Proles+Wiki

By Samantha Brown and Lindsay Bloom > > > > > > > > > //**Comments: Well organized discussion - lots of good questions. Attempt to maintain the format for following wiki posts. Were there any connections made to __A Clockwork Orange__? Attempt to bring that into the discussion and notes for your upcoming discussion posts.**//
 * Part I**
 * Who/What is Big Brother?
 * A real person?
 * His picture is not proof that he actually exists
 * It would be impossible for one person to monitor all of Oceania
 * However…he is spoken of as a single entity
 * A complete fabrication?
 * Is it possible Big Brother could have been invented by the party, and used to command obedience and love? Is it possible that he doesn’t even really exist?
 * Proles:
 * 85% doesn't live under the control of Big Brother
 * Why don't they revolt?
 * There's nothing in it for them
 * Their lives aren't as restricted
 * Human Emotions
 * The Dark-Haired Woman
 * Even though Winston does find her attractive, his first instinct is to “smash her skull in with a cobblestone” (Orwell 102).
 * Why does he first revert to anger?
 * Possibly because he is unaccustomed to expressing any other emotion
 * Is he capable of love? Is anyone in his society?
 * Is love a human instinct, or has the government of Ingsoc managed to eliminate it?
 * No love in marriage or sex…how is it possible to live like this?
 * Newspeak and Syme
 * Syme takes pride in his job of eliminating words…but Winston knows he will be vaporized. Why?
 * Is Syme too intelligent? Why does the government fear intelligence?
 * Would the elimination of words eliminate thought-crime?
 * YES- without a surplus of words, it would not be possible to be able to express a thought not sanctioned by the government
 * NO- Words were invented to label thoughts. Thoughts would still exist without the words, and thought-crime could still be committed.
 * Doublethink
 * The idea of holding two contradictory ideas, and believing them both at the same time
 * Requires an unquestioning obedience and willingness to accept
 * What is so powerful about thought?
 * Normally, our government fears and punishes action
 * But after the Revolution, Ingsoc has deemed thought too dangerous to exist. Why?
 * Ministry of Truth
 * What qualifies Winston to rewrite history? What qualifies anyone to rewrite history?
 * Winston writes about Comrade Ogilvy…
 * Does he now exist? Does his article qualify as proof of his life?
 * If Winston is the only one who knows the truth, does the truth cease to exist once he destroys the proof? How mutable is the past?
 * Narration/Other Perspectives
 * Written in third person, but purposefully only gives the reader one perspective
 * Are other people like Winston? Or are they truly blindly obedient?
 * Not everyone else hates the government because they don't know any different
 * They believe that the government in right in making all these rules and restrictions
 * It's ordinary to them and they just have grown up to expect it
 * Winston doesn’t understand the reason why so much control is over him and his peers
 * What is the significance of O’Brian?
 * He feels the same way as Winston but he can’t express his feelings out of fear
 * Obvious tie to Winston
 * Disappearances
 * Winston knows he’s going to vaporize; it’s just a question of when
 * He would rather kill himself than be captured and suffer
 * Public hangings became social events that even children looked forward to
 * Elders
 * Winston tries to learn about the pre-revolution time from elder people
 * The pre and post revolution periods blend together in their minds
 * Trying to access information from before the revolution, it is just about guaranteed that is going to be terminated
 * Food rations and money
 * Chocolate and coffee was rationed in society
 * The money was given out in forms of paper that had different values (not dollars or pounds)
 * When the chocolate ration went down, people said how much it went up and how great big brother was- do they know it’s wrong or are they too scared to say/think otherwise?

By Elysia Liang and Mark Beierle
 * Part II**


 * The Book from the Brotherhood
 * Informative but felt like a repetitive and sometimes unnecessary addition to Part II since some of the information is already known
 * Reader feels like Winston - "He understood //how//; he did not understand //why//" (Orwell 217).
 * Who actually wrote and published a copy of the book?
 * Says it is by Emmanual Goldstein, but does he exist?
 * Could possibly be like Big Brother, a made-up character to whom the people can direct their feelings of hate
 * Prole Woman
 * Winston sees beauty in her freedom - she can sing without fear or specific purpose
 * Her life is harder, but in some ways, her life is much better than that of Winston's because she has this freedom
 * Fills Winston with hope; echoes idea that the proles will be the one to overthrow government
 * Seeing prole woman is similar to hearing the bird sing in the woods
 * Singing for the sake of singing is a foreign concept to Winston
 * Highlights what he is missing in his life and his disillusionment
 * Mr. Charrington & the Arrest
 * Why does he wait to reveal himself as a member of the Thought Police until Winston has the book from the Brotherhood?
 * If Winston has the book, there will be physical evidence that he is committing thought crime
 * Arresting Julia and Winston now is more devastating; they had hope of rebelling against the party and it is taken away
 * Undergoes a very drastic transformation - reader is as shocked as Winston to see a "friend" become the enemy
 * "He was still recognizable but he was not the same person any longer. His body had straightened, and seemed to have grown bigger. His face had undergone only tiny changes that had nevertheless worked a complete transformation. The black eyebrows were less bushy, the wrinkles were gone, the whole lines of the face to have altered; even the nose seemed shorter" (Orwell 224).
 * Why are the Thought Police stationed among the proles? Do they expect Party members like Winston to commit crimes and wait until they reveal themselves?
 * Although the reader (as well as Winston and Julia) are expecting their arrest, there is still a profound sense of surprise
 * Telescreen appearing from the picture is disconcerting and shocking
 * Winston and Julia even mentioned that they should take the picture off the wall - perhaps foreshadowing?
 * Shows that even the safest haven is actually being watched - creepy and intrusive
 * "'We are the dead,' he said. 'We are the dead,' echoed Julia dutifully. 'You are the dead,' said an iron voice behind them" (Orwell 221).
 * Very fatalistic and blunt; there is no escape from their fate, especially with the use of repetition
 * Coral paperweight breaks during the arrest
 * Symbolic of Winston's and Julia's hopes for a future with freedoms and privacy without such a powerful government
 * Breaking of the paperweight represents the impossibility of their hopes and the end of rebellion
 * What will happen next?
 * Possibly taken to the Ministry of Love
 * Not much information about the buildling's interior - adds to fear and suspense of characters
 * Will it be as terrible as expected? Worse or completely different
 * Significance of changing wartime enemies
 * The most recent change of enemies from Eurasia to Eastasia in the book coincidentally happened during Hate Week
 * Possibly to get everyone riled up even more
 * Blamed the confusion on Goldstein
 * Claimed that he and his workers changed their signs to be about the wrong country
 * Keeps the hate fresh and intense
 * Raises a lot of questions about the society
 * Do the people not realize the change?
 * Are the people like Winston who all realize but can do nothing about it?
 * True meaning of "WAR IS PEACE"
 * Some believe that Goldstein is not a real person
 * Needed someone to direct the hate to
 * None of the two allied nations can defeat the third
 * The only reason there is war is for political structure
 * Allows the party to maintain control
 * There is always a lack of resources which keeps the people from being individually prosperous
 * Would not be able to keep the constant feeling of passionate hatred
 * Presents something for the citizens to direct loyalty and ager towards
 * Differences between Winston and Julia
 * If Winston was to choose a wife in a free society, it probably would not be Julia.
 * Winston grew up before the Revolution.
 * Julia is a product of the Party.
 * Julia truly lives in the present and is not frightened by the party's techniques
 * Winston is very interested in the past while Julia is not
 * Julia is not interested in creating a revolution, like Winston, but rather is rebelling just to be a rebel.
 * Julia is a "Rebel from the waist down.
 * Connection to A Clockwork Orange
 * Two suppressive governments
 * The government in A Clockwork Orange is more or less is in the beginning stages of the Party.
 * There is a certain amount of fear in each society
 * Gangs roaming the streets - A Clockwork Orange
 * Thought Police - 1984
 * Idea of attacking thoughts
 * Alex is unable to think bad thoughts because he gets sick
 * The Thought Police disallow any type of liberal thinking

Part III- Lindsay Bloom and Rachel Kaufman

Torture: • Expected more from room 101- torture part was the most exciting part • How do they know what everybody’s worst fear is? o They knew everything about Winston through use of the telescreens; they watched him for years • Parson was proud of how his daughter turned him in: “down with big brother” sleep talking o Does the truth really come out when you’re dreaming? • After having been tortured for a long time, Winston was treated better o Fed more and allowed him to sleep • Confusing process o Starved the inmates and confused them with the passage of time o Tortured them for a while o Fed and nursed back to health o Room 101 Doublethink • Winston convinced himself of everything the party said in the end • “Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia” O’Brian • Every time O’Brian showed sympathy Winston would fall in love with him • Who is O’Brian? o Part of the brotherhood o Part of the though police o One of the victims of torture • Rationalized his doublethink • Had so much power over Winston that he gained his respect o He knew everything that Winston thought o Took away things that were important to Winston and slowly gave them back, gaining respect Julia • Winston betrayed her in the end • The meeting with Julia o They each betrayed each other • What was in her room 101? • Would Winston have gotten caught if it weren’t for Julia? Time • How much time elapsed? • There were no windows or clocks • Similar to history- not past or future; only present Happiness and Freedom • Can one exist without the other? o A person can be happy even if they’re enslaved o A person is unhappy when he’s free • Winston is the last free man- is this true? • Happiness is slavery because freedom is slavery Last free man • O’Brian wants Winston to feel like an outcast • Wants him to conform to society more easily Winston is set free • Wasn’t watched on telescreens anymore • They had taken away his last amount of spirit and free will • Bad job but better pay and comfortable life o Party shows that now that Winston is on board with them his life is “better” o His old job required free though due to creative writing but now he’s even more mechanical • He was made an example out of when he was put back into society

Ministry of Love • Forcing him to love Big Brother • The title is actually correct, even though there’s not torture • Converted his love for Julia and freedom to the love of the party and big brother Winston in the Ministry of Love • Tried to work out in his cell because he had become so weak • Mind actually changed Telescreens • We finally find out what’s on the telescreen Victorious battle • The end of the book led to a huge victory for Oceania • A change in society? • Did Oceania really win the battle or is it still made up? • The people were nervous about the result of the battle, even though Oceania can never lose Chess • White (big brother) always wins • Winston doesn’t even question it • BB will always win in society and never fall to anybody • He couldn’t even play his own game Totalitarianism • Orwell is trying to war people about the government • Winston had to lose in the end • If you allow a government to people to the point that humanity cannot function naturally the government will always win Connection to Clockwork • Moral issues- taking away the power to think for oneself