THE END

William Boyajian

I thought that the last 100 pages of this book were brilliant, especially the long and complex conversations between Winston and O'Brien.  They show in detail Winston's transformation from a rebel to a perfect party member.  There are times after O'Brien decreases the pain that Winston wonders how the Party could not be right.  He even thinks "It must be he, Winston, who was mad" after O'Brien talks about how everyone eventually comes to love the Party (256).  At points, he sees O'Brien as a fatherly figure who is actually caring for him, though moments earlier he was torturing him.  By the end, he betrays Julia, the one thing he swore not to do before they were arrested.  This transformation, along with O'Brien's explanations of what the future of Oceania will be like, show that the Party actually does have absolute power.  The proles will never rise up and overthrow the government, as Winston once thought.  Any party member who commits thoughtcrime will be taken to the Ministry of Truth, where they will come to love Big Brother before being killed or released as a completely different person.  Winston thinks throughout the novel that it is impossible to completely control the past and people's memories of it.  However, the party can force people to accept two contradicting facts at the same time.  They can alter facts so quickly that it is impossible to find evidence against it.  Even a change as big as which superpower they were fighting only took a few days of hard work.  The Party is immortal, Big Brother is immortal, and Winston, the representation of humanity, is beaten into submission.  In the end, he sees his past self as something to be ashamed of, mentioning that "he had won the victory over himself" (298).  He accepts that 2+2=5, and that Oceania had always been fighting the same country.  The Party has smashed Winston's mind, just like they smashed the glass paperweight.

"Where such nonsense exists, you know that 1984 was one hectic year" - James Bloomfield

Power

After reading the last few sections of the novel, while I was not really surprised by the Party's actions, I thought the party's actions were pointless.  O'Brien explains that the Party "cannot permit any deviation" from the Party, even when a person is about to die (255).  He believes that only by twisting one's thoughts to match the Party's ideology, even before he or she dies, is necessary to maintain power.  While I understand that it would not be beneficial to the Party if people were seen as martyrs, I still think that torturing people did nothing to help that.  The Party could just as easily kill the people it captured and maintain its power.  O'Brien declares that "power is not a means; it is an end," and that "the object of power is power" (263).  While Orwell is clearly saying that people seek power for no reason other than power, I would disagree.  I agree that it is human nature to want power, but I think that people want power in order to have things that make them happy.  Out of all the books and movies that we have studied in this course, 1984 seems the most hopeless and the most oppressive.  People have no freedom at all, unlike the other novels we have read, and the ending clearly shows that Winston is controlled by the society.  Overall, I thought that this novel was especially depressing, and almost too extreme to be plausible.

Winston's Transformation

By Colin Smith
5/9/13

After having read the first 250 pages of 1984, I was fairly certain that Winston would never renounce his negative views of Big Brother and the Party. However, the Ministry of Love successfully breaks him and rebuilds him as a faithful Party member over the course part three, which I personally found to be the most interesting part of the book. The one on one conversations Winston has with O'Brien are the most insightful as to the purpose and meaning of the society, as they examine why the Party exists (which is revealed to be solely for the exercise of complete power over the people, O'Brien explaining on page 263 that  "Power is not a means; it is an end."), what the society's plans are for the future, and why they must reform Winston before he must die
The whole struggle of the book, the Man vs. Society idea, is represented by the microcosm of Winston's change from hating to loving Big Brother, the figurehead of Oceania. On page 282 Winston states: "I hate [Big Brother].", a statement which may be compared to the last sentence of the book on page 298, where the narration reports "[h]e loved Big Brother". The change that happens in between these points contains the message Orwell wanted to send by writing this novel, cryptic though it might be, and a warning to progeny of totalitarianism imagined through the victory of the society over Winston. It is scary, it's disturbing to see the protagonist who once felt so strongly and thought so confidently be conquered by the 'bad guys', and this is what Orwell wanted the reader to feel. The transformation of Winston is Orwell's warning.

Winston and Julia's Motives

One thing that I found very surprising in this reading was how selfish and cruel both Julia and Winston are.  In this section, they visit O'Brien and he talks to them a little about how their lives will go; he informs Winston that he will spend his life working and following orders until he is caught, tortured, and killed.  O'Brien questions both Julia and Winston about what they are willing to do; he lists horrible actions and asks them if they are prepared "to cheat, to forge, to blackmail, to corrupt the minds of children, to distribute habit forming drugs," and to even "throw sulphuric acid in a child's face" if it would somehow benefit the party (172).  Both Julia and Winston readily agree to all of these without question.  Winston and Julia are at this point only thinking for themselves; they have no problem harming innocent people.  While people often make the argument that some violence is necessary to create a change, I find it alarming how quickly they were willing to agree to O'Brien's demands.  Also, they say that they would not be willing to separate and see each other ever again, yet they have no problem committing murder.  They are acting in entirely selfish ways.  Both are fed up with their lives and the lack of freedom in their lives, so they feel that joining O'Brien will provide meaning.  I do not think that either of them truly care about the good of humanity.  Rather, they only about themselves.  I think that Winston and Julia have lost some of their humanity; their behavior is clearly different than that of the proles.  This could just be a coincidence, but it appears then that the Party is succeeding in controlling everyone.  As we saw in The Road, a person's humanity is one of the only aspects of life that can provide hope for the future.  If the boy in The Road was not so compassionate and good, the book would have been a lot more hopeless.  Likewise, reading about Winston and Julia's willingness to be cruel made their position seem more hopeless to me.  I lost some hope in them, since it is no longer clear what they are fighting for.  They think they are joining O'Brien to help with the rebellion, but I believe that they are doing it for their own benefit.  However, whether they actually follow through with what they have agreed to will determine a lot more about their motives.

The Proles

In Oceania, the proles (proletariats) are the lower class of people, representing 85 percent of the population. Party members see the proles as naturally inferior, frequently comparing them to animals. Winston realizes that "if there is any hope, it lies in the proles" (69). Even though he hopes to verify the existence of the Brotherhood and succeeds in doing so, he notes that the few members of the Brotherhood within the Party would not have nearly as much power as the proles. They live under a different set of laws than Party members and there are rarely telescreen in prole homes. The proles, however, are too disjointed  and distracted a group to actually notice that they are being oppressed and rebel against it. They live worrying only about their jobs, families, and the Lottery. Winston recognizes that there is a difference between staying alive and staying human and that, ironically, the proles are more human than members of the Party. They are not under the constant inspection of the Party, and can act somewhat freely. They can choose whom they marry and form real friendships without seeming suspicious. As Syme said earlier in the book, Old English would be completely replaced by Newspeak by 2050 in the Party but not in the proles. Newspeak limits people's range of expression by cutting down words and preventing people from having complex thoughts, making thoughtcrime impossible. The proles would still speak in Old English and thus be capable of expressing themselves and even having a larger range of emotions than members of the Party. In this way, the proles will continue to be more human than the members of the Party, although they are both being oppressed.

Winston's Conscience and Memories

One interesting thing I noticed in the reading from the other night was when Winston mentioned that he believed that he had killed his mother. By his selfishness as a child and his unwillingness to share the little food his mother provided for him, he believed he had caused his mother’s and his sister’s possible death, as they had disappeared one day when he returned home after taking his and his mother’s and sister’s share of a chocolate ration and running away with it so that he could eat it himself. It is clear that he feels guilt about this since “[he] had woken up with his eyes full of tears” (159) after dreaming about it despite the Party’s efforts to prevent him from experiencing such emotions. Why I found this interesting is because it gives the reader a glimpse into Winston’s past which up until this point in the book had been a mystery. Perhaps knowing what Winston has been through as a child, as in having his family taken away, in some part due to his selfishness which he now repents, will give the reader a closer more personal connection to him.

Additionally, knowing this about Winston’s character may the point of some development further in the story. In fact, later on in the reading, Winston and Julia meet with O’Brien and begin their induction into the Brotherhood, and the reason for their decision to see him on that same day may have had something to do with Winston’s guilt about his mother and sister’s deaths, or his anger at the society inspired by his dream about their disappearance. He was possibly reminded of what the society had done to him and convinced himself to take a risk so that he could take action against them, which is interesting.

The Inevitability of Death

One recurring theme that I noticed in recent readings is that Winston, Julia, and the other members of the rebellion all see their deaths as inevitable.  There are multiple times when Winston think about how it is only a matter of time until the Party discovers that he is committing thought-crime.  He will be taken to the Ministry of Love, where he will be tortured and killed.  He sees this for everyone who does not have “discretion, aloofness, a sort of saving stupidity” that stops the Thought Police from becoming suspicious of them (55).   This theme also comes up in Winston and Julia’s relationship.  The both recognize that it will not end well and they will eventually be discovered.  They even plan for the occasion, and say that even if they are captured and interrogated, they cannot betray each other.  Julia says that “they can make you say anything… but they can’t make you believe it” (166).  They will always have some power over the Party because they can still think what they want.  Finally, O’Brien says that everyone who joins the Brotherhood will be killed sooner or later.  When he describes it to Winston and Julia, he says that “you will work for a while, you will be caught, you will confess, and then you will die” (176).  He sees it as part of the job.  I would not be surprised if Winston and Julia get caught before the end, as it seems to be what the story is building up to.  

Paranoia

William Boyajian
4/25/13

One thing that I thought was interesting about Winston was his extreme paranoia.  It is clear that you can be punished in extreme ways for very minor slips, such as having the wrong facial expression at the wrong time. Winston says that "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" could result in one being vaporized (62).  He is also constantly telling himself that he is going to get vaporized, along with Syne and any other smart people he comes across.  However, it sometimes seems like he is overly paranoid.  When he first starts writing the diary, even though he is out of range of the telescreen, he is extremely panicked, to the point where his writing is almost unintelligible.  He is also paranoid about any looks he receives from people. While he is eating lunch, the dark-haired girl looks at him "in a sidelong way, but with curious intensity" (61). This makes him automatically assume the worst, that she is a member of the Thought Police and is monitoring him.  Winston also thinks that he is completely alone, and that everyone, except for possibly O'Brien, supports Big Brother completely.  However, he has done a very good job at fooling everyone, so it could be that many other people are in the same situation as him.  While some of his reactions might be unnecessary, his paranoia has probably saved him from being vaporized.  He is constantly watching his actions so that he does not show in any way what is actually going on in his head.  Unfortunately, he is now convinced that he is going to be vaporized sooner or later, so he might be more willing to take risks, such as starting the diary.

Winston's Thoughts

Colin Smith
4/25/13

Something I noticed about Winston is that he spends a majority of the narration in his head. This makes sense within the context of the book since he explains that all conversation is recorded, and it is too risky to share his opinions with others because of the possibility that they are "thought police". For example, he notices the dark haired girl observing him in several instances, and he is paranoid of Syme mentally taking note of his possibly "unorthodox" behaviors. Another interesting aspect of the society which is related to "thought crime" is "face crime", which Winston explains as wearing an inappropriate facial expression, and which he explains is often punished severely. When he is doing his morning exercises, he is singled out for not trying hard enough "'6079 Smith W! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that [...] A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston's body. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away" (36). Winston has been trained to wear the right face at the right time, even though it doesn't mean he's not committing thought crime. He describes his look as "grim enjoyment" at one instance, but from experience he knows it is often difficult to prevent emotions  from being expressed through the body. For example, "With the deep unconscious sigh which not even the nearness of the telescreen could prevent him from uttering when his day's work started, Winston pulled the speakwrite toward him" (37). Winston's mental and physical condition must contribute somewhat to his emotions, since he lives alone, is malnourished, and feels alienated from his society. By this point in the book, the compounding of his frustration with his anger at the society he lives in are likely leading towards some course of action, and his diary will probably be the the focus of the development.

Language and Thoughtcrime

In this section of George Orwell's 1984, Winston and one of his comrades, Syme, discuss the idea that the society is trying to eliminate unnecessary words from the language.  By eliminating words and streamlining the language into the bare minimum required for communication, the government will be able to "narrow the range of thought," which will make thoughtcrime impossible (52).  Since there will be no words to express ideas with, there will no way to have thoughts against the Party.  Syme describes the new society as a place where people will live their lives "not needing to think" (53).  I think it is interesting that in this society, the government is blatantly trying to eliminate thought of any kind, while in other novels that we have read, such as The Handmaid's Tale, the government tries to manipulate what people think, but not eliminate thought entirely.  I also think it is interesting that free thought is what the Party fears the most, since it shows how powerful that can be.  Even Winston notes that Syme will be vaporized, because he is too intelligent.  Changing the language parallels Winston's job; by changing what is written in the past, he essentially makes it impossible for anything to contradict the Party.  Likewise, by eliminating most words, people will not be able to have thoughts against the Party or communicate anything that opposes the Party.  In order for the Party to remain in power, they have to prevent any rebellion, and to do this, they have to get rid of any thought that goes against them.

Winston's Job

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4/24/13

            While reading 1984 by George Orwell, I found Winston Smith’s job very unusual. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, one of the four ministries in their country of Oceania. Each day, Winston has to change the forecast, previous newspapers, or speeches given by Big Brother. His job is described on page 38 – “the messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify” (38). Winston discusses how he has to change the prediction of the number of boots that will be sold in a given year to make it closer to the actual number reported. At first, this job shocked me. I found it very strange that citizens would be changing documents or broadcasts that had been presented years in the past to make the leaders of Oceania seem smarter. At the same time, I was not that surprised. This country is involved in war and also has a group of enemies living within their country. I believe Big Brother wants to make his citizens trust him by changing his past statements to more accurate predictions of the future. Along with changing past broadcasts, books have been rewritten to eliminate “Old English.” I found their new way of talking very confusing. The country has been creating new words and hopes by 2050 that there will be less than ten words used throughout the country. I understand that this would eliminate their issue of thoughtcrime, but I do not understand how a country can run successfully with so few words.  These changes the society is making seem to be oppressing the citizens and creating a youth with a much different look on the world. I am interested to see how these changes effect the younger generation throughout the book.