Posts

Utilizing Religion

    An interesting part of chapter 4 was the introduction of the character Richard Moss. The way Moss has constructed his own religion and belief system made me think about how Mr. Butler talked about religion in sophomore history class. He described it as an excuse essentially, or a way people could justify their actions or manipulate others into doing what their bidding. Historically, religion has been used as the reasoning behind many wars and many deaths, as well as swaying the hearts of the citizens, finessing them out of money in a lot of cases. Richard Moss on the other hand used religion to justify his relationship, one that we can reasonably infer is looked down upon. His reasoning is extremely old-fashioned, sexist, and reminds me of something an incel might say. I'm not too familiar with the Old Testament, but something I know (or at least something I think I know) about christianity is that lust is viewed as a sin. I think many christians would argue that a polygam...
Post a Comment
Read more

God and Human Action

     Something that stood out to me while reading these first four chapters were the short excerpts at the beginnings of the chapters about god. Personally, I tend to think of myself as an atheist, though every once in a while I find myself half-praying for good fortune. The way I view god is pretty simple, humans made up the concept of some greater being/power to explain the natural phenomenon they couldn't yet explain. This is a pretty common sentiment, but aside from that, I think part of what makes god so appealing is that it gives us purpose, and makes us feel more significant and less alone than we actually are. Lauren, and some others in the world of Parable of the Sower describe god saying "god is change." Now, this irks me a little bit, since deciphering what this means is a bit of a pain. I figure that what she's saying is that change is an absolute, (using the term "god" metaphorically, as a stand-in for something that has complete power over hum...
1 comment
Read more

The Final Post

     So, the time has come for this series of posts to end, and I want to round it off with some final thoughts on the book as a whole. As I've said in about every post I've made on this book so far, I don't find this book realistic, and that has really hindered my enjoyment of it. The book not feeling realistic isn't something I take issue with in itself, but the point or appeal of 1984 's   society is lost on me. The idea of having complete control over a large amount of people makes sense to me, but who is it that is in control? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding some things, but to me there is no one, not a single soul in 1984 who has anything to gain by what they wish to achieve. In Brave New World , at least people have things like soma, feelies (or whatever those movies were called), and sexual liberation (kind of, and this also is taken a bit too far with the children participating). In 1984 however, no positive emotions will be allowed, and it doesn't ...
1 comment
Read more

The Future of Humanity

     In this blog post, I am once again asking why. I know I do this pretty much every time, but in chapter three, we are told by O'Brien what the future will look like, and while reading, I could not imagine a reason why. O'Brien describes it as devoid of all emotion except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. He says that they will eliminate everything else: motherhood, marriage, friendship, "sex instinct," the orgasm, love, laughter, art, literature, science, etc. Reading this I thought to myself, what else is there? What else are people living for? What kind of human being would ever think a world without those things would be ideal, what kind of person would rally behind them? The only circumstances I could think of in which someone would think this way is if they were for some reason spiteful of all these things, maybe due to living in unfortunate circumstances for all of their life. Similar to how incels are created I suppose. But even then, for this person...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ministry of Love

     After reading chapters 1 and 2 of part three, I'm left with curiosity as to where Orwell will take the story in the last few chapters, as well as some confusion regarding what it is I just read. 1984 's torture sequence is by far one of the most memorable I have come across in a long time. In general, the concept of being confined within a place that strips you of your sense of time and location is frightening to me, but the horrors of these chapters go far beyond that. While torturing Winston, O'Brien managed to change the way Winston's mind worked with pain and reasoning alone. I say "reasoning" as O'Brien does provide Winston with logic to alter the way he thinks, but anyone could read this passage and know that his argument is idiotic and nonsensical. Four fingers is just four fingers, nothing more and nothing less, and yet, through the turn of a knob, O'Brien was able to change this indisputable fact in Winston's eyes and mind. I can'...
14 comments
Read more

The Society of 1984 Doesn't Make Sense to Me

     So I felt a little silly reading the rest of this section, as in it we are told that although the party can monitor you extensively, they can't actually get inside your head and read your thoughts. I'd previously written about how that possibility would completely eliminate all chances of rebellion, so I'll have to retract my earlier statements. Maybe I misunderstood the passage last night, but "Thought Police" would be a pretty misleading name if they don't have access to your thoughts. Anyway, while reading this passage, specifically the section in which Julia and Winston are talking about their inevitable arrest, I wondered how a society like the one in 1984 could ever come about. I mean, if a normal citizen was told about the plans to change to a society like the one in 1984 , they would undoubtedly reject the idea on account of the fact that it would be taking away their freedom. The only way to do it would be through subtle changes in the governmen...
4 comments
Read more

Sex and Freedom in Early Book Two

      Some things I noticed in the beginning of Book Two were the bits on sex that made me a slightly uncomfortable while reading. For starters, Winston admitting to Julia his horrific desires/fantasies regarding her, only to be met with her laughing delightedly felt like a weird and gross decision on Orwell's part. Generally reading about what Winston says he imagined is uncomfortable to me, but the way he says it like it's no big deal, as well as her reaction, make my experience less even less enjoyable. After this, I didn't particularly like Winston describing Julia's sexual habits as foul and impure, but I recognize that this is attributed more to the values ingrained in the dystopian society in which they live rather than Orwell's personal biases.      I also feel like for a society with such stern control on human freedoms, Winston and Julia being able to sustain their relationship and activities for so long seems unrealistic. At the beginning of the ...
4 comments
Read more