language, self, and politics

ok im gonna merge 'language and self' with 'language, self, and politics'

Newspeak is the official language in Oceania, but Oldspeak (the language we are using right now) is commonly accepted everywhere. why has there been a change? so that the party remains in power. how so??

in newspeak, words are broken down to their essentials, so if you are enraged, you wouldnt be enraged, you would be doubleplusangry. other words like crimestop, thoughtcrime, facecrime, unpersons, are newspeak words. these words contain only the root of the word with nothing flowerly, only suffixes and prefixes. which means that one's vocabulary is smaller, so they know less words. with less words, they are unable to accurately convey their feelings to others, and therefore, people are less close to one another.

but what's the importance? feelings are not dependant on words. true. but our minds are. we think with language. when language has been reduced to a mere 50 words, we wouldnt be able to think more than 50 words. with such simple language, people's minds will be simple, they would think simple things. they wouldnt have the capability to think deep. they would not be able to think on issues that we should be thinking about, like the importance of our life in the world. when people can't think for themselves, they jus accept what is given to them, thus making it easy for the party to remain in power.

one word which interests me is doublethink. its meaning and use has been explained throughout the book, but what i am interested in, is that people know this word doublethink, they use it, yet they are not aware that they are using it somehow. how can they use a word they are not aware of. and if they are aware, then why do they not realise that they are being played with?

in any society, language is very important. it trains the way the society thinks, it is a form of communication, and it is a form of art. by manipulating language, the Party is able to control people's minds. it is almost like reprogramming one's brains, so that everyone is robotic. (but there may still be hope, if you have seen i-robot)hehe!

when there are robots, there is no individuality, and again, no freedom.

PS i left this part out: Ampleforth says "there is only one offence, is there not?" when questioned about his offence. this one offence, i believe, is being unorthodox. in a totalitarian government, the will accept anything except unorthodoxy.

rebellion and religion

just thought of adding this in:

i think there were 2 types of rebellion winston presented in the book: inward, and outward.

outward rebellion was the kind that was physical. writing in his diary, writing DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, having sex with julia, meeting julia for that matter, renting the room, consuming black-market foods.

inward rebellion was the kind you could not see. to know that 2 + 2 = 4. to love and feel loved. to enjoy spending time with julia, to taste chocolate, to smell the aroma of coffee, to believe in the existance and success of the Brotherhood, to know humanism. to hate BB.

however, in the end, all was defeated. he stopped meeting julia, 2+ 2 = 5, and he loved BB.

another form of rebellion was believing in a God (which is like loving someone other than BB). we can relate BB to God, since he has the power to take anyone's life as and when he pleases. also, there is this eerie feeling that he is omni-present, because he has pictures of himself everywhere, just staring at you. we know that God is always watching over us, and here, "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." BB also doesnt allow for religion, we know this because of the inmate winston was with in cell in the Ministry of Love, who was there because he wrote the wrote 'god' in one of his peoms.

also, it is interesting to note that in order to follow a religion, you should theoratically, rebel other religions. you must not love another religion if you are committed to one. (sort of like marriage). rebellion isnt encouraged by religions, but in most religions it is essential that you are a follower of only that one religion.but then what is the point?what do you learn in that religion? (oh sorry a bit off track)

the issue of an absence of a God as we know it today is also found in Brave New World, and God has been removed from their systems in order for Mond to be in complete power. the same system works in 1984. perhaps, this was also a call from George Orwell to get people to be more religious? or at least to practise what they preach? i dont know..

julia sexuality love

julia is winston's love, she is described as beautiful, she is confident of herself (the bold 'i love you', and having slept with many party members), she loves sex (so we assume), she doesn't think too deeply on matters, she is unaffected by what doesnt affect her.

however, are julia and winston really in love? i do not think so. winston is PLEASED when she says she has slept wid many party members before. i personally find this appalling: not her sleeping with the party members, but the way she says it, without remorse. as though it's something to be proud of. so, winston is not really in love with julia, he is in love with thefact that there is someone out there who is against the party like he is. (dont think you can fall in love in a week anyway) . "Their embrace...was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act." this shows that winston wasnt in love with julia, or maybe he was but his main aim was to defeat the Party. for him, love was political.

Julia is also uninterested in anything that she doesnt see relavent to her, whereas winston is concerned with how the world functions in this age, as if he knows something can be better (the golden country). Julia was interested in things that would make her benefit from. for example, the Junior Anti-Sex League, and the processions she took part in all helped her furthur her own interests. as long as her interests were fulfilled, she didnt care about who was being made to eat donkey poison.

i think the only thing they have in common is their rebellious energy, the will to go against the party. winston has a whole lot of political ideas, he finds out how, he wants to know why. however, julia isnt the least bit interested. when winston gets hold of the book, julia falls asleep while he reads it to her. julia doesnt seem to notice that oceania keeps changing the continent which it is waging war against, while this seems like something obvious to winston. maybe it is because winston's job is such that he notices these things, but it is rather strange for someone like julia to be against the party and yet not notice their activities.

i feel that julia rebels because she wants to. she is completely alive (sort of like the matrix..not sleeping) and wants to feel alive. she doesnt want to settle for less when she can have more. while winston rebels because he feels he is expected to. he feels that because of his past (which is rather fortunately still mostly in tact). he has a duty to fulfill to his mother and sister and dad. we also notice that in 1984, just like in Utopia, family ties have been cut off, and the only love allowed is for Big Brother.

BB doesnt allow love to flourish, because loyalties will form, people will learn to think, learn to feel, realise that BB isnt everything, and then he will lose his power. "it is not enough to obey BB. you must love BB." it is essential to love BB. without loving BB, u would not listen or respect him, and he wouldnt have so much power. humans naturally are born with love in them, (i bit mushy i know) and the Party cant get rid of this innate feeling. but what it can do it channel this feeling straight to BB.

julia repesents sexuality in this book, and the first time we see this is when she wears the Junior Anti-Sex League sash around her waist. a sign of restrainst, or a sign that she knows what it's all about. she is able to attract the attention of men with her figure.

in 1984 sex is supposed to be their 'duty to the party'. once again, there is no love involved between the people, and sex is for the love of the party. the world being created is a world in which there is no individuality, no love for fellow human beings.

yuck.

winston

winston is the main character in this story. indirectly, we look at the world in 1984 though his eyes.

in the beginning, winston comes across as an average person. however, as we read on, we realise that he (or so he's portrayed) is different from the majority. he inwardly hates and excitedly rebels the party. he feels that he should do something about the lies in the world, and joins the Brotherhood. he feels alone in his thoughts, yet he believes he isn't alone.

he tries to make himself believe that life was better before the revolution, but knowing that past can be altered, (since he works in that department) he cannot trust the material he reads about the past in books. he is always holding onto the hope that the party has weaknesses, that it is not as superior as it places itself. even the glance from o'brien reassures him that he isnt alone. hence, i think that altough winston is sure that his train of thought, although unorthodox, is the truth, he is still insecure about himself, in the sense that he wants to be reassured that what he is doing is right. and since no one can be trusted, his insecurity grows.

when winston gets a note from julia that says "i love you", winston immediately feels obliged to love her too. here, he is attracted not to Julia, but to the idea that he is not alone in his thoughts. for example, when the two of them first meet alone, julia tells him she has had sex with many party members before, and winston likes it! this is because winston believes that sexual acts are acts of rebellion against the party, and not a symbol of love.

winston trusts only the proles, o'brien, and julia. he believes that hope for a better life lies with the power of the masses: the proles. he believes that because the proles are not subjected to suc close scrutiny of themselves that they remain human, that they are able to live freely, love freely and do things they enjoy freely. because julia also is against the party, winston is able to trust her. winston also trust o'brien, maybe because his heart told him he was trustworthy, or because o'brien told him about the Brotherhood, or because he had seen O'brien in his dreams.

winston does care about his family, but he has supressed this feeling. he thinks about his mum and sister, but tries to forget it. maybe he feels guilty, maybe he himself is double-thinking.

winston believes in himself, he believes that as long as he knows 2 + 2 = 4, then he is able to tell people that it equals 5, but himself not believe it, thus not double-thinking. he believes the totalitarian government is unable to get into his head, unable to change the way he thinks.

in this story, winston represents the reader, does, thinks, and feels the way the reader would, if put in that situation. winston rebels because he has to, not because he wants to.

an overview

1984. For the average joe, a date of the past. For George Orwell, a date of the future. And for the reader, today. We follow Winston through the book, we sneak behind telescreens, commit thought-crime, inwardly and excitedly hate the party, take part in his adventures, and feel his suffering.
I believe I am an amateur writer so please forgive my unrefined writing skills.
I think 1984 was supposed to serve as a warning to everyone, but especially those in power, what the world can become. The people have the power, not the government. "if there is hope, it lies in the proles" the proles are the mass of people who just follow without question, create little problems and require little attention. Living in Singapore, the proles are us. We hold the greatest power, but willingly give it to a minority, so that they may govern us. We do not feel its strictness, and we are not bothered to revolt.
Like other utopian writings, this story follows the convention of removing the 'family as the basic unit of society', one of the 5 core values in Singapore. In 1984, the Ministry of Love, quite ironically, serves to destroy love for anything except Big Brother. Anything includes colleagues, family, friends, and even God. However, "you must love Big Brother". The purpose of this is so that Big Brother always remains in control, and that Big Brother will not be betrayed.
The system that ensures this is the thought police, and their method is through the telescreens. Which means pretty much no privacy. With no privacy, one is unable to express themselves in an unorthodox manner, hence, either they try to look for places without telescreens (like Winston and Julia) or just give up totally.
Hence, we have a totalitarian system in which demands complete subservientism, and thus, we have 1984.