Question #8 - 1984

Entry of your choice.

Imagine being watched all the time. Every move you make and every little thing you do, someone's watching you, and that someone is waiting for you to do something out of the ordinary. Why? To claim you as insane and to "fix" you so you are no longer a danger to yourself or those around you. At least, that's what this person claims to do, while in actual fact, this person is turning you into another one of the millions of mindless people that worship every word this someone says. Who is this someone? He is Big Brother.

So what are you supposed to do when the leader of one of the three most powerful governments in the world says even your own thoughts are dangerous to yourself? You ask yourself three crucial questions: Did the reign of this leader help make my life better, or was there a time before this leader when I lived a better life? Did what this leader say always prove to be true? Did someone ever prove the existence of this person?

The first two questions are very important, but if the first two questions are answered with a "Yes" and the last question with a "No," it's time to question the actual existence of this leader. This leader may have many dedicated followers and many great teachings, but if you question the leader's mere existence, this leader could be someone the government itself made up; someone the government created to base all its totalitarianism on to turn all of its citizens into mindless followers.

So take heed: everything you hear, even though it is from someone you trust dearly, may not always be the truth, and you may be the only one with an actually sane mind.

Question #7 - 1984

What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

The major theme of this novel is "A totalitarian government can destroy and change how people think." In the novel, Big Brother makes everyone follow and love his ideals. He achieves this by using the Thought Police to track down people who have anti-governmental thoughts. Once a rebel is caught, he/she is taken to the Ministry of Love. Once there, the rebel goes through several different tortures, which ultimately lead up to the final torturing in Room 101, which holds whatever that specific person fears the most. By the time the torturing and "fixing" is complete, the rebel's anti-governmental thoughts have been destroyed, and, instead, have been replaced with obedience to Big Brother. This is what happens to Winston, the protagonist of the novel.

This theme is very important to a teenager living in 2007. As teenagers, we are constantly under pressure by the media to look right, act right, and be accepted by our peers. This is very similar to what goes on in the novel. The citizens of Oceania are forced to follow the rules and principals of the Party, while under pressure to not be caught by the Thought Police for even thinking something negative about Big Brother or the Party. If a teenage girl happens to look healthy, rather than the look of someone who has wasted away, she is considered fat. The media tells this girl that unless she looks like a skeleton, she is as fat as a pig. Some people might say that the media cannot change how a person thinks about themselves, but they can. This healthy girl might hear the message of the media so many times, that she actually starts believing that she is fat. Soon, because the girl does not want to be labeled as fat, she starts to take desperate measures, such as starving herself.

The media may not look like the totalitarian government described in this novel, but it, just like the Party and Big Brother, does have the power to destroy and change how people think. Everyday, girls and guys who are perfectly normal starve themselves to look thinner, because they truly believe they are fat; teenagers start smoking because the model who smokes on television is the vision of beauty, and they truly believe smoking makes them look cool. The media is destroying and changing the minds of teenagers across the world; it's happening right now. As teenagers, we must tell ourselves what the media says is not true, and find happiness in things that go deeper than the skin.

Question #6 - 1984

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"?

There is a current situation in the world that relates to this novel. North Korea is the perfect example for what the Party stands for, and Kim Jong-Il is the perfect example of who Big Brother is. In the novel, the Party and Big Brother want everyone in the country to be their followers; they want everyone to agree with every decision they makes, and if one citizen doesn't like it, he/she gets arrested and "fixed" until they genuinely agree with the decisions of the Party and Big Brother. This is the same with North Korea and Kim Jong-Il. Whatever Kim Jong-Il decides to do, the rest of the country must agree. If one citizen says something negative about his decision, or goes against what Kim Jong-Il ordered, he/she is arrested and tortured for merely having different opinions. These things happening in North Korea everyday relate exactly to what happened in the novel. Winston and Julia went against what the Party said and disagreed with Big Brother. Because of this, they were caught by O'Brien, who was pretending to be a rebel, while he secretly supported the Party and Big Brother, and were forced to change their ways of thinking and acting.

The novel does shed some, while not much, light on how to resolve this current situation. Winston does say that if there is any hope, it lies with the proles, who are the lower class people. However, this does not say much, because the proles are also very dumb, and do not realize they are living a harsh life under the Party. This is also very similar with North Korea. In North Korea, I think the novel's version of proles is the army. The people in the army and police, who are all employed by the government under Kim Jong-Il, do not realize the power they have. If the entire North Korean army and police were to unite together against Kim Jong-Il, I think they would be able to overthrow him. However, I doubt this will ever happen, because the people in the army and police do not realize that they have this power, and it is also more likely that the people in the army and police support Kim Jong-Il.

Question #5 - 1984

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.

One setting in the novel that I found very beautiful was the place Winston and Julia went to first meet and talk. It was a secluded area outdoors, far from prying eyes, and leaves were everywhere, while a bird was perched on a branch. I really enjoyed this scene in the book, because I felt this was the one peaceful scene where Winston didn't have to worry about being followed by the Thought Police or the eyes of Big Brother, which contrasted very much with the other scenes portrayed in this novel. While reading the novel, for the most part I was held in suspense. However, this was the one scene where I was relaxed and calm. I could picture Winston becoming calm, too, instead of stiff with anxiety about being caught by the Thought Police.

The scene that I thought was most disturbing was the scene where Winston was about to be tortured in Room 101. I was extremely tense when O'Brien was describing the brutality of the rats, I could picture in my mind Winston sitting in the chair, horrified about being ripped apart by the vicious rats. The room itself was also very disturbing. A dark room containing whatever a person fears the most is definitely a scary thought. While I was reading this part of the novel, I myself was scared as I thought about what frightened me the most.

For most part of this novel, the setting was a dark, gray city. However, there were flashes of color here and there, the most being at the scene where Winston and Julia met, and the least being in Room 101, because the darkest place is the place where everyone's fears are.

Question #4 - 1984

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.

"He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark mustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! 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 over himself. He loved Big Brother." (Pg. 245)

This passage is very meaningful because it shows how powerful a totalitarian government is and what it can do with its power. This last scene from the book shows the audience how a controlling government and its followers can change even the deepest thoughts in a person. For a person, the last sanctuary he/she can have is his/her mind. The fact that a government can change what goes on in a person's mind is very scary and unethical.

At the beginning of this story, Winston is against everything the government says and everything it stands for. Even in the torture room, he says what he truly believes in, which is that he sees four fingers, and not what O'Brien wants him to say, which is five fingers. However, over the course of forty years, the totalitarian government and its brain-washed followers manage to triumph over another helpless human being. The government penetrated the defenses of Winston's last sanctuary, his mind and his thoughts, and changed all of it. So by the time forty years was up, Winston truly believed everything the government said. Totalitarianism had triumphed, and Winston loved Big Brother with all his heart and mind; his once safe sanctuary full of anti-governmental thoughts was washed away with nothing but a poster of Big Brother left hanging there.

Question #3 - 1984

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

The mood of this novel is very suspenseful and somewhat creepy. The reader is kept on the edge throughout this whole novel, wondering what Winston will do next. Will he cave under the pressure of the government? Or will he stand for what he believes is true? Also, how the author describes the dingy streets of Oceania adds to the suspense in the plot. The mindless obedience to the government by the proles is also very creepy. To think that a whole group of people who have brains actually believes everything a government tells them is very scary. It makes one think that those people, the proles, have no brains, and instead, have the brain-washing teachings of the government stuffed into their heads.

The novel does sadden me very much. To think that people are not even allowed to think for themselves is unthinkable. For a person, the safest place he/she has is inside his/her own mind. Living with this government, the people don't even have that safe place. They have no safe place. The government claims that the people are safe if they follow the government, but this is not so. What saddened me the most was the fact that the people didn't even realize they were living a harder life. They sincerely liked the life they were living and didn't question anything the government said. I agreed with Winston while reading this novel, that if there was any hope, it was with the proles; however, the proles were too ignorant to realize the power they had, which was the saddest part of all.

Question #2 - 1984

What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?

The climax of this novel happens when Winston Smith is tortured in Room 101 with the rats in a cage. The finally question comes down to this scene in the novel: will Winston still keep his promise to Julia, or will he betray Julia to the government? The reader is kept in suspense as he/she wonders what will Winston do. The reader's question is answered with Winston saying, "Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you to do her! Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!" (Pg. 236)

The events in this novel made me feel very sad. To be honest, though, I cannot blame Winston for betraying Julia. If someone had tortured me with what scared me the most, I would have probably betrayed someone, too. I think everyone would have. The government used this fact to make everyone who had anti-governmental feelings to betray someone who was close to them, like with Winston betraying Julia. Another thing that made me sad was the fact that none of the people were allowed to have differing ideas. In the novel, the people are taught that everything Big Brother says is true, and anything that goes against what he says is false. If I had to live under a government like this, I would have probably already been arrested, because I often have very opposing thoughts to the government these days.

However, the events in the novel also made me feel stronger in what I believed in. The novel taught me that people shouldn't have blind obedience for a government, because if they do, the country will never be strong and the people will be living in darkness.