"Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured? We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed. The Party is not interested in the over act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them." (253)
Up until this point, the reader had more of a violent image of the Ministry of Love and everything that goes on there. Orwell, however, uses this short piece of dialogue from O'Brien to show that it's really mostly psychological harm. They just contradict everything that the "patient" says and believes in, so that they no longer have any memory or reality to grasp, and they're forced to completely succumb to whatever O'Brien says. From the outside perspective, citizens are made to believe that people who commit crimes are immediately killed, but in reality they are taken to the Ministry of Love and psychologically tortured until they become "sane".
Saturday, September 3, 2011
1984 7
"'How can I help it? he blubbered. 'How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.' 'Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.'" (251)
These two short sentences show many things about how the Party works, and how Winston doesn't understand how people can make people act in such a brainwashed way. It also served as a turning point for Winston, as this was the first time he was really told how he needs to think. Orwell will often give his biggest hints and most important plot twists in dialogue, which he does in this quote. He uses these lines from O'Brien and Winston to show the reader that nothing to do with the Party relies on traditional logic. Every revelation after this moment for the rest of the book is all somehow tied back to the 2+2=5 comment. O'Brien is trying to "cure" Winston of his free thoughts, and at this moment, the reader is still convinced that it will not break his spirit and that he will never betray Julia. In the end, however, it is ultimately this moment that provides the first inkling of betrayal to Julia in Winston's mind.
These two short sentences show many things about how the Party works, and how Winston doesn't understand how people can make people act in such a brainwashed way. It also served as a turning point for Winston, as this was the first time he was really told how he needs to think. Orwell will often give his biggest hints and most important plot twists in dialogue, which he does in this quote. He uses these lines from O'Brien and Winston to show the reader that nothing to do with the Party relies on traditional logic. Every revelation after this moment for the rest of the book is all somehow tied back to the 2+2=5 comment. O'Brien is trying to "cure" Winston of his free thoughts, and at this moment, the reader is still convinced that it will not break his spirit and that he will never betray Julia. In the end, however, it is ultimately this moment that provides the first inkling of betrayal to Julia in Winston's mind.
1984 6
"'We are the dead,' he said." (135)
Orwell made this moment of dialogue between Winston and Julia stand out by making it so brief and concise, because it was really one of the first moments in which the reader notices a difference of opinion in the two lovers. Julia, being quite a bit younger than Winston, was clearly much more afraid of death than he was. Orwell uses this to lead the reader to think that Julia may betray Winston if they were to be cHe'd also clearly been thinking of his willingness to sacrifice himself for Goldstein. In the sentence before this, orwell writes, "that from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse." This prompts the reader to believe that Julia may not have been as much in favor of rebelling against the Party as she may have led on, and that she did what she did just because she loved Winston.
Orwell made this moment of dialogue between Winston and Julia stand out by making it so brief and concise, because it was really one of the first moments in which the reader notices a difference of opinion in the two lovers. Julia, being quite a bit younger than Winston, was clearly much more afraid of death than he was. Orwell uses this to lead the reader to think that Julia may betray Winston if they were to be cHe'd also clearly been thinking of his willingness to sacrifice himself for Goldstein. In the sentence before this, orwell writes, "that from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse." This prompts the reader to believe that Julia may not have been as much in favor of rebelling against the Party as she may have led on, and that she did what she did just because she loved Winston.
1984 5
"The soft, rainwatery glass was not like any glass that he had ever seen. The thing was doubly attractive because of its apparent uselessness, though he could guess that it must once have been intended as a paperweight." (95)
Orwell used the paperweight as a sort of symbol to represent Winston and Julia's love. Winston found it when he went into the shop and ended up discovering the room where he and Julia could (supposedly) be alone without Big Brother's supervision. Winston keeps it in his pocket or nearby for the rest of the time that he and Julia are together. When they are caught in the room above the shop due to the hidden mic, the paperweight is shattered, and that is the last time that Julia and Winston see each other with the feeling of love.
Orwell used the paperweight as a sort of symbol to represent Winston and Julia's love. Winston found it when he went into the shop and ended up discovering the room where he and Julia could (supposedly) be alone without Big Brother's supervision. Winston keeps it in his pocket or nearby for the rest of the time that he and Julia are together. When they are caught in the room above the shop due to the hidden mic, the paperweight is shattered, and that is the last time that Julia and Winston see each other with the feeling of love.
1984 4
"What overwhelmed him in that instant was admiration for the gesture with which she had thrown her clothes aside. With its grace and carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though Big Brother and the Party and the Thought Police could all be swept into nothingness by a single splendid movement of the arm." (31)
Orwell cleverly uses Winston's dream of Julia as a sort of motive for Winston to actually do something to rebel against Big Brother. Julia had been on his mind since he first saw her, but was too cautious to actually do anything about it. However, after this dream, Winston was convinced enough that he needed to act out, no matter what the cost was to himself. Orwell also uses this moment to foreshadow what was to come, when Julia and Winston meet in the woods for the first time. He even references back to this moment when Julia commits a similar action. This was a character turning point for Winston.
Orwell cleverly uses Winston's dream of Julia as a sort of motive for Winston to actually do something to rebel against Big Brother. Julia had been on his mind since he first saw her, but was too cautious to actually do anything about it. However, after this dream, Winston was convinced enough that he needed to act out, no matter what the cost was to himself. Orwell also uses this moment to foreshadow what was to come, when Julia and Winston meet in the woods for the first time. He even references back to this moment when Julia commits a similar action. This was a character turning point for Winston.
1984 3
"He must, he thought, have been ten or eleven years old when his mother had disappeared." (29)
Winston's awful childhood and the disappearance of his mother must have contributed to his unwillingness to succumb to the laws and rules of Big Brother. Generally someone's childhood and their relationship with their parents forms or at least heavily influences their character later on in life. Perhaps Orwell included this in Winston's history to justify his stubbornness. Since Winston's mother's disappearance was ultimately credited to Big Brother, it would have instilled a subconscious hatred for everything associated with that, at a very young age. Winston has feelings about his childhood, even though he doesn't claim to remember it.
Winston's awful childhood and the disappearance of his mother must have contributed to his unwillingness to succumb to the laws and rules of Big Brother. Generally someone's childhood and their relationship with their parents forms or at least heavily influences their character later on in life. Perhaps Orwell included this in Winston's history to justify his stubbornness. Since Winston's mother's disappearance was ultimately credited to Big Brother, it would have instilled a subconscious hatred for everything associated with that, at a very young age. Winston has feelings about his childhood, even though he doesn't claim to remember it.
1984 2
"It was a place impossible to enter except on official business, and then only by penetrating through a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests." (5)
At some points in 1984, Orwell clearly foreshadows bigger parts of the book. Orwell wants to make the Ministry of Love seem like the scariest place in all of Oceania, and he also is just beginning to describe Oceania as a whole. He wants to show it as the worst nightmare of essentially everyone. This is tied in later on in the book when Julia and Winston are caught and both taken to Miniluv, and Winston's experiences in room 101. The irony of the name of the ministry is also an interesting aspect, as that is the place where Winston and Julia's love ultimately died.
At some points in 1984, Orwell clearly foreshadows bigger parts of the book. Orwell wants to make the Ministry of Love seem like the scariest place in all of Oceania, and he also is just beginning to describe Oceania as a whole. He wants to show it as the worst nightmare of essentially everyone. This is tied in later on in the book when Julia and Winston are caught and both taken to Miniluv, and Winston's experiences in room 101. The irony of the name of the ministry is also an interesting aspect, as that is the place where Winston and Julia's love ultimately died.
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