The afterwords of 1984, is written as a warning to the readers for in the future. The afterwords is supposed to tell them what can and cannot happen in their society and what to be aware of. The human race is capable of many things and that is what these afterwords are supposed to warn the readers of.
Orwell tries to warn us about conformity that could happen in the future in his novel. During the novel, everyone was told to act, dress and think a certain way. It was unacceptable if you didn't. Also, there would be punishments. However, there still were certain people that acted out against their government and these people were used as an example of what would happen if you did too. The people that acted out were often never seen from or heard from again and were taken out of the records in Oceania. Orwell was trying to warn us against conformity in his novel by showing the negative side of things.
Not only does Orwell try to warn us against conformity but he also tries to warn us about the past. In the novel, the past did not exist to the people of Oceania. It changed every day. There were jobs where it was your duty to change the records like Winston did. The past had changed so much that no one knew what the truth could be. The warning Orwell gave was a good one because he was right. No one can ever know the truth about the past. Yes, we may know to some extent what has happened but our society is living in a cycle. Orwell was trying to warn us so we could avoid the negative aspects of society, but we didn't take that. We are in another recession like we were a few decades ago. If we had looked at the past and analyzed it a little more carefully we may have known how to avoid this situation and stop the cycle that we are in.
The last warning that Orwell gave was about the layout of the government. When you look at it, it is a small group or party controlling a mass amount of people. The Unites States is set up this way still. The president and his cabinet are the small group that controls everyone and then there is congress which would be similar to the outer party who knows what is going on within that society but maybe not all of the little secrets that are involved with it. Lastly is the majority of the people who think they know what is going on but are really being lied to and tricked by the other two groups. These people were known as the proles in the novel.
George Orwell wrote this novel in order to give a warning to the future about what to and not to do. He thought we should study the past closer in order to have some sort of truth in what we are saying and make sure our records stay alive and that we shouldn't conform because conformity can cause problems in societies. Especially in ones like ours.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
1984 #5
Orwell wrote this novel in 1949 and although he may have not known how accurate the novel could be to reality, it was very close. Within a few years a lot can change. By looking at the past of the United States, we can see that. We went from being part of a colony to Great Britain to our own country in just a few years. Revolts can be common which is why Oceania's government wanted to stop the revolt before it could happen.
Orwell was accurate to a point in his vision of the future of society. The government does not tell us the complete truth until it is absolutely necessary. Even then, we may not receive the full truth. The words and stories that we hear on the radio, watch on the television, or read in the papers is all picked and revised just like the information that was able to the mass of people in Oceania. In today's media things are often taken out of context, especially words of celebrities. Both todays society and the society that was created in the novel hide the truth and facts that should be allowed to be viewed to the common people. Both of these societies also have a group in charge. This group does not contain the mass of the people in society, it actually only contains a small percentage of the population.
In most cases, Orwell did have a vision that was able to come true, but one vision that did not come true was the idea that the language of people would shrink. Our dictionary has actually expanded. We may not use all the words that we once did and some may have even been taken out of the dictionary, but every year, new words are being added to our dictionary. Orwell also tried to say that people would eventually forget that they had known about the past. This does not seem true either because we are taught about the past every day in school and have access to different opinions of the past by using the internet.
A vision that everyone can be in unison by thinking, dressing, and acting the same way is questionable about whether it can happen or not. In order for this to happen, people have to lose their faith, and their beliefs. Not everyone has the same belief as one another which is why there are different religions and cultures in the world. It does not seem possible for everyone to believe in the same thing like Orwell thought could happen, but he may have had a point when he said that the government was hiding the past from the people. We may not think the government is hiding the past from us, but how do we know? We don't have any way of knowing which makes it a possibility that this part of Orwell's vision could have already came to be reality.
Orwell was accurate to a point in his vision of the future of society. The government does not tell us the complete truth until it is absolutely necessary. Even then, we may not receive the full truth. The words and stories that we hear on the radio, watch on the television, or read in the papers is all picked and revised just like the information that was able to the mass of people in Oceania. In today's media things are often taken out of context, especially words of celebrities. Both todays society and the society that was created in the novel hide the truth and facts that should be allowed to be viewed to the common people. Both of these societies also have a group in charge. This group does not contain the mass of the people in society, it actually only contains a small percentage of the population.
In most cases, Orwell did have a vision that was able to come true, but one vision that did not come true was the idea that the language of people would shrink. Our dictionary has actually expanded. We may not use all the words that we once did and some may have even been taken out of the dictionary, but every year, new words are being added to our dictionary. Orwell also tried to say that people would eventually forget that they had known about the past. This does not seem true either because we are taught about the past every day in school and have access to different opinions of the past by using the internet.
A vision that everyone can be in unison by thinking, dressing, and acting the same way is questionable about whether it can happen or not. In order for this to happen, people have to lose their faith, and their beliefs. Not everyone has the same belief as one another which is why there are different religions and cultures in the world. It does not seem possible for everyone to believe in the same thing like Orwell thought could happen, but he may have had a point when he said that the government was hiding the past from the people. We may not think the government is hiding the past from us, but how do we know? We don't have any way of knowing which makes it a possibility that this part of Orwell's vision could have already came to be reality.
1984 #4
Individuality and freedom was stripped from each person in the novel, 1984. No one could show emotions or show that they were having their own thoughts. Everyone was supposed to act the same and love the Party. This book was demonstrated like a Utopia would be. It was supposed to be the perfect society. Everyone was supposed to be the same and there would be no differences. Thought, likeness, and actions were all the same to everyone in the society.
There was a love affair between Julia and Winston in order to demonstrate humanity and human reaction. One cannot help itself from being attracted to someone and wanting the feeling of being in a relationship. Whether that relationship was a friendship, a bond of family, or a love relationship it does not matter. Relationships show humanity so by including this love relationship, Orwell was showing that there was still hope in Oceania for humanity and for a regular society to exist. He was also showing that this "perfect" society may have not been so perfect after all.
Individuality and freedom are a key role to our humanity. They show the differences between people. No two people can be exactly the same. Whether it is their mindset, the color of their eyes, skin or hair, something is bound to be different. When you try to make everyone conform to be the same there would be no advancements in history. The world would be a boring place that no one would want to live in. The freedom to be one's self is what makes the world how it is. No group or person should be able to strip individuals of that right.
As our emotions and liberties are stripped from us, we tend to lose humanity. Humanity is defined as the quality or condition of being human. In order to be human there needs to be differences among us. Otherwise, we become robots of whoever is supposed to be controlling us. We can not think, feel, or fend for ourselves. We are entirely dependent on whoever or whatever is controlling us. In order to have humanity people need to be able to express themselves either through writing, speech, art, or even just how they dress themselves or wear their hair. Humanity is defined by us being who we are and not being controlled.
Individuality, freedom, liberty, and our emotions are all key parts to humanity. It doesn't matter how we decide to be different from one another as long as us as humans have the right to be different and not controlled by one person. The perfect Utopia worldwide cannot exist because humans want to be able to express themselves.
There was a love affair between Julia and Winston in order to demonstrate humanity and human reaction. One cannot help itself from being attracted to someone and wanting the feeling of being in a relationship. Whether that relationship was a friendship, a bond of family, or a love relationship it does not matter. Relationships show humanity so by including this love relationship, Orwell was showing that there was still hope in Oceania for humanity and for a regular society to exist. He was also showing that this "perfect" society may have not been so perfect after all.
Individuality and freedom are a key role to our humanity. They show the differences between people. No two people can be exactly the same. Whether it is their mindset, the color of their eyes, skin or hair, something is bound to be different. When you try to make everyone conform to be the same there would be no advancements in history. The world would be a boring place that no one would want to live in. The freedom to be one's self is what makes the world how it is. No group or person should be able to strip individuals of that right.
As our emotions and liberties are stripped from us, we tend to lose humanity. Humanity is defined as the quality or condition of being human. In order to be human there needs to be differences among us. Otherwise, we become robots of whoever is supposed to be controlling us. We can not think, feel, or fend for ourselves. We are entirely dependent on whoever or whatever is controlling us. In order to have humanity people need to be able to express themselves either through writing, speech, art, or even just how they dress themselves or wear their hair. Humanity is defined by us being who we are and not being controlled.
Individuality, freedom, liberty, and our emotions are all key parts to humanity. It doesn't matter how we decide to be different from one another as long as us as humans have the right to be different and not controlled by one person. The perfect Utopia worldwide cannot exist because humans want to be able to express themselves.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
1984 Essay 3
In the novel 1984, the quote, "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past," is used in order to describe the power situation. This quote is very suitable because once control is gained, that group or person has the access and the right to change the past by republishing books and changing records. By doing this, the past is being controlled and once this is accomplished, the future is able to be controlled because people have no idea that anything else could happen. Ultimately once you control either the past, present, or future you are able to control the other two by being intelligent and using the resources that are at your hands.
The past, although it has already happened can be changed like it is in Oceania. There are no concrete records because everything changes everyday in the books that are published. The only part of the past that anyone knows is what they can remember in their minds. Most people in this novel do not admit to knowing anything because they think that is what is called thoughtcrime. Winston and the proles are the only ones who have memories of the actual past but Winston gets caught by the Thoughtpolice and the proles never talk of the past therefore making it easy for the past to be altered daily. The past can always change on the arrival of new information. Science is proving this daily with new hypothesis and new results all the time. The present is changing and can sometimes prove things in the past wrong.
Historical reality does not exist because that would mean that everyone had to believe that something happened. We all know the Holocaust took place, but out in the world, there are people who believe that it was not real. There are also different opinions on everything making it hard to understand what is a myth and what is reality. It is kind of like a rumor. It may be true or it could just be a well deceived piece of information that is used improperly.
Power, authority, and control can be linked to this because in order to be able to change the present, past, or future you have to have power over others in order to make them believe it is true. Authority is also needed because if people cannot respect your authority, the power that you contain is useless. Control is also brought into the equation because in order to get rid of, or stop the people who do not maintain the same beliefs as you, you have to be able to have a way to control them. Either by fear or bribery.
"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past," is a quote that is very well thought out and in this novel could actually be proven. It may seem irrational but if one group or one person could control one of those states, they would have the means to control the rest.
The past, although it has already happened can be changed like it is in Oceania. There are no concrete records because everything changes everyday in the books that are published. The only part of the past that anyone knows is what they can remember in their minds. Most people in this novel do not admit to knowing anything because they think that is what is called thoughtcrime. Winston and the proles are the only ones who have memories of the actual past but Winston gets caught by the Thoughtpolice and the proles never talk of the past therefore making it easy for the past to be altered daily. The past can always change on the arrival of new information. Science is proving this daily with new hypothesis and new results all the time. The present is changing and can sometimes prove things in the past wrong.
Historical reality does not exist because that would mean that everyone had to believe that something happened. We all know the Holocaust took place, but out in the world, there are people who believe that it was not real. There are also different opinions on everything making it hard to understand what is a myth and what is reality. It is kind of like a rumor. It may be true or it could just be a well deceived piece of information that is used improperly.
Power, authority, and control can be linked to this because in order to be able to change the present, past, or future you have to have power over others in order to make them believe it is true. Authority is also needed because if people cannot respect your authority, the power that you contain is useless. Control is also brought into the equation because in order to get rid of, or stop the people who do not maintain the same beliefs as you, you have to be able to have a way to control them. Either by fear or bribery.
"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past," is a quote that is very well thought out and in this novel could actually be proven. It may seem irrational but if one group or one person could control one of those states, they would have the means to control the rest.
1984 Essay 2
In Winston's eyes the "proles"are seen as the only source that have the possibility to overthrow Big Brother and the Party. The "proles are known as the lower class. They are thought to have no value by Party members and make up most of the population of Oceania. Proles are the only hope that there is to overthrow big brother from being in control of Oceania and keep living the way they are.
The Proles represent hope for the people of Oceania. They have to live by the rules that the Party does to a certain extent but unlike Party members, proles are aloud to sing without getting yelled at or arrested for the idea of thoughtcrime. They represent the lower class which makes up most of the population of Oceania as well. They did not conform to all the new ideas and rules that the rest of Oceania did. They are living as humans and having their own life rather than living like the Party members and being watched and yelled at during all parts of the day.
The "proles" also represent the past of Oceania. Most people were taught to forget the past and that there wasn't a past. History was changed daily for the majority of people and most forgot about what they had been told the day before. Proles remembered the past before Big Brother and even after Big Brother came into power it was their decision not to conform and they stayed human by not changing their lives just because of the new ideas that everyone else was living by.
In order for any revolution to occur, it is the proles that need to rise up to the occasion and revolt. They are the only way a revolution is going to happen. Nobody else has any recollection of the past and no one else can unite like the proles can. However, the proles have no desire to get rid of Big Brother because he is not necessarily bothering their lifestyle.
Winston was correct when he said the characteristics of the proles make the ultimate means for overthrowing Big Brother. Too bad at the end of the novel, Winston loves Big Brother due to his time at the Ministry of Love. The proles don't see that they are what Oceania needs in order to have a revolution, so that revolution may never take place.
The Proles represent hope for the people of Oceania. They have to live by the rules that the Party does to a certain extent but unlike Party members, proles are aloud to sing without getting yelled at or arrested for the idea of thoughtcrime. They represent the lower class which makes up most of the population of Oceania as well. They did not conform to all the new ideas and rules that the rest of Oceania did. They are living as humans and having their own life rather than living like the Party members and being watched and yelled at during all parts of the day.
The "proles" also represent the past of Oceania. Most people were taught to forget the past and that there wasn't a past. History was changed daily for the majority of people and most forgot about what they had been told the day before. Proles remembered the past before Big Brother and even after Big Brother came into power it was their decision not to conform and they stayed human by not changing their lives just because of the new ideas that everyone else was living by.
In order for any revolution to occur, it is the proles that need to rise up to the occasion and revolt. They are the only way a revolution is going to happen. Nobody else has any recollection of the past and no one else can unite like the proles can. However, the proles have no desire to get rid of Big Brother because he is not necessarily bothering their lifestyle.
Winston was correct when he said the characteristics of the proles make the ultimate means for overthrowing Big Brother. Too bad at the end of the novel, Winston loves Big Brother due to his time at the Ministry of Love. The proles don't see that they are what Oceania needs in order to have a revolution, so that revolution may never take place.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Frankenstein Essay #5
Pity can be taken in the wrong way many times. Pity is a sympathetic sorrow for one's suffering. This can be taken in the wrong way because many people see pity as looking down on someone. That at least whatever they just went through, did not quite happen to you. In a way Mary Shelley makes it so you want to pity the monster because it wasn't like he chose the life that he had lived.
To a certain extent, the monster should have been pitied. The monster lived a life that he did not ask for. He was abandoned by everyone and left on his own. When he tried to interact with humans, they feared him and would not accept him. When he tried to ask Frankenstein for another companion, he was again shut down and received no companion. He was lonely and had no one to care for and no one to care for him either. The monster had to teach himself how to talk, and had to fend for himself in order to eat. He was never taught how to interact with others so you can say the monster did deserve a form of pity.
The monster that Frankenstein had created also deserved no pity at the same time. Even though he had lacked social skills and interactions with people, he did some unforgivable things. The monster killed everyone that Victor had loved from his family, to wife, to best friend. Even though he had gave Victor a warning about his wife, that is not the way to be accepted and get what you want. In that way, the monster deserved no pity from anyone. Killing people who did nothing wrong to you is wrong and even though the monster was dealt a tough hand, it was still wrong to do it.
The monster may not have deserved the treatment he had been given. Being abandoned with no one and being shunned from society is an awful thing but the monster also did some awful things himself. When asked if you feel pity for Victor's creation what would you say? I know my answer would be that I feel pity for him because he never got a chance but towards the end when he was mourning Victor's death, I felt no pity because ultimately, he was the reason that Victor was no longer living.
Frankenstein Essay #4
The biological makeup of someone or something has been researched for years by philosophers and scientists. One big question that is always considered is, does evil come from the actions and surroundings of a person, or are they just born that way? This question may never be able to be answered but research is done on it anyway. Victor Frankenstein's creation was mainly composed of evil because of the lack of attention and the abandonment that Frankenstein gave to the creation.
Actions are one cause of evil. Evil is considered to be malicious and most people tend to look at something evil as a bad thing. The actions that one takes can determine whether or not someone or something is evil. The actions that the creation takes by killing people that Frankenstein had loved makes most readers come to the conclusion that the monster is evil. However, if it wasn't for Victor abandoning the monster and not cooperating and making a female companion the monster may have turned out differently.
The environment is another thing that can influence the behavior of a person or thing to either becoming evil, or not. In the novel, the monster was basically shunned from Victor Frankenstein and the family that the monster had met did not accept him either. The people did not accept him because of how ugly he was. People are part of the environment and being shunned from society and having no interactions with others can make a person become evil even if they wish not to be.
Victor Frankenstein's monster believed that he could be caring and loving if he had another companion. He also believed that if Victor had not abandoned him, the outcome could have been different. He believed he had no other way of surviving because he was forced to fend for himself. He became evil because of the rejection he had faced. If Victor had accepted or even tried to accept his creation, the monster may not have been evil. He was created ugly too, which only led to more rejection.
Actions, environment, and biological makeup can all influence if one is evil or not. I believe that everyone is born with a chance of hope. Even though the monster was created, he may have had a chance to be able to be compassionate if society had accepted him. Maybe not even society, but just one person could have changed the outcome of the monster who was considered evil.
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