Last Chapters of 1984

          I was truly disappointed in the ending of 1984. I didn't think the rats scare was enough. It was anti-climactic. Although I would truly be terrified of rats eating me, I did not expect Winston to be. I thought he had more of a fight left in him. I know he had been tortured down to such a feeble state, but earlier he told himself that the party was still wrong. It seemed that through some of his awful torture, he still knew the party was wrong. Also, I think it would have been a feat for Winston if he had died with the rats. It seemed that what he wanted was to die still hating the party and he missed that opportunity.
         It was sad when he had to face his emaciated body in front of the mirror. It was also interesting how Winston had just been thinking that O'brien looked old, and then he had to face his own looks. All of the torture that went on at the end of the book certainly made the party a more menacing figure. Throughout the whole novel they always seemed to pose a threat, but book three proved that. Even scarier, is their philosophy that obedience is not enough, Winston must also love the party. I was not surprised with his betrayal of Julia specifically because I do not believe that there was ever any love there. However, he and  Julia together did represent more. They, to me, represented the anti-party cause all together and when Winston betrayed her, he betrayed that cause also.  I wish the book could have ended how I had hoped, but it was still somewhat interesting. I thought it was clever that it ended kind of how it had started. Winston looks to the poster of Big Brother for comfort at both the beginning and end of the book. I enjoyed the story throughout, but wish the ending had been more climactic.

"The Book"

"The book" was a very interesting section of the story to read. Although it explained a lot, none of it was much of a surprise. However, it did show the party to be extremely devious and powerful. They have gone to such great lengths to maintain power and it is hard to see how they could ever lose it. The party completely disregards any human rights or freedoms. It was appalling to me that they keep the country constantly at war to be able to produce goods, yet they still keep over eighty percent of their population on the brink of starvation. At least if the proles/outer party had more food and necessities the war would benefit everyone, but it doesn’t. Every action taken by the party is intended to benefit only those in the party. It seems a lot like capitalism in that they just worry about themselves. While reading this I thought of the fat, capitalist presented earlier in the book. That is honestly how I see the inner party now. All they seem to do is bathe in their luxuries while everyone else works tirelessly for them. The reveal of the book was a perfect parallel to right before when Winston had just finished working an exhausting 90 hour week. He is so tired and dead and then he learns that its all just to keep the inner party wealthy. While my blog seems to be directly attacking the inner party, I don’t believe all the people in it would be doing this on purpose because of the double think that was explained. I believe that the main problem in this society is how uneducated and ignorant the people are. I feel that people in the inner part are “blissfully ignorant,” they enjoy everything they could want and many of them don’t truly understand what is going on in Oceania. 

The Unknown Citizen: Chapter 7

In this poem, the author, W.H. Auden, creates an image of the society at the time. He shows that having kids and being married was important, as well as keeping up with technology and owning a "phonorgraph" and "fridgaire." He also says that not being a scab (working when everyone else is striking) was important, while also remaining loyal to the company. In addition, one must be loyal to the nation. However, Auden seems to be addressing all of this with a sarcastic tone. It is hard to explain, because sarcasm is something we just know as people. However, one example where it seems pretty obvious the author is sarcastically mocking the expectations of the time period is when he says, "He held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went." This is clearly sarcastic because it shows how people put little thought into how they actually felt and just went with the popular opinion. In the title, there lies some irony. If it wasn't for the title, one would think the "unknown citizen" would have been a very memorable person. He appears to have many good qualities and to be an all around good person. However, the author means to say that to be known one cannot simply do what everyone else does. That possibly being good in this society, or maybe even great, does not constitute as memorable. The last lines seem to be ironic as well. The author points out that the only way anything would have been known about the man was if something had been wrong. I enjoyed the poem because it is one that can be adapted throughout the ages. I just change phonograph to iphone, and I was able to see this poem very well.

Evolution of Julia

I did not see much change in Julia throughout these chapters. Although her and Winston are now able to express their sexual desires more freely, it still just is a sexual desire for her. However, she did surprise me with a few of her comments. When Winston begins talking politics with her, she says that she doesn't think the war even exists.This impressed me because I did not think Julia though beyond the realms of sex or rebelling sexually. Later in the conversation Winston explains exactly how a rebellion could play out, and she says she is only interested in her and Winston. I feel that if Julia and Winston's personalities could combine, they would be the perfect leader. One always has what the other is lacking. For example, Winston has the passion and desire for a rebellion while he lacks the leadership and higher thinking. Although Winston is very intelligent, he is more easily swayed by the parties propaganda. I was also surprised when Julia spoke about the 2 minutes hate, she said it was hard for her to contain her laughter. Previously, I did not think her hate for the government went past her inability to have sex, but these chapters proved that inaccurate. While Julia has thoughts beyond sex, she only wishes to take action on her sexual desires; like Winston says, she is "only a rebel from the waist down." With the food and the makeup I also saw more potential in Julia than I previously had. Not only does she hate the government, but she is able to notice the specific things the outer party is missing out on, something Winston is not able to do. Her bold and brave personality gives her the courage to question the lives they all live. After reading these chapters, I know that Winston and Julia together can do great things, but only if they are able to see where the other is coming from.

Julia

Although Julia's ideas were a surprise and I did not expect her to be so rebellious, I don't believe her personality has changed much. She is still a very strong woman, regardless of what 'party' she favors. She has extremely strong opinions and I think this could hurt her. She fails to agree with a lot of what Winston says, or she always has a comment to make about it. Her intense sexual drive did not come as a surprise after the note she sent to Winston. Julia is impressive in her ability to trick the party and maintain a good reputation. Winston seems to always be struggling to keep in his emotions and his feelings towards the party do not seem as strong as Julia's and she seems to easily conceal her feelings of hate. Her seemingly flawless strategies for private meeting prove that she is intelligent and experienced. For those that have read or seen catching fire, she reminds me a lot of Johanna. While she doesn’t directly scream negativity about the government, what she says in private resembles what Johanna says publically. I found it strange that she had never heard of the brotherhood, but it did not surprise me that she didn’t believe in it after she learned about it. I don’t think she has any faith in the society she lives in and for others to see the corruptness. I hope that Winston and Julia are able to influence others and start a rebellion, but it seems that their slightly different views could hold them back.