How Sad..

" 'Would you believe,' he said, 'that until this moment I didn't know what color your eyes were' ."

This is terrible, but the epitome of the society in which Winston lives. He lives his life as a mundane existence and does not care to notice the little details in life. The little details are the ones that get me the most excited in life. However, Winston is worried about not being able to remember the past, but his larger worry should be whether or not he is able to enjoy the everyday details of life. Sad enough, our society really is not too far off from that of the "Utopian" society Orwell created. The bureaucracy of today's world is the largest employeer in the country. The threat of Universal healthcare looms over the heads of many Americans. The free enterprise system is in jeopardy in many situations, including the insurance realm. Maybe Americans should read this book before making accuasations about what is "best" for the country. Just like how the Party was hungary for power, so too are today's political monguls.

Say it ain't so

"WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"

PAGE 16

The slogan of the Party is a tough one to crack. All of these things are complete opposites in today's world. And, I find it hard to accept these things. Freedom is the right to not be enslaved. Ignorance is a weakness. War is violence and unrest. The Party conducts duties the complete opposite of today's world and the world when Orwell wrote the book. This is the world Orwell envisions in forty years, but this never happened. In what world would someone actually accept these principles to be true? However, I should not underestimate, for Hitler did persecute millions of Jews for no apparent reason. So this phenomenon does not surpirse me.

What, When, Why, Where, How?

"I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY."

I believe this would be juxtopposition. Winston is trying to understand why the Party erases all evidence of the past. He does not doubt how they do it, but he does not fully understand why they do it. What is the point? HOW and WHY are juxtapposed to each other in this sentence. He knows HOW but not WHY. The real question is WHY? It is becoming just an accepted that the past is erased, but no one questions it. Except Winston, who is bound and determined to challenge the Party.

Reverse Personification?

"They were like an ant, which can see small ojects, but not large ones." Page 93.

This quote is depersonifiying humans. The old man's facts are in fact interesting, but they are just pieces to the big picture that Winston is trying to put together. The old man keeps giving Winston scenes of a movie, instead of just the synopsis. Winston is trying to bring his memory back, and the old man is the only way in which he will be able to do so. However, as it turns out, he is not as helpful as Winston thought. All the relevant facts that Winston needs are outside the realm of the man's memory. They are details he is not able to recollect.

Beautiful Language

"The air seemed to kiss one's skin. It was the second of May. From somewhere deeper in the heart of the wood came the droning of ring doves." Page 117.

The first sentence refers to the personification of the air. When Winston goes to meet the brown-haired girl, he feels a sense of freedom about him. He can actually breathe when walking outside. He is very nervous about going to meet the girl, for it is illegal to have relationships or even marriage. However, the air is different out in the country where he is meeting her. It is free and fresh, everything that the air in the city isn't. The second sentence speaks of the droning of the ring doves. I am going to take a stab and say this implies that the ring doves are in the middle of the wood of the tree. Regardless, the langauge is beautiful and brings an element of freshness to the story as a whole. The language comes off as if Winston has a second chance at life.