Repression of Thought

Ross Schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

English

October 22, 2015

Repression of Thoughts

            In the book 1984 a totalitarian government rules the people. The government, who’s ruled by a shady figure named Big Brother, controls almost everything the people do. It is so oppressive that the party is able to control what they can say, what they can think, what they can do, and how they can feel. If you are to do anything thing that the government does not allow then you would be taken away by the Thought Police (and tortured till you love the party again). The book shows many important themes of how a society is run and how the people act when under a certain type of government. I feel that the strongest theme that is shown throughout the novel is the repression of thought.

            Since in the book the people are not allowed to have any original thought, that basically means that they have a limited vocabulary (which the party is really trying to accomplish). The logic behind this is actually very true, because when we feel a certain way we want to express how we feel, so we have thought about how we feel, and then we would attach a word to that thought and that would explain to other people how we feel about something. But since the government has ruled that it is illegal to use thoughts then no one is able to revolt against the party by using powerful words. An example of this being explained in the book is when Winston is sitting in a cafeteria and he is talking to another party member, named Syme, who works on changing the Newspeak Dictionary. Syme says to Winston “Don’t you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it”(52).  Also in the beginning of the book Winston writes in a journal, which he is not allowed to have in the first place, because then he would be writing down his thoughts. As Winston is writing in the journal he starts to write DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, because he hates that he is not able to express how he thinks. So even later on in the story, even after he has been with Julia, he gets to feel things (thoughts) that he had never felt before, which was very strange to, and he knew the risk of him being caught thinking.

            As you can tell the repression of thought is a major theme involved in 1984, as it has shaped the way people do everything. Unfortunately for Winston the government’s laws restrain him and he is sadly (spoiler alert) captured by Big Brother for having original thoughts (and having sex). This is one of the party’s main ways of instilling fear into the people, so that they obey. In conclusion, the government felt that if no one can think of anything to say, then one would say anything at all, thus giving them all of the power to make the people do or not do, say or not say anything they want.

1984 Torture Stages

Ross Schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

Western Literature

October 14, 2015

1984 Torture Stages

            In the beginning of book three of 1984 Winston and Julia are separated and taken away to the ministry of love. Once Winston is in there he is put in a holding cell, where he sees some familiar faces, some of the people that he knew Winston would never have though to have commit a thought crime, which kind of worries him. Then the other people in the cell are taken away to room 101, and that scares Winston, because he does not know what is in that room. He is also afraid of the unbearable beating s that he may or may not get (but he gets them anyways). As he is in the holding cell he sees a man coming in, but it was O’Brien. Winston is shocked and is so upset and can’t believe that he was tricked, and that really lowers his sense of power in preparing for trying to fight against the torture. As Winston is speaking to O’Brien another guard goes and smashes Winston’s elbow, as Winston is getting beaten he is realizing that it is impossible for anyone to be a hero under this kind of torture, which is making him give up more and more hope. 

           Weeks and weeks go by and the torture gets worse. He is even laid down on a board and electrocuted to unimaginable degrees. Throughout this torture O’Brien is trying to “help” Winston by not just making him go along with what the government say’s, but also actually making him believe what they say. As O’Brien says “There are five fingers there. Do you see five fingers? ‘Yes’.”(258). Winston agrees that O’Brien is holding up five fingers, even though he is really holding up four. It is this kind of hopelessness that is transforming Winston back into a slave of the party member. 

         Lastly Winston is then forced to strip down, be completely naked and is put in front of a mirror. This type of torture is truly meant to break Winston at his core. As Winston sees himself in the mirror he is realizing (as O’Brien is repeating to him) that he is nothing but, a small and weak man, O’Brien makes him feel even less than a man. As O’Brien says to Winston “You are rotting away,’ he said; ‘you are falling to pieces. What are you? A bag of filth. Now turn around and look into the mirror again. Dou you see that thing facing you? That is the last man. If you are human, that is humanity.”(272).  As O’Brien is bombarding him with insults it is this stage of torture that truly breaks Winston.

Big Brother & Brotherhood Parallel

Ross Schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

Western Literature

October 8, 2015

Big Brother & Brotherhood Parallel

            Anyone who has read (or is reading) the book 1984 knows that Winston, the main protagonist of the story, is trapped in Oceania, more specifically Air Strip One, which used to be London. The political party that keeps its people in line is known as Big Brother. As you read deeper into the book you begin to hear of this group known as the Brotherhood, which is a group of people who are against Big Brother and are run by Emmanuel Goldstein, a former party member who turned against the party. Winston believes that the Brotherhood is so different from Big Brother, but really when you look at the big picture are they really that different and is one better than another? There might be more similarities than Winston (and the readers) think.

            First one of the major similarities between the two groups is following orders. As soon as Winston meets with O’Brien he is informed about how the Brotherhood exist and the famous names that are associated with it. After being introduced to it all O’Brien ask Winston and Julia a series of questions. Some examples would “You are prepared to give your lives?” ‘Yes’. ‘You are prepared to commit murder? ‘ ‘Yes.’ ‘To commit acts of sabotage which may cause the deaths of hundreds of innocent people?’ “Yes” (172). So just like with the Thought Police they will work for Big Brother, they just answer the questions with a resounding yes, almost without hesitation, and will do all of those crazy things for some belief. With both groups having this kind of power can allow them to change people mentally or physically. The mental side of it is when Big Brother will take people away, but them bring them back into Oceania and they will seem as if they are someone else entirely. What the Brotherhood is saying they do is that they will change people’s facial features to make them become a whole new person. Both the Brotherhood and Big Brother are kind of ideas, as O'Brien says "The Brotherhood can not be wiped out because it is not an organization in the ordinary sense. Nothing holds it together except an idea which is indestructible" (176). Another one of the big parallels I noticed was in the party no one ever sees Big Brother in person. Just like with Big Brother no one who is apart of the brotherhood (that we know of) has ever seen Emmanuel Goldstein. Another parallel between the two groups is shown personally through Winston experience with the wine. As he states in the book "For some reason he had always thought of wine as having an intensely sweet taste, like that of blackberry jam, and an immediate intoxicating effect. Actually, when he came to swallow it, the stuff was distinctly disappointing" (171). The wine is the parallel with the brotherhood, as that he has been waiting for it for so long and now that he has it (or joins it) he doesn’t find it as interesting as he thought it would.

So in conclusion, I’m not entirely sure witch group I would prefer to be apart of. I’m not saying that I would like to live in this society, but I can see hardly any difference between the two. If the brotherhood were like that underground society of rebels who had fun and did illegal things against the government in a way that would be creative than that would be a good idea to join the brotherhood, but no. Living with the party seems to allow you to have at least some conditions that could be better than the brotherhood.

1984 Song

Ross schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

English

October 2, 2015

David Bowie’s “1984”

The book 1984 has become an iconic piece of literature. It has been read by millions of people for the past 66 years and has even been turned into a movie (which was released in 1984). Another genre that the book has been influential in is music, and that allows people to hear artist interpretation of it through song. There has been many songs that have been about the book, such as “Spies” by Coldplay, “2+2=5” by Radiohead, or “California Uber Alles” by Dead Kennedys. Although those are all important songs about 1984, I would say that the song called “1984” by David Bowie is also a very important song relating to 1984. In his song there are lyrics that describe what the government does to the people. An example would be “They’ll break your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air”. This lyric is saying that the government will just throw out information to the people, and whether it’s right or wrong the people will still believe what they are told. Another example of the song that is parallel to 1984 is “And tell you that you're eighty, but lover you won't care". This is a really good example because this line is expelling how if the government tells you that you are eighty, then you really would believe them, because you don't have any true reason to go against that belief. One of the biggest themes that is represented in this song is being manipulated by the government and being told what's true or false, basically it's a form of mind-control that they are using on you.

                             David Bowie Song "1984"