*1984 Question 8

For my choice of entry, I want to write about what I felt about this novel, 1984. When I saw the cover of this book and saw how thick this book was, I really didn’t want to read it. I also thought how a book cannot catch one’s attention at all. It looked so boring and hard when I saw the font size in the book. When I read about two to three chapters, my mind didn’t change; I felt the same. As I read this novel, 1984, I asked my dad what I should do to understand and enjoy this book better and he told me to do a simple research on this novel. And I did. It was much better when I had basic information about the book. It was easier for me to read this book because I now knew the setting and all that. I thanked my dad. It was hard for me to read this book for my own, but once I understood it I found it interesting. The one fact that I found interesting when I was researching about this book was that it was written before 1984 and it’s all Orwell’s prediction and view how the future society will look like and how worse it will be in the future. I especially liked this book’s ending. I think this book is very creative and fascinating. After I finished this novel, I told my dad that I really enjoyed reading this book and he said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover, Angela.”

*1984 Question 7

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.

It’s hard to tell about the setting of this novel, 1984, since they don’t really talk about it. All Orwell talks about is how Winston lives and survives in this cruel, mean, bad society. Also, there weren’t a lot of descriptions in this novel about the setting. But there was one thing the book mentioned strongly and repetitively while explaining about the society where Winston is living in, Totalitarianism. It’s hard to describe where he lives, but one thing we know is about the telescreens. This novel's setting is in London, England. It's just a normal city but have telescreens everywhere we go. Telescreens are used to see the people where they go, what day do for Big Brother; it looks like televison, but the size is smaller. Telescreens symbolize that Winston is not free and he is stuck in the city. I think that place is interesting because we don't have telescreens in our society and when I think about having the telescreens, it would be so uncomfortable since the president will know what I am doing every moment even when I go to the restroom. I think Telescreens are a good device to know how the society is like in this novel based on the function of the telescreens. I think the author did a good job on not describing the setting in detail, but pointing out only the important and useful parts for the story. I really liked the way Orwell wrote described about the telescreens; it was disturbing, but memorable.

*1984 Question 6

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.

"But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."(p.311)

When I saw this question to answer, I didn’t have to think for a long time to answer it because I already had my favorite quote in my mind as I read the book. The quote was a big inversion to this plot. Nobody would have known that this is going to happen at last including me, I think. However, I think that’s why I enjoyed reading this book and loved this quote. The quote was very strongest quote to me as a reader. It was so realistic. Winston hated totalitarianism and also including Big Brother. Big Brother was the one who was in charge of the country where Winston was living in. I couldn’t believe that Winston loved Big Brother. This quote was placed in the very last part of the book and I think that surprised me more. I predicted that Winston is going to revenge on him, but he loved him. He changed his mind. He had to change his mind to live. I picked this passage because this passage shows that even though Winston got betrayed from Big Brother and he hated him, he later decides to love Big Brother. I think Winston is so dumb and foolish but at the same time I feel sympathy. This part made me sad because it felt so real. It is us, humans, who can't do anything in front of the people who are stronger than us except for trying to love them. I still don’t want to believe what Winston did at the end of the book.

*1984 Question 5

What is the mood of this novel? do you find this novel saddens you in any way? why?

Dystopia books create similar kinds of moods. Most of them aren’t positive moods. The mood of this novel, 1984, is dark, frustrated, and pessimistic. There are a lot of betrayals and the whole idea of this book is to criticize the government totalitarianism. People are so cruel and mean to others. Dystopia means a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. Since we are reading about dystopia, it’s not true if I say that this book is not sad. Pessimistic overall mood makes the readers feel gloomy and saddens the readers while reading the book. The novel, 1984, is so realistic that it seems like it’s really going to happen. To tell you about this novel a little bit, Winston lives in a society which locks him up by Big Brother watching him everywhere he goes through the telescreens. While he lives a boring life, he gets a message saying “I love you.” From a woman who works in the ministry of Truth named Julia. They enjoy their affairs, but unfortunately Julia betrays Winston. But also Winston gets betrayed from Mr. Charrington and O’ Brien. Up to this part, I can feel the gloominess and sadness because people are keeping betraying one another. I think dystopia books grab more attention because there is tension in the plot always. Totalitarianism, I think, is a bad kind of government because the people don’t have freedom and that creates bad mood. This story is very surprising and shocking. People are so cruel. How can they betray the people around them? I mean, I think that is really sad reality.

*1984 Question 4

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

There are so many parts of this novel that looked like Climax because it made the readers pay more attention to it or it was too astonishing. The Climax of this novel is when Winston gets tortured in room 101 with rats. While Winston having affair with Julia in a room without telescreen that Mr. Charrington rent him, the Thought Police comes in and arrests Winston for breaking the rules of this country. The Thought Police knew that they are having affair because Mr. Charrington is the Thought Police. It is shocking because Mr. Charrington seems like supporting their relationship, but he was the Thought Police. Winston goes to room 101, which is in jail, and gets tortured. In the jail, room 101 is very popular since people know that it was the place where people go in and gets tortured. This significant event makes me feel gloomy, depressed, and sad. Winston is foolish. All he did is following others, but he was the one who got arrested and got betrayed from the people around him. I felt sympathy since I felt like he was symbolizing us, the citizens, who have no power at all. This book’s tone is very dark overall. I don’t think many of the readers will agree with me that this is the climax of this novel, 1984 because they may think this incident wasn’t a big deal. However, I am saying that this part is the climax since this is the overall effect of what happened in the story. It is complicating.

*1984 Question 3

Who are the main characters in the novel? do you like them? why or why not? what is special about them? what do they reveal about the universal human experience?

Winston Smith is the protagonist in this novel, 1984. He is a minor member of the ruling Party in London; he is thin, frail, contemplative, intellectual, and fatalistic. A thirty-nine-year-old man, Winston, hated the totalitarianism and hides his revolutionary dreams since he doesn’t have any power. Julia is Winston’s lover. She is beautiful dark-haired girl working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth; she claims to have had affairs with many Party members. An optimistic woman, Julia, has her own enjoyable rebellion against the Party contrasting to Winston’s. O’ Brien is a mysterious, but powerful character who is the member of the inner Party. He is the one whom Winston believes in. Even though Big Brother never appears in the novel, he plays a crucial role in this novel because he is the ruler of Oceania; he is the one who governs totalitarianism. He interfere Winston’s life a lot and makes him feel hatred towards him. Mr. Charrington is a member of the Thought Police; he is also the one who seems like supporting the relationship with Julia and Winston and rents a room without a telescreen to carry on their affair. I don't like any of them at all because they are all evil humans. They only think about themselves except for Winston. But, Winston is too dumb as a reader. Winston gets betrayed from everyone and he is the symbol of us, outer party person. Julia and O' Brien are Inner Party people, which means they are in a higher level than Winston. Big Brother is like president No of our country. Winston is like us and Julia and O' Brien are like the governors in our society.

*1984 Question 2

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 are more bad things occurring currently in our lives than in the past. I’m sure that there are a lot of betrayals happening in these days all over the world. I also have an experience betrayed by a friend of mine in the past and it was awful. We all know that getting betrayed from someone especially someone you had really close relationship with or had faith with is very painful, depressing, and sad. In this novel, 1984, people keep on betraying one another. Winston gets betrayed from his trusted love, Julia but also gets betrayed from O’ Brien, who Winston liked and believed in. Also, Mr. Charrington who seems like supporting the relationship between Julia and Winston and rents a room without a telescreen for them to carry on their affair betrays Winston. Later, Winston figures out that Mr. Charrington is the Thought Police. Since there are a lot of betrayals happening in this novel, we can understand how the society is like in the story; it is similar to current situations. However, the novel affects worse the society by showing the reality but not telling how the current situations can be resolved or fixed. It’s hard to believe that there are so many betrayals happening in these days and people are not noticing how they are being so cruel and mean to their people. I think Orwell expressed the reality that he thought about in the past very well. I am sure that it is being a serious problem: love betrayals, friendship betrayals, company betrayals, etc. Currently, people in our society became selfish and think only about their benefits. And because of that, we often betray one another for our own benefits. Is there any way to fix this at all?

*1984 Question 1

what is the major theme of this novel? why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

In my opinion, it was difficult for me to find themes when I was told to find it. However while I was reading the book, 1984, I found out that this book is based on two main themes: dangers of Totalitarianism and betrayal. This novel is basically criticizing a not common government called Totalitarianism. Readers of this novel say that this novel is a satire on Totalitarianism. At first I couldn’t understand what this book is talking about since totalitarianism was brand new information for me. While reading about how Winston, the protagonist, lives his life without privacy in this society, I found out that Totalitarianism is a type of government which a person rules over a country and interferes every person in the country. Big Brother, who is the person who rules over a country where Winston lives, watches people through telescreens. Telescreens looks like TV and it is set up everywhere in the country including restrooms. I don’t think they are doing on purpose, but it is just their own unique way to govern the country. Another major theme in this novel, 1984, is betrayal. There are a lot of betrayals happening while living; Julia and O’ Brien betray Winston. Especially, O’ Brien’s case was shocking to me as a reader because I could notice that Winston had a faith in O’ Brien and he was the only one who Winston believed in. However, Winston finds out that O’ Brien is one of the inner party people and is related with Big Brother. These themes are very important to the teenagers because totalitarianism may happen in the future. This book is written in 1949; Orwell was predicting the future, what will happen in 1984. So, this book is warning the readers about what can happen that we should be aware of.