"At every few moments the fury of the crowd boiled over and the voice of the speaker was drowned by a wild beastlike roaring that rose uncontrollably from thousands of throats. The most savage yells of all came from the schoolchildren. The speech had been proceeding for perhaps twenty minutes..." (Page 181)
It amazes and disgusts me how easily the mind of a human can be altered and distorted. And it amazes me and disgusts me even greater that someone would be okay with altering and distorting the minds of people just like them, especially the children! Constantly throughout this book I have been thinking about times in the world where human nature has been deceived, for instance McCarthyism and Hitler. It just seems so wrong that anyone with a big ego and enough scare tactics, can change and affect so many people. I am also concerned by the fact that people, in times of fear, can be so easily persuaded into finding a common enemy to distract them from their own problems. This is also known as using a scapegoat.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
5/2/2013 Journal Volume 2 #7
"Do you understand that even if he survives, it may be as a different person? We may be obliged to give him a new identity. His face, his movements, the shape of his hands, the color of his hair--even his voice would be different. And you yourself might have become a different person...She murmered something that seemed to be assent. Good. then that is settled."
At this point in time O'Brian, Julia and Winston are speaking about what they will have to be ready for upon joining the Brotherhood. They had just been asked if they were prepared to separate and never see one another again. To which they both responded that they would not be able to do so. This statement got me thinking about the difference between true love and love purely for physical attraction. I feel like our perspective on this changes as we grow in age and in physicality. For instance when you are younger, or around our age, people look first to physical attraction and then to what the person is capable of. I find this wrong and I wish more of us younger folk did too. But then we see that as people get older they begin to see through the outer appearance of people and figure out who they really are.
At this point in time O'Brian, Julia and Winston are speaking about what they will have to be ready for upon joining the Brotherhood. They had just been asked if they were prepared to separate and never see one another again. To which they both responded that they would not be able to do so. This statement got me thinking about the difference between true love and love purely for physical attraction. I feel like our perspective on this changes as we grow in age and in physicality. For instance when you are younger, or around our age, people look first to physical attraction and then to what the person is capable of. I find this wrong and I wish more of us younger folk did too. But then we see that as people get older they begin to see through the outer appearance of people and figure out who they really are.
5/2/2013 Journal Volume 2 #6
"As O'Brien passed the telescreen a thought seemed to strike him. He stopped, turned aside, and pressed a switch on the wall. There was a sharp snap. The voice had stopped. Julia uttered a tiny sound that sounded like a squeak of surprise. Even in the midst of panic, Winston was too much taken aback to be able to hold his tongue. "You can turn it off!" he said. "Yes," said O'Brien, "we can turn it off. We have that privilege." (Page 169)
By now we now that O'Brien is the leader of the Brotherhood but we are not sure what sort of things he is capable of. As weird and dumb as it may sound, this book reminds me of the Matrix. Thinking of O'Brien as Morpheus and Winston as Neo. This scene depicts a perfect example as to why I think that as well. Noone would dare do anything as scary as turn off the telescreen, everyone is controlled by the brainwashing propaganda to the point where that is not even something they would think about. Just as we can see by Winston's reaction, he yells with a hint of fear, curiosity and amazement at the fact that O'Brien so casually changed his entire perspective on the world.
By now we now that O'Brien is the leader of the Brotherhood but we are not sure what sort of things he is capable of. As weird and dumb as it may sound, this book reminds me of the Matrix. Thinking of O'Brien as Morpheus and Winston as Neo. This scene depicts a perfect example as to why I think that as well. Noone would dare do anything as scary as turn off the telescreen, everyone is controlled by the brainwashing propaganda to the point where that is not even something they would think about. Just as we can see by Winston's reaction, he yells with a hint of fear, curiosity and amazement at the fact that O'Brien so casually changed his entire perspective on the world.
5/2/2013 Journal Volume 2 #5
"The smell of her hair, the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her skin seemed to have got inside him, or into the air all round him. She had become a necessity, something that he not only wanted but felt that he had a right to. The she said that she could not come, he had the feeling that she was cheating him." (Page 139)
At this point in volume two, Winston and Julia have been meeting up quite a few times and having relations in secrecy. The problem that I have been noticing within Winston, but not only Winston, is the way the relationship is set up. Because these two (Julia and Winston) cannot spend time together without it becoming physical I fear the worst for the relationship. Like Winston mentions above in the quote he feels that he has a right to be with her. Things could go wrong if her feelings for him alter even slightly, because as we have seen Winston is not the most level headed person and he constantly overreacts.
At this point in volume two, Winston and Julia have been meeting up quite a few times and having relations in secrecy. The problem that I have been noticing within Winston, but not only Winston, is the way the relationship is set up. Because these two (Julia and Winston) cannot spend time together without it becoming physical I fear the worst for the relationship. Like Winston mentions above in the quote he feels that he has a right to be with her. Things could go wrong if her feelings for him alter even slightly, because as we have seen Winston is not the most level headed person and he constantly overreacts.
5/2/2013 Journal Volume 2 #4
"I'm good at games. I was a troop leader in the Spies. I do voluntary work three evenings a week for the Junior Anti-Sex League. Hours and hours I've spent pasting their bloody rot all over London. I always carry one end of a banner in the processions. I always look cheerful and I never shirk anything. Always yell with the crowd, that's what I say. It's the only way to be safe." (page 122)
This quote from the novel is from Julia when she and Winston talk in private for the first time. For strangers these two are extremely trusting toward each other, which actually makes me somewhat nervous even for Winston's wellbeing. Although I am still skeptical of her, the points she makes in this quote got me thinking. She talks about how she knows in her mind that she does not believe in what is being taught, and yet she continues to go with the flow because that, for her, is easier than attempting to start a societal uprising. This is exactly the kind of behavior that is the beginning of brainwashing. It begins with physical surrender, and soon after your mind will alter. Is it possible that her youth causes these mental resistances? Do you think as she gets older she will become just another one of the "sheeple"?
This quote from the novel is from Julia when she and Winston talk in private for the first time. For strangers these two are extremely trusting toward each other, which actually makes me somewhat nervous even for Winston's wellbeing. Although I am still skeptical of her, the points she makes in this quote got me thinking. She talks about how she knows in her mind that she does not believe in what is being taught, and yet she continues to go with the flow because that, for her, is easier than attempting to start a societal uprising. This is exactly the kind of behavior that is the beginning of brainwashing. It begins with physical surrender, and soon after your mind will alter. Is it possible that her youth causes these mental resistances? Do you think as she gets older she will become just another one of the "sheeple"?
5/2/2013 Journal volume 2 #3
"As for sending a letter through the mails, it was out of the question. By a routine that was not even secret, all letters were opened in transit. Actually, few people ever wrote letters. For the message that it was occasionally necessary to send, there were printed postcards with long lists of phrases, and you struck out the ones that were inapplicable." (page 110)
At this point in the novel, Julia has given Winston the note with the words on it that said, "I love you". This note has taken over many of Winston's thoughts and has started to drive him crazy because he does not know how to get in contact with this woman again. Big Brother's rules and surveillance has made it nearly impossible for him to figure out who she was. Rules like a man not being able to be alone with an unaccompanied woman. However at this point in the novel Winston is trying to figure out what he could do to see her again and find out more about her. The letter idea shows us a glimpse (again) at how controlling Big Brother really is. How do you think people would react today if the government began to open and read through all of our mail? Also, does it not seem like we are already heading in the direction of these printed postcards with the lists of phrases?
At this point in the novel, Julia has given Winston the note with the words on it that said, "I love you". This note has taken over many of Winston's thoughts and has started to drive him crazy because he does not know how to get in contact with this woman again. Big Brother's rules and surveillance has made it nearly impossible for him to figure out who she was. Rules like a man not being able to be alone with an unaccompanied woman. However at this point in the novel Winston is trying to figure out what he could do to see her again and find out more about her. The letter idea shows us a glimpse (again) at how controlling Big Brother really is. How do you think people would react today if the government began to open and read through all of our mail? Also, does it not seem like we are already heading in the direction of these printed postcards with the lists of phrases?
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
5/1/2013 Journal Volume 2 #2
"The afternoon was more bearable. Immediately after lunch there arrived a delicate, difficult piece of work which would take several hours and necessitated putting else aside...This was the kind of thing that Winston was good at, and for more than two hours he succeeded in shutting the girl out of his mind altogether." (page 109)
This is after "the girl" has slipped the love note to Winston and therefore has completely invaded his mind. Living in this brainwashed society Winston has become accepting of suppressing his emotions his whole life and because of this I feel that he does not understand his emotions. Living in a society with a constant fear of doing wrong by your higher ups causes you to become brainwashed, and run or hide from your own emotions for fear that they go against the government. Why is it that Winston is so comfortable to control these emotions at first? Is this an example of Winston being brainwashed?
This is after "the girl" has slipped the love note to Winston and therefore has completely invaded his mind. Living in this brainwashed society Winston has become accepting of suppressing his emotions his whole life and because of this I feel that he does not understand his emotions. Living in a society with a constant fear of doing wrong by your higher ups causes you to become brainwashed, and run or hide from your own emotions for fear that they go against the government. Why is it that Winston is so comfortable to control these emotions at first? Is this an example of Winston being brainwashed?
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