1984 was a very interesting book. The book struck an interest with me because of the mystery behind Big Brother. It was a case where the government purposely withheld information from its people, and it altered the only information the people had access to. This is a genius way to keep people in your control, keep them ignorant. I think the master mind behind Big Brother and the different parties was wise enough to know how to control a large group of people.
Winston is very interesting as a main character. The access we have to his mind guides us through what it was like living in that time period. We see through the eyes of Winston how things were operated from someone who worked for one of the government run ministries, and someone who was amongst the normal citizens. Winstons thought process helps clarify the customs and the social norms of that time era. Winston intrigued me in the sense that he was a brave man. Knowing of the consequences of opposing Big Brother, the Party, and the Thought Police, Winston went ahead and started his on investigation about what was really going on. It was interesting for him to do that with all the powers above him watching his every move because he couldn't possibly know who he could trust and who he could not. I think the way the book was set it up it portrayed Winston as a direct threat to Big Brother because of his willingness to try and bring him down.
I agree with this in the sense that Winston was made out to be a big threat to "Big Brother". He wanted to rebel for all the seemingly right reasons. He wanted his questions answered and just wanted to know who exactly (if anyone) was watching and why.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joe in the sense that Winston was a very interesting main character. At the surface he was a man who was passed his prime, had an issue with his ankle, and for the first half of the novel had a terrible cough. Yet for as weak as he may seem from this description he was willing to put his life on the line for the cause of bringing down the party itself. This was a heroic act; Winston knew that they very thought of acting against the Party was illegal and most likely would cost him his life.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Joe when he said that the book portrayed Winston as a direct threat to Big Brother because in reality Winston was just a unique case of not accepting the reality that was around him. He also never did anything to help his fellow person, even when the Thought Police were coming to arrest Julia and himself he did nothing to fight back. It did not make a lot of sense for him just to stand and get arrested, he already knew he was going to be arrested and would most likely be tortured; so why not fight back and be a hero?