed to slaves without emotions, freedom or power.

Other minor themes also arise from this novel.

I believe that there are a few statements made on certain topics that are discussed below:

The conception of love: Love was illegal in Oceania, Love was crime

The conception of freedom:Freedom in Oceania was slavery. The citizens were slaves. They never knew what freedom was. So following the Party was freedom to them.

The conception of thoughts: Thoughts did not really exict. If you thought it was a crime.

This novel broadcasts the severe consequences that the world would face is 1984. But 1984 has passed, the mysterious fact is some of his predictions are still quite true in 2007.

(This video reveals the crucial moments of 1984. The maker of this video is not me. I feel that the song really goes with the theme. Even though Winston tried to do the right thing, in the end, he lost against the Party).