Be(lie)ve

Write about anything having to do with 1984, that you have not yet had the chance to address. You may also review the book if you wish.

One thing that really sparked my interest was when Winston was being tortured by O'Brien. He had to actually believe that the Party and Big Brother were good and the best thing ever. He could not just say it. He had to believe it. And that blew my mind. The fact that someone can be tortured physically enough to the point where they believe (and not just lie about it) that everything they knew before was wrong is now right... well, that is absolutely terrifying. It is also one of the things that makes George Orwell a genius.

1984, A Warning

What is the main message that you think that George Orwell is trying to communicate to you through 1984? Provide three quotes from the book to support your claim, and explain HOW those quotes support your claim.

I believe the main message George Orwell was trying to communicate through 1984 was a warning, a warning of the direction Western governments are heading. 

The first of the three quotes that support my claim is: 
"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" (Book 1, Chapter 1).

This quote supports my claim because it shows how controlling the government is of the minds of the people. This can be true in today's society.

The second quote, also in Book 1, Chapter 1, is:
"People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, and your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word."

This quote supports my claim because it, again, emphasizes that the government has complete control of everything, even your life. Today, if the government hates you enough, you can disappear. 

Lastly, the third and final quote is:
"Already we are breaking down the habits of thought, which have survived from before the Revolution. We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother," (Book 3, Chapter 3).

This quote, the strongest of the three, is extremely powerful. O'Brien is clearly telling Winston that the government will control EVERYTHING. He even refers to the people as animals, to be treated with the same rights as a hen. He even goes to say that the Party can control what we love and what loves us, something we have always felt only belongs to us.

Obviously, George Orwell was trying to tell the world that if we do not watch out, we will end up with this situation. The scary part, is that he is not entirely wrong.

Analyzing Winston

Analyze the character of either Winston or Julia. What kind of character is s/he (protagonist, antagonist...)? Is s/he rounded or flat? Is s/he dynamic or static?  Find at least one piece of textual evidence from the novel to support your claims.

I will be analyzing Winston Smith. 

As the protagonist is the main character, Winston is definitely the protagonist. He is faced with a problem that he must solve. I believe that he is also a round character. He has a complex personality. That said, he is also dynamic. He definitely changes over time. 

An example from the book of how Winston is the protagonist, also known as the main character, is on page 1. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him." 

Introducing Winston this early on indicates that he is the main character. There are some cases where this is not true. For example, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the first chapter is not from Harry's point of view, rather it introduces Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, along with Severus Snape. However, most of the time it is the main character. And you can also know this from the fact that the POV stays with Winston for the rest of the book, making him the protagonist.

A Car? Or Sex?

Using the questions you learned in class on Thursday, deconstruct some kind of persuasive media (magazine cover, advertisement, political ad, commercial, etc.). Please either upload the image here or link to whatever you choose.

The questions are:

Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?

Who is the "target audience?" What are the clues?

What "tools of persuasion" are used?

What part of the story is not being told?

What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower?

This is an ad for a used BMW, made to convince people to buy the car. The target audience is men. It could be for lesbians too, but from the looks of it (and our society), probably not. The clues are the woman and how she looks like she is naked. The tool of persuasion is sex. This image implies that if you buy a BMW, you will get all the sex. Also, due to the fact that it is for used BMWs and it says "you know you're not the first," means that it was owned previously, just like how the woman was "owned" previously, implying that she has had sex a lot. It also says "sheer driving pleasure." I do not think they actually mean driving... Obviously, getting sex from having a nice car is not true (at least, hopefully). This image definitely empowers men, and disempowers women. It tells men that a car, an object, is equal to a woman. It is objectifying women, disempowering them to believe they have as much worth as a car. 

My question for BMW: where's the actual car?