katie'sblog

ELEMENT ANALYSIS #1

Allusion -- "Reality Control" the slogan -- "Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." and "And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple." Immediately I thought of the Bible, because as a Christian I believe that God has a master plan for all of us; which brings me to this verse:

Ecclesiastes 6:10 -- Whatever exists has already been named, and what man is has been known; no man can contend with one who is stronger than he.

It seems as though Orwell is representing the government as a higher power (God), which isn't exactly a direct allusion, but that is what it comes across as to me. The people of Oceania feel that they can't cross their government officials (no man can contend with one who is stronger than he) because they believe that they are always watching them. Just like some Christians, they believe that they have someone to answer to if they do something wrong, and that these people control their past, present, and future(as some Christians believe that God controls our past, present, and future).

IQ1

"There will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking -- not needing to think."
Theme -- Letting Others Influence Decisions

Why must it go on like this? It never seems to stop. Speak your mind, follow your heart, Or lose who you were born to be from the start.

In particular the words "not needing to think" struck me as how alot of people let others influence their decisions. You see it happen everyday, and I think most people can admit to falling under someone else's spell instead of listening to their heart. In Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl, Leo lets others alter his opinion of Stargirl, until he gets to know her and realizes that it shouldn't be about what others say, it's about how you feel. I think Orwell was saying that eventually, everyone will think for everyone, and it will all be the same thoughts.. hence thinking being unneccessary.

ELEMENT ANALYSIS #2

Symbol -- Winston's Mother

It is clear that Winston's mother represents the days before the Party existed, when times were much easier and not as controlled. It is also very obvious that Winston's mother represents the intense guilt he feels. He feels as though he killed his mother, but I don't see that being true, which could represent all the government wishes to do with their manipulation and brain-washing.

The guilt that Winston feels reminds me of the movie Premonition. Sandra Bullock wakes up one day to find her husband dead, and then the next day he is alive again, and she realizes that she caught a glimpse of the future. Desperate to change her husband's fate, she makes a calendar to keep track of the days he is alive and which days he is not. She finally gets to the day that she knows his death happens, and as she is going to save him she tells him if he trusts her, he will turn the car around and drive towards her. As he is making the turn-around, a tractor trailer smashes into him, her being the reason his car gets hit and blows up, causing his death. In reality, had it not been for her premonitions, she never would have been where she was when her husband was there, and he never would have died. So she lives with the guilt forever even though it is actually not her fault.



IQ2

"If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love." theme: a mother's unconditional love

She tells you she knows what's best for you, As you sit and roll your eyes. She tells you that you will understand one day when you have a child of your own, "I doubt it" is your response to her, and she says "Don't doubt what I've known."

This quote about Winston's motherly love made me immediately think of how no matter what, a mother's love is to be unconditional. There are obviously times where the circumstances are unfortunate and a mother is not fit to be a mother, but any decent mother would do anything for her child. All this quote is saying that even if you stripped a mother of all other things, and the only thing left she had to give was love, she would still give it because a mother's love is meant to be unconditional. Specifically, this quote reminded me of another quote from Because I Said So. It is about a mother that is so obsessed with wanting what is best for her daughters, that she goes way too extreme to try and find love for her youngest daughter, but in secret. At one point in the movie, the mother says this: "But I just want you girls to understand something about motherhood, okay? I mean, it is the most impossible love. You tell me when it ends. You tell me when it stops. All I know is, it's absolutely fine for me to teach you how to walk and talk, and then you grow up and you head off in the wrong direction toward a cliff. And I'm supposed to just stand there and wave and go, "Well, kids, good luck. It's Mom. I'm here. " Well, I can't do that."

ELEMENT ANALYSIS #3

Symbolism "There was another crash. Someone had picked up the glass paperweight from the table and smashed it to pieces on the hearthstone." I think this is the most powerful use of a literary element I have EVER read. When Orwell describes the glass paperweight in pieces, it represents Winston and Julia's utopia coming to a halt. The effect that it had on Winston, it was like you could feel his pain living in the dystopia of 1984. It reminded me SO much of The Glass Menagerie, when Laura's most prized glass piece, her unicorn, shatters right before her eyes.

JIM: It sure does shine! LAURA: I shouldn't be partial, but he is my favorite one. JIM: What kind of a thing is this one supposed to be? LAURA: Haven't you noticed the single horn on his forehead? JIM: A unicorn, huh? — aren't they extinct in the modern world? LAURA: I know! JIM: Poor little fellow, he must feel sort of lonesome. The Glass Menagerie Jim's warmth enables Laura to overcome her shyness in his presence and she introduces him to the collection of glass animals that is her most prized possession, Scene 7. || LAURA: Now it is just like all the other horses. JIM: It's lost its — LAURA: Horn! It doesn't matter. . . . [smiling] I'll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less—freakish! The Glass Menagerie After persuading Laura to dance with him, Jim accidentally bumps the table on which the glass unicorn rests, breaking the horn off of the figurine, Scene 7 ||
 * LAURA: Little articles of it [glass], they're ornaments mostly! Most of them are little animals made out of glass, the tiniest little animals in the world. Mother calls them a glass menagerie! Here's an example of one, if you'd like to see it! . . . Oh, be careful — if you breathe, it breaks! . . . Hold him over the light, he loves the light! You see how the light shines through him?
 * JIM: Aw, aw, aw. Is it broken?

IQ3

"As long as you live, it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind."

As I sat and studied him as he stared down the pieces of the puzzle, trying to figure out which piece goes where, transfixed by the complexity of the shapes, I realized something. Upon hearing him talk, or even when you ask him a question and he acts like he does not hear you, it's not anything personal. It's the way he is, it is the way he was made -- he was a puzzle himself. He could not help that he was diagnosed with autism at the age 3, anymore than he could help the fact that the person he was, a puzzle so complex that even the most brilliant of people could not solve. At the rate the researchers and scientists are going, they will never solve the impossible puzzle that has left us all wondering.

Much like many things in Winston's life, there are things in all of our lives that will be left a mystery in our own lives. In today's world, it most often is the question: "Why?". For me, autism will be my on-going unsolved puzzle until or if a cure is found. It is not a coincidence that the symbol used for Autism Research is a single puzzle piece, but it is what instantly came to mind when O'Brien informed Winston that the Brotherhood would forever be an "unsolved riddle" in his mind.



IQ4

"It will not last forever," he said. "You can escape from it whenever you choose. Everything depends on yourself."

As she stood there asking herself if she believed in fate, she could not decide. If she were to leave, she could be leaving behind everything that she had once believed to be linked to her fate. But, if she stayed, she was sacrificing her own happiness. What should she do? She could leave, start over, and know that at that moment, she felt that it was the right thing for her to do. The only thing she knew for certain, was that she was alone in this. This was her battle. She could not keep thinking about what everyone wanted, she had to set herself free, but without regret or doubt. Yes, she was alone.. and she knew that the only thing she was fearful of was one simple thing: abandoning herself. But as she turned to walk away, she could feel herself spreading her wings, and for the first time in her life, she was finally flying.

--It seems as though all of us at one point in our lives are battling something. The war is ours. Whether it's death, disease, family members, friends, life, boredom, or even ourselves. Winston is battling himself. If he were to give up, if he were to give in to the Party, he would be abandoning himself. But if he let himself die, what would he be amounting to? Orwell knew that almost everyone has inner turmoil, something working against themselves, something that tries desperately to eat at you until you are completely destructed. But he also knew that it is up to you to overcome that 'thing'. So sometimes you have to ask yourself, is it really in my control? Well, I guess it depends on what you believe in. But whatever that is, I think Orwell was saying that's who or what has the power to make a difference.



Element Analysis #4

Symbol of Room 101

"You hate him. Good. The time has come for you to take the the last step. You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him; you must love him." He released Winston with a little push toward the guards. "Room 101," he said.

This particular part.. and everything involving Room 101, reminds me of the Volturi in The Twilight Series. Their power over the vampires in the world is always present, regardless of the fact if they are physically present. It is similar to the power of the Party, and when O'Brien says "It is not enough to obey him..." it reminds me of when Edward tells Bella that they you would be a fool to go against the Volturi.

"You’re all fools to think you can defy the Volturi."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs79_5n848Q