1984 #9

War is Peace

- 3 powers in Europe:

            1) Eurasia (northern part of Europe and Asiatic land: Portugal to Bering Strait)

            2) Oceania (the Americas, Atlantic islands, Australia, southern Africa)

            3) Eastasia (China and countries south of it, Japanese islands, Manchuria,                           Mongolia, Tibet)

- permanently at war, past 25 years (p. 185)

- heinous war acts (rape, slaughter, etc.) are seen as “normal”

- war = indecisive, no power will ever win

- natural defenses (p. 186):

            1) Eurasia (vast land)

            2) Oceania (width of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans)

            3) Eastasia (fecundity and industriousness of its inhabitants)

- motive for war = possession of thickly populated area (p. 187)

·         valuable minerals

·         vegetable products (rubber)

·         cheap labor

- “primary aim of modern warfare... is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living” (p. 188).

- continue industry without increasing wealth

·         “goods must be produced, but they need not be distributed” (p. 190)

- essential act of war = destruction of the products of human labor (materials that would make the masses too comfortable)

- important to keep the favored groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, to promote scarcity and ensure a distinction between groups (inner party vs. outer party, outer party vs. proles) (p. 191)

- war hysteria and hatred of the enemy are strongest in the Inner Party

- 2 problems the Party is trying to solve

            1) how to find out what someone else is thinking

            2) how to kill several hundred million people in a few seconds without warning

- all 3 powers contain atomic bombs (p. 194)

- conditions of life in all 3 superstates are the same (p. 196)

            1) Oceania (Ingsoc)

            2) Eurasia (Neo-Bolshevism)

            3) Eastasia (Death-worship/Obliteration of the Self)

- “the war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is... to keep the structure of society intact” (p. 199).

- inner meaning of WAR IS PEACE = a peace that is truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war (p. 199)

Ignorance is Strength

-3 kinds of people: High, Middle, Low

-purpose of Ingsoc, Neo-Bolshevism, death-worship = arrest progress and freeze history at a chosen moment

·         the High to maintain their power

- totalitarianism foreshadowed the political theory of Ingsoc

- invention of print, film, and radio made manipulation of public opinion easy (p. 205)

- invention of television ended privacy

- as long as the lowest class has no means of comparison, they don’t know that they’re oppressed and therefore don’t revolt (p. 207)

- no one has ever seen Big Brother

- Oceania has no capital, no law

- the masses may have differences of opinion, but the Party members cannot

- Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought- first stage in discipline taught to children (p. 212)

- doublethink = the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them (p. 214)

- re-writing of past

- “world conquest is believed in most firmly by those who know it to be impossible” (p. 216).

- Ministries are deliberate exercises of doublethink

- “Sanity is not statistical” (p. 218)

1984 #8

“The Brotherhood cannot be wiped out because it is not an organization in the ordinary sense. Nothing holds it together except an idea which is indestructible. You will never have anything to sustain you except the idea” (176).

            There is a parallel between Big Brother and the Brotherhood. They both find success in their means of management. Big Brother controls its citizens through the use of intelligence. The ignorance and stupidity of the Proles protects the Party. The paradox, however, is that the Prole’s ignorance is the Party’s strength. Because the Proles have emotions and the Outer Party has intelligence, it is much easier for Big Brother to control its citizens by controlling the intelligence of a smaller population. It is also evident that the Brotherhood controls its members through the use of intelligence. Winston learns this very quickly upon arrival at O’Brien’s apartment. Brotherhood members are told certain information needed to carry out specific missions, but nothing more. They are not even told the names of other members out of sheer protection. The less Winston knows the better. If caught, Winston will have no proof of the Brotherhood, therefore putting no one else at risk except himself. Both Big Brother and the Brotherhood realize that the limiting of information and intelligence to their people is the key to protection.

1984 #4

“It was a wild, impossible notion, to be abandoned as soon as thought of; but the room had awakened in him a sort of nostalgia, a sort of ancestral memory. It seemed to him that he knew exactly what is felt like to sit in a room like this... with nobody watching you, no voice pursuing you...” (96-97).

            It is quite clear that Winston does not view his life the same as others. Winston feels uncertain, confused, and disconnected towards his surroundings, while most of his comrades on Airstrip One loyally obey Big Brother. The antique store that Winston enters and the glass paperweight that Winston buys represent his desire to reconnect with his past. Big Brother’s propaganda washes away almost all of Winston’s memories, but the glass paperweight reveals his desperate attempt to recover past memories and make sense of history. This passage also demonstrates Winston’s longing for freedom. He says that the room awakens a “sort of nostalgia” in him, but he never actually felt like that. He was too young when the Revolution occurred to really appreciate and experience the type of freedom he is describing. Winston tries so hard to reveal the truth about the past that he gets caught up and starts to imagine himself experiencing these freedoms, when in reality, he never did. What is interesting, however, is that just by being in a room that can recreate the sensation of the past, Winston can all of a sudden imagine such a life. Although he attempts to conceal his desires, Winston ultimately disagrees with Big Brother and wants freedom. The question now is whether he will voice these opinions or keep them under wraps, forever.

1984 #2

"Even from the coin the eyes pursued you. On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrapping of a cigarette packet- everywhere. Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you" (27).

            The eyes of Big Brother are a motif throughout the novel. The sense that someone is always watching them instills fear in the comrades of Airstrip One. The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, is never alone. He is watched whether asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or outdoors, and in the bath or in bed. There is no escape. The eyes of Big Brother somehow make their way into his brain too, looking and listening into Winston’s deepest thoughts. In this alternate society, there is no such thing as privacy. The telescreen in each citizen's room is another source of Big Brother's eyes. The government can watch each person's every move and reaction. This constant stream of propaganda is unavoidable. The eyes, however, are representative of a larger theme. Psychological manipulation is a common technique that the government uses to control its citizens. The eyes root constant fear in the citizens, therefore making them vulnerable to brainwashing. Their fragile perceptions of their world are readily manipulated by Big Brother to produce an unopposed powerhouse.

 

Figurative Language 2: Chapter 6

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

            Robert Frost employs the use of a symbol, the forked road, to reveal his desire for infinite exploration. The road represents a choice in the speaker’s life. The poem revolves around a person walking in the woods, forced to choose between two equally promising roads. The speaker can only choose one path, and therefore expresses his sorrow: “And sorry I could not travel both” (2). He tells himself that he will explore one road and then come back and explore the other, but deep down he knows that once a decision is made there is no turning back. With both roads being so similar, “And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black” (11-12), there comes to question if the speaker makes the correct choice. Although the reader will never know the speaker’s real-life choice, one can assume it emerges successful: “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence” (16-17). Both choices are likewise appealing, but the speaker chooses the one that will benefit him down the road and have a greater impact on his life. He chooses the one that will eventually put him in the position to accurately tell others about it. All of the decisions the speaker makes results in one overarching theme: forging one’s own path leads not only to individuality, but also to success. He says, “I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference” (19-20). The speaker’s courage trumps his natural inclination to travel the “safer” route. He chooses the path that less people have traveled and finds it advantageous. His life choices, whether resulting in success or failure, represent one’s natural belief in free will and self determination. This speaker will forever crave the experiences he has to forgo, but the forked road will always represent his ability to make his own choices, permanently affecting his future.

Heart of Darkness: Reading #5

“ ‘The last word he pronounced was-- your name’... Hadn’t he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark-- too dark altogether...” (157).

            While the hypocrisy of imperialism is seen throughout the book, the hypocrisy of characters is also prevalent. The manager and Marlow are both hypocrites. Focusing on Marlow, however, he contradicts himself at the end of the book. Throughout the entire story, Marlow repeats himself when he explains that he detests a lie. Throughout the book, he also expresses his fascination with Mr. Kurtz. Marlow is intrigued by Kurtz because so many people compare the two. He also admires Kurtz because Kurtz does not lie. He is straightforward with his desires and does not put on a façade. When Marlow finally meets the source of his fascination, he is disappointed, but continues to show loyalty. At the end of the book when Marlow gives Kurtz’s letters to his significant other, he lies to her. He tells her that the last word Kurtz said was her name, when it was actually “The horror! The horror!” By doing this, Marlow contradicts himself. He says that he hates a lie, but then goes and lies to this woman, claiming defense in loyalty to Kurtz. He likes Kurtz because he does not lie, but then shows loyalty to the man by lying. Perhaps Marlow’s latter hypocrisy stems from his morals. To him, loyalty prevails over truthfulness. The last part of this quote also demonstrates Marlow’s morals. He feels compelled to spare this woman’s feelings rather than tell her the truth. These types of emotions and morals are established after the trip into the jungle, therefore denying any proof of morality from Marlow while in Africa.