"I hate purity, i hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones." Winston Page 126
This quote reflects the skewed world that Winston lives in. In most cases, you hear about purity and goodness being traits that are desired and hard to find in people. In the world that Winston lives in everyone is expected to be perfect because there are no indulgences or pleasures that you can get in trouble for. Winston is so accompanied to everyone being pure and virtuous that he just wants to get away from that and wants something that is completely opposite of what the government wants. This quote represents Winston's desire to have something different than what the government wants for him.
Neverless, it had been very difficult not to betray a momentary surprise, for the two or three seconds while he was helping her up the girl slipped something into his hand. pg 89
This quote starts to provide evidence that Winston is not the only one who is starting to rebel against the Party. However, Winston was very surprised when this occurred because it was something that he was not used or prepared for. He was also surprised because Winston believed that this girl was stalking him and she was going to turn him into the Thought Police.
"I've been at school too, dear. Sex talks once a month for the over-sixteens. And in the Youth Movement. They rub it into you for years. I dare say it works in a lot of cases. But of course you can never tell; people are such hypocrites" (110).
The above quote is both relevant and important to the chapters that we have just read because it regards the fact that although Julia has been taught to avoid sex and that it is a horrible disgusting thing ever since she was a child, she still rebels against these teachings and acknowledges the fact that there may be other people out their who rebel against this act as well. This is important because Winston has hope that there are many rebel people in the party, and that any small act against the party will help to bring it down. Winston also has hope that these acts can be found in the youth, because naturally the youth generation is rebellious. It will be interesting to see if Winston finds people who are against the party as he is, and if something will result from it.
"Not physically. Six months, a year-five years, conceivably. I am afraid of death. You are young, so presumbly you're more afraid of it than I am. Obviously we shall put it off as long as we can. But it makes very little difference. So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing." Winston page 113
This quote is said by Winston when he is talking to Julia during one of the times that they manage to meet in a private spot. Winston tells Julia that they are already dead because no matter what there is no way that life within the Party could be anything more than just moving without feeling. Here we learn that Winston is afraid of death and worries about when it will come. This quote shows us an insight on how Winston views life within the Party and also allows us to see that he is not very optimistic about things improving. Winston's fatalism is what guides his actions and thoughts throughout the book.
"Actually, the three philosophies are barely distinguishable,, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all" (pg 162)
In a dictatorship, especially the one that occurs in this book, it is good to have control over the theology of the people and create a "right" religion. During the German Nazi regime, Hitler told all of the people that his way was right and the Jews were wrong. Using this fear, he was able to have complete control over the people of Germany. Also, this quote says the three religions are barely distinguishable much like that of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith, who all are very similar in their origins and have rather slight, when you consider how long they have been around, differences in practice.
"It was a heavy lump of glass, curved on one side, flat on the other, making almost a hemisphere. There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the color and the texture of the glass" (95).
This is important to the book because it represents not the progress in humanity but the degeneration of the human standard of living. The paperweight in its own right is quiet evidence against the Party and all of its lies.
"The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal." Page 147, Book 2, Chapter 4
I believe that the paperweight is a direct symbol of what goes on in this book as a whole. Winston is intriqued with the depth of the paperweight, and the insides of it. He believes that him and Julia are actually inside of the paperweight like a small bubble surrounding their lives. The insides of the paperweight represent their lives together. I also believe that the paperweight could also be symbolized as a weight dropped on the population. The government has pushed everybody down and is keeping them down.
"You like doing this? i don't simply mean me; I mean the thing in itself?" "I adore it" "That was above all what he wanted to hear. Not merely the love of one person but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire..." pg. 128 This is important to the story because it shows that no matter how the government tries to control people, eventually people will rebel and go back to their animal instincts. It also shows that most likely Julia has been doing rebellious acts such as this for a while, which could mean several things... one of which could be that he is possibly being watched which could lead the thought police to Winston as well.
"One never saw a double bed nowadays except in the homes of the proles" (119).
This quote shows how the party is very much so in control. They don't even have double beds so that they can make sure that no one even thinks about sex. But I don't get why Winston doesn't just try to become a prole or leave so that, that way he can live in freedom. Winston says later that he only slept a double bed once before in his boyhood which could mean that the party has gotten more agressive in their teachings and more powerful.
"The tune which was to be the theme song of Hate Week (the "Hate Song," it was called) had already been composed and was being endlessly plugged on the telescreens. It had a savage, barking rhythm which could not exactly be called music, but resembled the beating of a drum. Roared out by hundreds of voices too the tramp of marching feet, it was terrifying" (123). I believe there are two ways to interpret this description Winston provides of what the song induces among the population. One is that it is foreshadowing the future where all the proles will come together and overcome the party as an army. Ironically. the proles will conform and be brought together by their similar ideas and rebellious nature. Another interpretation is it shows the horrifying progress of the strong hold the party has on the population. The technology has developed and the people have been conditioned so much that very soon, no one will be capable of thought. As Winston described the song, it was a 'savage, barking rhythm', which describes that soon people will be just like animals with no free will, thoughtless savages. People will basically devolve. Also, the song was said to not 'exactly be called music'. This reflects the main ideas of the society; to rule with fear, discomfort and completely destroy everyone's ability to get pleasure. With music comes a pleasant sound or multiple sounds that can induce any emotion out of someone and change peoples' lives. This song is but drums (like war drums). Molly Riegel
"I thought we'd always been at at war with Eurasia." she said vaguely. It frightened him a little. pg. 127
This quote is when Julia and Winston were lying in bed together and Winston was talking about how Oceania and Eastasia had been at war together only 4 years ago but the party had erased it and Julia thought that they had been at war with Eurasia. She thinks this because that is what the party has told people even though Winston knows about it and he knows Julia was old enough to remember but she doesn't. It shows how the party has such control about what everyone thinks and what is written in their history.
"One did not know what happened inside the ministry of love, but it was possible to guess; tortures, drugs, delicate instruments that registered your nervous reactions, gradual wearing down by sleeplessness and solitude, and persistent questioning." page 138
This has to do with how everything is different in this book than what it actually is and how everything is the opposite. This is shown in the quote becasue in the minestry of love they are torturing people and killing people and that is the opposite of love. Also when it says in the book "war is peace".
"What mattered was that the room over the junk shop should exist. To know that it was there, inviolate, was almost the same as being in it. The room was a world, a pocket of the past where extinct animals could walk." pg. 124
This quote describes Winston and Julia's rebellion. Simly the knowledge that they are evading the Inner Party holds hope for Winston. When he mentions extinct animals, he is refering to people like himself and Julia who know that the policies of the Party are wrong and that they are lies. Mr. Charrington is also like an extinct animal because he is one of the very few people old enough to remember what the world was actually like before the Party.
"Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will aways return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way of the other. The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable...." Pg 152
In this section of 1984, Orwell writes about the history of the three types of peoplel; the High, the Middle and the Low. They are varied from their names, numbers, and ages, but the "essential structure of society has never been altered". This idea of repetition throughout life is almost like the "Now" ideas. The idea that life is like a filmstrip. Everything is revolving and reoccuring over and over again. There are many ideas throughout this book and this one about IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH is the most understandable, because its almost like we live it on a day to day basis.
"I'm not interested in the next generation, dear. I'm interested in us." pg. 159
This quote is very interesting because it is when Julia and Winston are talking. They are discussing the fact that in reality they do not care about previous or future generations where as in today's society we are focused on the past, present, and future. They are only focused on the present. This is an interesting fact because if their society is only focused on the present why do they spend so much time trying to rewrite history and everything to make the Party look good. When if the Proles do not care about the Party at all and none of the party members focus on the fact that there was a past and there will be a future it is pointless to really spend the time rewriting it.
"What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you--that would be the real betrayal" (137).
Winston says this to Julia, promising to never betray her by never letting the Party control his will to love her. Julia believes that the Party can only control what one does, not what one believes. However, she clearly underestimates the power of the Party. Although the Party has not achieved full control over Julia and Winston, they do control most other people in every single way, even mentally. Julia and Winston have a naive understanding of the Party's power and think that by joining the Brotherhood they will be able to defeat Big Brother. However, I think that they will come to realize that the Party has an ability to control all facets of life.
"in some ways she was far more acute than Winston, and far less suscptible to Party propaganda. Once when he happened in some connection to mention the war against Eurasia, she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening. in this quote there talking about the war and how its all propaganda. and how they dont really know if its true and they dont know what they can and cant believe because of the government. this shows how powerful the government.
"Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act."
I find it interesting how symbolic the last line of this chapter is. Sex is often symbolic in many forms, one of which being in the Matrix Reloaded. In a sense, the reason it can be so symbolic is the fact it is a big part of our humanity– to express our emotions toward one another and remind ourselves that we aren't machines who follow rules all the time, and there are animal tendencies and instincts in all of us. The interesting part about this usage compares it to an oppressed society where it is disallowed, almost stifling the citizens' humanities.
The Party needs sex because it needs reproduction o it can have more minds to warp. The children are the future of the party and because they rule by fear and force they haven't come up with the science to produce children like in Brave New World and they need to be created the natural, old fashion way. The Party turned sex into a chore is unenjoyable so people would feel like criminals when they did it but still do it.
"I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones." (126)
This quote adds to the theme of the book of complete control. Purity, goodness and virtue are all positive traits but in Winston's outlook on the world he sees that there is nothing to be but perfect since Big Brother take everything you could get in trouble for away from you. As a side not does this really mean you are perfect. There is only good because there is bad and vice versa so if there is only good wouldn't that make good and bad cease to exist.
"The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense. Actually the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all." p. 162
This quote shows the absolute control the parties have over their respective countries and how within those countries they are able to distort reality into anything they see fit. By keeping their citizens isolated the parties are able to perpetuate the half truths and outright lies that they pass off as fact that maintain their hold on power. This isolation is critical to the existence of the three super states because without it they cannot control the thoughts of their citizens.
"A peace that was truely permenent would be the same as a permenent war. This - although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense - is the inner meaning of the Party slogan: WAR IS PEACE"
This is important because it explains the slogans and the meaning of what the party does. In this section war and how it came to be is explained. This is a central theme in the book.
"So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing." page 113
This quote was stated by Winston. Throughout the book Winston repeatedly says "we are dead" and in this particular instance Julia refutes the statement and claims they are very much alive. Winston explains that he believes they are physically dead and that he is greatly afraid of death. This represents Winston's fear of the party and he feels that sooner or later he will be caught. Also, this quote by Winston stuck out to me because it represented existentialism and our unit on time.
"The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent" (157). This quote is reflective of the theme repeated throughout the book in the sense that it speaks of war in a different way than usual. Rather than war being something that is used to obtain land, power, etc over another nation, war, as depicted in 1984, is used to keep humans from advancing intelectually, and not allowing products of knowledge or intelligence to be created.
"I don't mean confessing. Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal" Winston pg 137
This a quote that Winston says after they talk about how long they will be together and all that gushy stuff. I find this quote to be really ironic because i predict that since they are talking about getting caught they will and they would have to undergo some sort of interrogation. While in whatever torturing confession they are in Winston will probably break and betray Julia. With that confession he admits he will probably also lose all feelings for her. Another way i took the quote was that when he says "what you say or do doesn't matter" i was considering betrayal. In this sense Winston having free loving sexual feelings for Julia totally goes against the Party and in that turn Winston and Julia are betraying the Party by have this relationship which basically means karma comes back around.
"I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
Living a life of purity is impossible and boring. Is the point in this quote.If everyone did what they wanted life would be better. Since purity and goodness are traits that everyone in Winston's world posses he wants people to break away from being perfect
"As O'Brien passed the telescreen s thought seemed to strike him. He stopped, turned aside, and pressed a switch on the wall. There was a sharp snap. The voice had stopped." Pg.140
This is important because once Julia and Winston meet with O'Brien they realized the power the Inner Party has over everyone and everything. He was able to turn the telescreen off so that they could have their own private conversation. Once that was off they were able to discuss the brotherhood.
"She knew when to cheer and when to boo, and that is all one needed." (page 129)
Julia doesn't really know much about the political side of the party or things going on. She didn't want to bother herself with things she knew didn't matter such as newspeak or objective reality. Winston is shocked when he realizes that she didn't even know that their enemy had changed from Eastasia to Eurasia. She claimed it didn't matter because it's always one war after another anyways. I think in some ways she represents the average person because she doesn't realize that the government is taking over her, but at the same time she is smarter because she questions the ways of the party as they have affect on her own life. When there was the two minute hate she claimed that they are just to frighten the people and doesn't buy into them, she actually wanted to laugh.
"War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceania never sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia, and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what has been told about them is lies." pg. 162
This quote demonstrates one of the ways the government keeps control of the people. The way they do this in this case is they use one of their mottos of "ignorance is strength" by keeping citizens of their country in the dark about what the citizens of the other countries are like and instead only show them propaganda/executions etc. This way they manipulate the emotions of the people, which is fear of the "enemy"(which is almost always accompanied with hatred). This keeps the war effort going, which keeps the nation going because of the war's economical effects on the economy of Oceania.
"I am afraid of death. You are young, so presumbly you're more afraid of it than I am. Obviously we shall put it off as long as we can. But it makes very little difference. So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing."
pp 113
Winston is telling Julia about his fear of death and that either way it will come to them because they will eventually being living in the party with no emotions or feelings of their own. They will be useless robots. This fear will lead us to explanations of the rest of Winston's decisions in the future as well.
"He was alone: no telescreen, no ear at the keyhole, no nervous impulse to glance over his shoulder or cover the page with his hand." pg 152
This further addresses the comfort of being in the room above the shop. Here Winston and Julia can be themselves almost and feel safe just because there is no telescreen. This also shows how much freedom is taken away from the people by the party. Winston can read and not feel any obligation that someone will catch him reading. In the room is the closest thing to life before all of this.
"The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal" (pg.154 new version)
The paperweight acts like an object that witholds apart of him (Wintson), that it is a remembering for him of how he is hiding from the Big Brothers to set him free as to the coral is the life we would want to live. Its clear crystal can symbolize freedom and lively and not like the paperweight, which is so heavy and could be stuffed with many things and burden and pain within.
"When you make love you're using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and dont' give a damn for anything. They can't bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time.(110)" -Julia
This quote resembles Julia's understanding of what the party sees as good and bad. They want people to be part of a bigger idea and movement, not consumed in their own personal bubble of feeling. This contributes to a central theme of the book; power through fear. By taking away privacy, personal desire and family values, the Party seeks to control those that stray from their path. They control people with their hold on them and seek to create a list of goods and bads. Those that find their thoughts, actions, and even feelings on the list of bad are likely to be removed.
"The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account, while at the same time robbing you of all power over the material world" (136). Here, Winston is reflecting on the Party and its effect over the citizens. He recognizes that in the end, every bit of history in ones life will be erased and/or re-written. So, there is no true value in obeying the laws, however the Party regulates anything which might lead to breaking laws (material desires).
"It's the one thing they can't do. They can make you say anything-anything-but they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside of you." (170) -Julia
This is a very influential and important quote in the novel. It pinpoints the realization that the Oceania government does not have control over all parts of everyone. This is important because they finally realize a weakness of the government, "with all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human was thinking." Even with the thought police and torture methods, they still had not mastered to figure out what an individuals thoughts entailed. It makes you think however, if the party will come up with a way, or will squeeze the truth out of them. The book has suprised me before, so it will be interesting to see Julia and Winston hide their thoughts from spies.
I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones. This quote is really interesting to the whole book because it's when Winston is talking about how he lives in this world where everybody is perfect and everything they do is absolutely perfect. And it shows how he has become accustomed to this perfect world, that it makes him want this imperfection so badly. It shows a possibility of his rebellion against the government, and how he wants it all to be corrupt.
"It's the one thing they can't do. They can make you say anything-anything-but they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside of you." Page 170. I think this quote tells alot and gives some interesting ideas about the government. Yes they have thought police and yes they have the ability to torture you to get you to say what they want, but in the end they cant change how you really think and how you really feel. you may confess to somthing but is it the truth? this quote opens a whole new loop hole perhaps to the government and its power over the people.
“It was when Winston gazed into the heart of the paperweight, with the feeling that it would be possible to get inside that glassy world, and that once inside it time could be arrested.” Pg. 125 This quote is important because the paper weight, as discussed in class resembles the people within this community being held down under government rule. It is discussed before this quote of the happiness that Winston feels after having sex and drinking all the time, breaking the many rules that are set. But once he looks at the paperweight it brings him back to the world that he has grown to hate and makes him dream and wonder what time would be life like away from the place he lives now.
"You're only a rebel from the waist downwards," he told her. Pg. 129
This quote shows how Winston and Julia are trying to be rebels but their attempts are actually futile in the end. The fact that the two have sex does not bring down the empire of Oceania. In fact it is probably just a way to get themselves arrested and killed, which won't do them any good in the end. But on the other hand it gives them a sense of individuality and freedom, even if they had to hide. I am proud of Winston for trying to bring down the corrupt empire and think he should only go farther.
I also chose this quote. I find it important because it really shows the age difference of Winston and Julia. Winston is looking for a relationship that is stimulating both mentally and physically, while Julia is really looking for something just physical. Winston says that Julia falls asleep when he tries to have meaningful conversations with her about the Party, yet the only arguments she makes is that the Party is bad. She doesn't seem to think too deeply about anything and I believe Winston has begun to notice this and is slightly bothered by it. Maybe Winston really is still alone, even though he is living part of the time with Julia.
41 comments:
"I hate purity, i hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
Winston Page 126
This quote reflects the skewed world that Winston lives in. In most cases, you hear about purity and goodness being traits that are desired and hard to find in people. In the world that Winston lives in everyone is expected to be perfect because there are no indulgences or pleasures that you can get in trouble for. Winston is so accompanied to everyone being pure and virtuous that he just wants to get away from that and wants something that is completely opposite of what the government wants. This quote represents Winston's desire to have something different than what the government wants for him.
Neverless, it had been very difficult not to betray a momentary surprise, for the two or three seconds while he was helping her up the girl slipped something into his hand. pg 89
This quote starts to provide evidence that Winston is not the only one who is starting to rebel against the Party. However, Winston was very surprised when this occurred because it was something that he was not used or prepared for. He was also surprised because Winston believed that this girl was stalking him and she was going to turn him into the Thought Police.
"I've been at school too, dear. Sex talks once a month for the over-sixteens. And in the Youth Movement. They rub it into you for years. I dare say it works in a lot of cases. But of course you can never tell; people are such hypocrites" (110).
The above quote is both relevant and important to the chapters that we have just read because it regards the fact that although Julia has been taught to avoid sex and that it is a horrible disgusting thing ever since she was a child, she still rebels against these teachings and acknowledges the fact that there may be other people out their who rebel against this act as well. This is important because Winston has hope that there are many rebel people in the party, and that any small act against the party will help to bring it down. Winston also has hope that these acts can be found in the youth, because naturally the youth generation is rebellious. It will be interesting to see if Winston finds people who are against the party as he is, and if something will result from it.
"Not physically. Six months, a year-five years, conceivably. I am afraid of death. You are young, so presumbly you're more afraid of it than I am. Obviously we shall put it off as long as we can. But it makes very little difference. So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing." Winston page 113
This quote is said by Winston when he is talking to Julia during one of the times that they manage to meet in a private spot. Winston tells Julia that they are already dead because no matter what there is no way that life within the Party could be anything more than just moving without feeling. Here we learn that Winston is afraid of death and worries about when it will come. This quote shows us an insight on how Winston views life within the Party and also allows us to see that he is not very optimistic about things improving. Winston's fatalism is what guides his actions and thoughts throughout the book.
"Actually, the three philosophies are barely distinguishable,, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all" (pg 162)
In a dictatorship, especially the one that occurs in this book, it is good to have control over the theology of the people and create a "right" religion. During the German Nazi regime, Hitler told all of the people that his way was right and the Jews were wrong. Using this fear, he was able to have complete control over the people of Germany. Also, this quote says the three religions are barely distinguishable much like that of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith, who all are very similar in their origins and have rather slight, when you consider how long they have been around, differences in practice.
"It was a heavy lump of glass, curved on one side, flat on the other, making almost a hemisphere. There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the color and the texture of the glass" (95).
This is important to the book because it represents not the progress in humanity but the degeneration of the human standard of living. The paperweight in its own right is quiet evidence against the Party and all of its lies.
"The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal."
Page 147, Book 2, Chapter 4
I believe that the paperweight is a direct symbol of what goes on in this book as a whole. Winston is intriqued with the depth of the paperweight, and the insides of it. He believes that him and Julia are actually inside of the paperweight like a small bubble surrounding their lives. The insides of the paperweight represent their lives together. I also believe that the paperweight could also be symbolized as a weight dropped on the population. The government has pushed everybody down and is keeping them down.
"You like doing this? i don't simply mean me; I mean the thing in itself?"
"I adore it"
"That was above all what he wanted to hear. Not merely the love of one person but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire..."
pg. 128
This is important to the story because it shows that no matter how the government tries to control people, eventually people will rebel and go back to their animal instincts.
It also shows that most likely Julia has been doing rebellious acts such as this for a while, which could mean several things... one of which could be that he is possibly being watched which could lead the thought police to Winston as well.
"One never saw a double bed nowadays except in the homes of the proles" (119).
This quote shows how the party is very much so in control. They don't even have double beds so that they can make sure that no one even thinks about sex. But I don't get why Winston doesn't just try to become a prole or leave so that, that way he can live in freedom. Winston says later that he only slept a double bed once before in his boyhood which could mean that the party has gotten more agressive in their teachings and more powerful.
"The tune which was to be the theme song of Hate Week (the "Hate Song," it was called) had already been composed and was being endlessly plugged on the telescreens. It had a savage, barking rhythm which could not exactly be called music, but resembled the beating of a drum. Roared out by hundreds of voices too the tramp of marching feet, it was terrifying" (123).
I believe there are two ways to interpret this description Winston provides of what the song induces among the population. One is that it is foreshadowing the future where all the proles will come together and overcome the party as an army. Ironically. the proles will conform and be brought together by their similar ideas and rebellious nature. Another interpretation is it shows the horrifying progress of the strong hold the party has on the population. The technology has developed and the people have been conditioned so much that very soon, no one will be capable of thought. As Winston described the song, it was a 'savage, barking rhythm', which describes that soon people will be just like animals with no free will, thoughtless savages. People will basically devolve. Also, the song was said to not 'exactly be called music'. This reflects the main ideas of the society; to rule with fear, discomfort and completely destroy everyone's ability to get pleasure. With music comes a pleasant sound or multiple sounds that can induce any emotion out of someone and change peoples' lives. This song is but drums (like war drums).
Molly Riegel
"I thought we'd always been at at war with Eurasia." she said vaguely. It frightened him a little. pg. 127
This quote is when Julia and Winston were lying in bed together and Winston was talking about how Oceania and Eastasia had been at war together only 4 years ago but the party had erased it and Julia thought that they had been at war with Eurasia. She thinks this because that is what the party has told people even though Winston knows about it and he knows Julia was old enough to remember but she doesn't. It shows how the party has such control about what everyone thinks and what is written in their history.
"One did not know what happened inside the ministry of love, but it was possible to guess; tortures, drugs, delicate instruments that registered your nervous reactions, gradual wearing down by sleeplessness and solitude, and persistent questioning." page 138
This has to do with how everything is different in this book than what it actually is and how everything is the opposite. This is shown in the quote becasue in the minestry of love they are torturing people and killing people and that is the opposite of love. Also when it says in the book "war is peace".
"What mattered was that the room over the junk shop should exist. To know that it was there, inviolate, was almost the same as being in it. The room was a world, a pocket of the past where extinct animals could walk." pg. 124
This quote describes Winston and Julia's rebellion. Simly the knowledge that they are evading the Inner Party holds hope for Winston. When he mentions extinct animals, he is refering to people like himself and Julia who know that the policies of the Party are wrong and that they are lies. Mr. Charrington is also like an extinct animal because he is one of the very few people old enough to remember what the world was actually like before the Party.
"Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will aways return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way of the other. The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable...." Pg 152
In this section of 1984, Orwell writes about the history of the three types of peoplel; the High, the Middle and the Low. They are varied from their names, numbers, and ages, but the "essential structure of society has never been altered". This idea of repetition throughout life is almost like the "Now" ideas. The idea that life is like a filmstrip. Everything is revolving and reoccuring over and over again. There are many ideas throughout this book and this one about IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH is the most understandable, because its almost like we live it on a day to day basis.
"I'm not interested in the next generation, dear. I'm interested in us." pg. 159
This quote is very interesting because it is when Julia and Winston are talking. They are discussing the fact that in reality they do not care about previous or future generations where as in today's society we are focused on the past, present, and future. They are only focused on the present. This is an interesting fact because if their society is only focused on the present why do they spend so much time trying to rewrite history and everything to make the Party look good. When if the Proles do not care about the Party at all and none of the party members focus on the fact that there was a past and there will be a future it is pointless to really spend the time rewriting it.
"What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you--that would be the real betrayal" (137).
Winston says this to Julia, promising to never betray her by never letting the Party control his will to love her. Julia believes that the Party can only control what one does, not what one believes. However, she clearly underestimates the power of the Party. Although the Party has not achieved full control over Julia and Winston, they do control most other people in every single way, even mentally. Julia and Winston have a naive understanding of the Party's power and think that by joining the Brotherhood they will be able to defeat Big Brother. However, I think that they will come to realize that the Party has an ability to control all facets of life.
"in some ways she was far more acute than Winston, and far less suscptible to Party propaganda. Once when he happened in some connection to mention the war against Eurasia, she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening.
in this quote there talking about the war and how its all propaganda. and how they dont really know if its true and they dont know what they can and cant believe because of the government. this shows how powerful the government.
"Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act."
I find it interesting how symbolic the last line of this chapter is. Sex is often symbolic in many forms, one of which being in the Matrix Reloaded. In a sense, the reason it can be so symbolic is the fact it is a big part of our humanity– to express our emotions toward one another and remind ourselves that we aren't machines who follow rules all the time, and there are animal tendencies and instincts in all of us. The interesting part about this usage compares it to an oppressed society where it is disallowed, almost stifling the citizens' humanities.
"Our duty to the Party" ~p.132
The Party needs sex because it needs reproduction o it can have more minds to warp. The children are the future of the party and because they rule by fear and force they haven't come up with the science to produce children like in Brave New World and they need to be created the natural, old fashion way. The Party turned sex into a chore is unenjoyable so people would feel like criminals when they did it but still do it.
"I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
(126)
This quote adds to the theme of the book of complete control. Purity, goodness and virtue are all positive traits but in Winston's outlook on the world he sees that there is nothing to be but perfect since Big Brother take everything you could get in trouble for away from you. As a side not does this really mean you are perfect. There is only good because there is bad and vice versa so if there is only good wouldn't that make good and bad cease to exist.
"The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense. Actually the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all." p. 162
This quote shows the absolute control the parties have over their respective countries and how within those countries they are able to distort reality into anything they see fit. By keeping their citizens isolated the parties are able to perpetuate the half truths and outright lies that they pass off as fact that maintain their hold on power. This isolation is critical to the existence of the three super states because without it they cannot control the thoughts of their citizens.
"A peace that was truely permenent would be the same as a permenent war. This - although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense - is the inner meaning of the Party slogan: WAR IS PEACE"
This is important because it explains the slogans and the meaning of what the party does. In this section war and how it came to be is explained. This is a central theme in the book.
"So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing." page 113
This quote was stated by Winston. Throughout the book Winston repeatedly says "we are dead" and in this particular instance Julia refutes the statement and claims they are very much alive. Winston explains that he believes they are physically dead and that he is greatly afraid of death. This represents Winston's fear of the party and he feels that sooner or later he will be caught. Also, this quote by Winston stuck out to me because it represented existentialism and our unit on time.
"The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent" (157).
This quote is reflective of the theme repeated throughout the book in the sense that it speaks of war in a different way than usual. Rather than war being something that is used to obtain land, power, etc over another nation, war, as depicted in 1984, is used to keep humans from advancing intelectually, and not allowing products of knowledge or intelligence to be created.
"I don't mean confessing. Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal" Winston pg 137
This a quote that Winston says after they talk about how long they will be together and all that gushy stuff. I find this quote to be really ironic because i predict that since they are talking about getting caught they will and they would have to undergo some sort of interrogation. While in whatever torturing confession they are in Winston will probably break and betray Julia. With that confession he admits he will probably also lose all feelings for her. Another way i took the quote was that when he says "what you say or do doesn't matter" i was considering betrayal. In this sense Winston having free loving sexual feelings for Julia totally goes against the Party and in that turn Winston and Julia are betraying the Party by have this relationship which basically means karma comes back around.
"I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
Living a life of purity is impossible and boring. Is the point in this quote.If everyone did what they wanted life would be better. Since purity and goodness are traits that everyone in Winston's world posses he wants people to break away from being perfect
"As O'Brien passed the telescreen s thought seemed to strike him. He stopped, turned aside, and pressed a switch on the wall. There was a sharp snap. The voice had stopped."
Pg.140
This is important because once Julia and Winston meet with O'Brien they realized the power the Inner Party has over everyone and everything. He was able to turn the telescreen off so that they could have their own private conversation. Once that was off they were able to discuss the brotherhood.
"She knew when to cheer and when to boo, and that is all one needed." (page 129)
Julia doesn't really know much about the political side of the party or things going on. She didn't want to bother herself with things she knew didn't matter such as newspeak or objective reality. Winston is shocked when he realizes that she didn't even know that their enemy had changed from Eastasia to Eurasia. She claimed it didn't matter because it's always one war after another anyways. I think in some ways she represents the average person because she doesn't realize that the government is taking over her, but at the same time she is smarter because she questions the ways of the party as they have affect on her own life. When there was the two minute hate she claimed that they are just to frighten the people and doesn't buy into them, she actually wanted to laugh.
"War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceania never sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia, and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what has been told about them is lies." pg. 162
This quote demonstrates one of the ways the government keeps control of the people. The way they do this in this case is they use one of their mottos of "ignorance is strength" by keeping citizens of their country in the dark about what the citizens of the other countries are like and instead only show them propaganda/executions etc. This way they manipulate the emotions of the people, which is fear of the "enemy"(which is almost always accompanied with hatred). This keeps the war effort going, which keeps the nation going because of the war's economical effects on the economy of Oceania.
"I am afraid of death. You are young, so presumbly you're more afraid of it than I am. Obviously we shall put it off as long as we can. But it makes very little difference. So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing."
pp 113
Winston is telling Julia about his fear of death and that either way it will come to them because they will eventually being living in the party with no emotions or feelings of their own. They will be useless robots. This fear will lead us to explanations of the rest of Winston's decisions in the future as well.
"He was alone: no telescreen, no ear at the keyhole, no nervous impulse to glance over his shoulder or cover the page with his hand." pg 152
This further addresses the comfort of being in the room above the shop. Here Winston and Julia can be themselves almost and feel safe just because there is no telescreen. This also shows how much freedom is taken away from the people by the party. Winston can read and not feel any obligation that someone will catch him reading. In the room is the closest thing to life before all of this.
"The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal" (pg.154 new version)
The paperweight acts like an object that witholds apart of him (Wintson), that it is a remembering for him of how he is hiding from the Big Brothers to set him free as to the coral is the life we would want to live. Its clear crystal can symbolize freedom and lively and not like the paperweight, which is so heavy and could be stuffed with many things and burden and pain within.
~~Mea Pen~~
"When you make love you're using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and dont' give a damn for anything. They can't bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time.(110)" -Julia
This quote resembles Julia's understanding of what the party sees as good and bad. They want people to be part of a bigger idea and movement, not consumed in their own personal bubble of feeling. This contributes to a central theme of the book; power through fear. By taking away privacy, personal desire and family values, the Party seeks to control those that stray from their path. They control people with their hold on them and seek to create a list of goods and bads. Those that find their thoughts, actions, and even feelings on the list of bad are likely to be removed.
"The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account, while at the same time robbing you of all power over the material world" (136). Here, Winston is reflecting on the Party and its effect over the citizens. He recognizes that in the end, every bit of history in ones life will be erased and/or re-written. So, there is no true value in obeying the laws, however the Party regulates anything which might lead to breaking laws (material desires).
"It's the one thing they can't do. They can make you say anything-anything-but they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside of you." (170) -Julia
This is a very influential and important quote in the novel. It pinpoints the realization that the Oceania government does not have control over all parts of everyone. This is important because they finally realize a weakness of the government, "with all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human was thinking." Even with the thought police and torture methods, they still had not mastered to figure out what an individuals thoughts entailed. It makes you think however, if the party will come up with a way, or will squeeze the truth out of them. The book has suprised me before, so it will be interesting to see Julia and Winston hide their thoughts from spies.
I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.
This quote is really interesting to the whole book because it's when Winston is talking about how he lives in this world where everybody is perfect and everything they do is absolutely perfect. And it shows how he has become accustomed to this perfect world, that it makes him want this imperfection so badly. It shows a possibility of his rebellion against the government, and how he wants it all to be corrupt.
"It's the one thing they can't do. They can make you say anything-anything-but they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside of you." Page 170.
I think this quote tells alot and gives some interesting ideas about the government. Yes they have thought police and yes they have the ability to torture you to get you to say what they want, but in the end they cant change how you really think and how you really feel. you may confess to somthing but is it the truth? this quote opens a whole new loop hole perhaps to the government and its power over the people.
“It was when Winston gazed into the heart of the paperweight, with the feeling that it would be possible to get inside that glassy world, and that once inside it time could be arrested.” Pg. 125
This quote is important because the paper weight, as discussed in class resembles the people within this community being held down under government rule. It is discussed before this quote of the happiness that Winston feels after having sex and drinking all the time, breaking the many rules that are set. But once he looks at the paperweight it brings him back to the world that he has grown to hate and makes him dream and wonder what time would be life like away from the place he lives now.
"You're only a rebel from the waist downwards," he told her.
Pg. 129
This quote shows how Winston and Julia are trying to be rebels but their attempts are actually futile in the end. The fact that the two have sex does not bring down the empire of Oceania. In fact it is probably just a way to get themselves arrested and killed, which won't do them any good in the end. But on the other hand it gives them a sense of individuality and freedom, even if they had to hide. I am proud of Winston for trying to bring down the corrupt empire and think he should only go farther.
"You're only a rebel from the waist downwards."
I also chose this quote. I find it important because it really shows the age difference of Winston and Julia. Winston is looking for a relationship that is stimulating both mentally and physically, while Julia is really looking for something just physical. Winston says that Julia falls asleep when he tries to have meaningful conversations with her about the Party, yet the only arguments she makes is that the Party is bad. She doesn't seem to think too deeply about anything and I believe Winston has begun to notice this and is slightly bothered by it. Maybe Winston really is still alone, even though he is living part of the time with Julia.
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