my thoughts(part III)

and here comes the last part!

the Party uses various ways and means to torture its prisoners.the first one i inferred was that by keeping their prisoners waiting,they get them more and more anxious for whats about to come.makes you feel worse when you know you're going to get punished,but you're kept on the edge waiting for it to come.

then you starve them.one who is hungry and thirsty is definitely more susceptible to confess to his mistakes when confronted rather than one who's well fed.

oh yes.you also don't let them know how much time has passed by since they've come in.left in a room that always is lighted up-you never know when day passes into night,or vice versa.

then induce immense fear as well as curiousity by mentioning the mysterious Room 101.the mere mention of which causes a calm man to turn hysterical.even though you know great tortures await you in that room,you're still curious as to what it holds.

and then comes the physical torture.so harsh that you're willing to agree to any crime.to implicate anyone.as long as the pain stops.

it is through these means that the Party takes control of its prisoners.hurting them till they succumb completely to the Party's power.willing to listen to anything they say.agreeing that 2+2=5.the absurdest things they agree to,and somehow believe.

i find the Party to be absolutely sadistic.O'Brien especially.he uses the trust Winston puts in him to turn against him.kind of despicable.also,they let the whole thing stretch out for so long.they could have arrested him and killed him 7 years ago.when he first had thoughts of treachery and spared him the agony.and the whole rats thing.

in the end,the Party and O'Brien get through to him.he betrays his love and in doing so,loses the love he felt for her.and replaces that love with love for BB.he ends up as one of those many other party members out there-hardened inside and only capable of feelings towards BB.

in my opinion,the book was well written.unlike several other books which i had to drag my feet to finish reading,this one had me continuously flipping the page to find out what happened next.except maybe the part where they explained the slogans.somehow,i found that tedious to read.haha.i didn't have to go running for a dictionary every few minutes and many of the ideas presented throughout the course of the book were ones i could easily grasp.1984 has been a great read!=)

my thoughts(part II)

well.here goes part II...

Winston shows yet more human like qualities.he believes julia to be his enemy yet,he feels sympathetic towards her and starts forward to help her when she falls on her injured hand.Also,he is affected by her note of love to him.he actually seems to understand the concept of love,compared to the other Party memebers.also,he resists pushing katharine over the cliff to kill her.which must surely have taken great amounts of restraint.

its then quite amusing to read on about them planning secret rendezvous,without the knowledge of the party.its almost like teeange lovers scurrying around without getting caught by their parents.haha.julia shows her smart and cunning side-using party activities to learn things to her own advantage.

julia seems to be one of the rare few who actually enjoy the act of sex.she also claims to have had sex with other party members before.this kind of information changes the way you look at the party members.they aren't as pure as they'd like you to believe.

oh.the girls are educated from the age of sixteen that having sex to reproduce was their duty to the party.so all girls are brought up with that idea in mind.very brain washed.kinda gets rid of your individuality.

julia is sensible,and puts forth a very plausible explanation as to why the Party wants to deprive its people of sex.if people had sex,they would be satisfied and would not have the energy to put into hating goldstein and loving BB.quite smart aren't they,the Party.haha.

winston shows perception.he knows that its only a matter of time before the thought police discover the acts they have done and arrest them.and eventually,kill them.he's like the living dead!it also shows the effectiveness of the Party's power.no matter how good your planning skills are,you're definitely bound to get caught in the end.

at one point,julia says that she thinks that the picture's bound to have bugs behind it and she's got to clean it someday.and she's so close to finding the telescreen hidden behind the picture!!oh.and maybe there's a double meaning to bugs-insects and listening devices!!the telescreen can count as a bug no?

by this time,BB seems like a made up character.someone to use as a front-because the people seem to respect him,fear him and love him.while O'Brien seems to be the person at the head of the Party,but behind the scenes.

and the truth behind winston's family comes out!!he didn't really kill her.he just thought he did.but his selfishness disgusts me.its war time and food is scarce,so you'd think that even though he's such a young fella,he'd not be so greedy.but he is.and his last memory of his mom and sister(his dad disappeared a while back.How is it the party makes people disappear??) is of stealing their meagre chocolate ration away.i guess i don't blame him for blocking out the memory of them.at least it shows he has feelings,and hasn't become hard inside.

Winston commits his most fatal mistake-admitting to O'Brien that he's against the Party.and bringing julia along too.you know it was the wrong thing to do when you hear the finality of "we never help our members."but still,Winston continues to hold this unknown respect for O'Brien that nothing seems to be able to shake.

Hate week.its almost like national day or something,the amount of enthusiasm and effort they put into it.haha.but its really amzing how they are able to turn the hate that the people have been building up towards Eurasia for six days to Eastasia in an instant.and the people don't question it.its amazing how much control they wield over the people.

ooh.then i understood the meaning of war is peace!and got more confused about the meaning of ignorance is strength.care to enlighten me anyone?haha.

and winston and julia are captured by the thought police!the friendly old man they rented the room from is one of the thought police.just goes to prove the point that none of teh people around you can be trusted.

moving on to part III in the next entry..

1984-my thoughts.(part I)

ooh.i know this blog has been started waaay after when it should have been.sorry!*glances apologetically at mr wee.

here are the general ideas i gathered from reading the book!i thought it would be easier for me to record my thoughts if i divided it into the three parts its written in!

Part I

it started off normally enough-a man named Winston goes into a building which happens to be where he lives.the wierd part starts when you realize that posters of Big Brother (or BB for short) is everywhere!!its at each landing of the building,every corner you turn and his eyes even seem to follow you.*shudders.

the Telescreens and the Thought Police seem to play an important role in this story.the Telescreens and the Thought Police are an absolute invasion of one's privacy-there is no way you can be alone;to enjoy a single moment of solitude.which is actually what the Party wants to achieve.but because of this,there is no individuality among the people.you have to act in a certain manner,talk in a certain manner-the manner that is decided by the Party.all just to ensure that you continue living.to me,that seems like a very controlled existence.there's even a facial expression advised to be used when facing the telescreen.gee.what a life.perhaps,one not worth living?

then its quite curious how Winston is unable to remember anything from his childhood.or his age.at first,it seems like one of those sci-fi flicks where the memory is wiped out from the person so he can't remember anything.haha.but i guess its because he was purposely not letting himself remember,as i find out later in part II.

ooh.then comes the slogans.which i didn't have a single idea what it meant.

War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength

right.find me someone who understood it the first time they read it.haha.anyway,the various ministries they had was similar to the ones we have in present day.a ministry to maintain law and order,one to take care of economic affairs,etc.but the ministry of peace kinda puzzled me.the ministry of peace concerned itself with war.contradicting yes?i'd think the ministry of peace would concern itself with ways and means to make peace with the other two countries.haha.oh yeah.the names also kinda reminded me of the hippie era-pple proclaiming for love,peace and truth.haha.but it doesn't coincide with the time period winston is in.cos the hippie era is waaay before 1984 right?

ooh.all the products seem to be named "victory ..."is that some sort of unconsious way of reminding the people that oceania is the place that will be victorious over anything,in any war?or am i just reading too much into a label?haha.

niwae,then i felt kind of proud of winston.he started a diary!!woohoo!haha.it showed he was human afterall.he had thoughts and feelings that could not be controlled by the Party.it also showed how repressed he was,in that kind of living atmosphere.there was no one he could talk to freely-not unless he wanted to die.but then,there was no one who could be trusted.so yeah,always better to write a diary.(which is kinda human-to write in a diary.we do that now too!).not use the speakwrite.its sort of cool how they have gadgets that can write stuff while you dictate.cos even now,we don't have that.do we?*smiles.haha.not technologically up to date.

oh.and his aim of writing a diary was to "transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running inside his head."and the aim of this blog is do that too right?writing our thoughts on 1984.well.typing then.since we're using a computer.haha.'

then there's the introduction of the unnamed girl winston hates on sight.and O'Brien who he feels immense respect for.mostly because of his false belief that O'Brien is also secretly against the Party.apparently,7 years ago he heard O'Brein's voice and been reassured since.sounds flaky to me.

Two minutes of Hate.its surprisinging how you can quantify the amount of time you are supposed to hate.haha.also,this two minutes seem like some sort of a event-with changing programmes everyday.but then,Emmanuel Goldstein is always the main person towards whom they direct their hate.its so controlled-they even have to be told who to hate!!

also,i feel that maybe the things that goldstein is supposedly saying,he didn't really say it.that perhaps the Party memebers came up with it.i mean,if they can constantly change history(with winston himself playing an impt role in that) then surely they can edit footage of Goldstein so he's saying demeaning things about BB.

oh.and the whole two minutes of hate is so propoganda.Goldstein is the evil character and BB comes in to save the day.as in the people get so worked up when they see and hear Goldstein.and then everyone is calmed by the sight of BB.

Public hangings.its horrific how the kids find the public hangings a source of entertainment.they are so consumed by the hatred thats been drummed into them that they don't even realize that its a human-someone who has feelings,thats being hung.

Children.the ultimate source of joy to parents-watching them grow up and learn.yet,its not the case here.the children are the ones you have to be wary of.they have no attachment to their parents and are the first ones to rat them out.there is no love between them.if we were to look through the Party's point of view,it would be necessary for the kids to have loyalty only to the Party and thus,have no love for their parents.which would allow them to rat their parents out at any point.they would have no guilt.but gee.how cold.

Winston's mother.hers as well as his sister's disappearance was because of him.guilty feelings perhaps?probably why he can't seem to remember his family.

Physical Jerks.what a name.haha.kind of appropriate name-they have to exercise vigorously.and yet again,there's an appropriate facial expression to be having-grim enjoyment.to me,it seems like one of those utopian concepts-everyone has to be healthy.and what better way to be healthy than to exercise?so yeah,all the citizens of Oceania have to exercise.

doublethink!confusing concept.to know the truth but still tell a lie.like those who work in the Minitrue.some of them,like Winston,make their living adjusting the past to suit the present.so,they know that oceania wasn't always at war with Eurasia,but they'll tell anyone who asks that it was.and fully believe their lie too.

lunch.somehow,it reminded me of all the icky lunches they portray american school kids to have.line up,grab a tray,get food that is slightly unidentifiable,etc.haha.sorry.just a mindless observation.

Newspeak.destroying words so that only the base-est form of words are used.when i thought about it,its actaully a pretty cool concept.you'll never have to learn how to spell flabbergasted,or other hard words.it'd just be doubleplussurprised.or triple.but then,language would become so dry.no flowery language.and there would be no use for shakespeare,byron,etc.guess it has its negative and positive points!

Subscriptions.sort of like our taxes!a quarter of their salary is used for voluntary subscriptions.actually,its not very voluntary as you have to give up that amount.

Ignorance.well.maybe not ignorance in its purest sense.more like a self imposed ignorance.The Party turns out statistics of food,clothes,houses etc.fake ones that show that the country is doing so much more better than predicted.and the people are willing to blindly accept these facts.guess its doublethink in action.

Marriage.only for the purpose of reproduction-"our duty to the party."its very feelingless.making love is not making love.its just a duty!the only people who do make love are the proles.and they are considered beneath the Party people.

Appreciation for beautiful things.Winston shows his human qualities yet again when he shows appreciation for beautiful things like prints,paperweights,etc.

yup.thats about all i could come up with while reading part I.