Travis Almeter Mrs. Peters
9/9/09 English 12
Response to Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell

Part 1
Chapter 1-3
The world in which Winston's life takes place seems rather dark and dreary because of how cold and broken down things are. I think it would be quite creepy living with telescreens, Big Brother posters, and knowing that the Thought Police can be watching you at any moment. The slogans of The Party contradict the beliefs of modern American society. The Two Minutes Hate is almost cult-like with their anger and yelling. I was unsure who would be at his door so early in the book, but Winston was lucky that it was just his neighbor. The kids are out of control traitors in my opinion. It's absurd that children that young would want to go see a hanging. I find it hard to imagine how scared and alone he must feel because everyone else is so strongly supportive of The Party and he is committing severe crimes by writing in his journal against them. I think Winston may meet his mother later on because of the dream he had about her. It must be hard when you cant rely on your own memory. Sometimes what you think may be real is just imagination. I also think physical fitness in this society is important because of the stretches he is forced to do, but sanitation and personal medical issues like his ulcer are ignored.

Chapters 4-6
The Party changing past news and facts to resemble truth of the current era is a waste of time and unnecessary. They are just trying to make themselves look better but even the people working to make the edits oddly enough swallow these new changes like nothing happened. Tillitson is most likely doing something wrong which is why he is acting so suspicious. It's pretty ironic that The Party is actually trying to make a new language with a much smaller vocabulary. I don't think this will work because people can still feel and think things even if there is no word for it; it would just be harder to communicate those feelings. Also, regular English words would be carried and passed on verbally without being forgotten completely. The dark haired girl could either be part of the Thought Police or maybe she is just someone like Winston who questions The Party and Big Brother. I personally don't think a government could end sexual desire completely, especially over such a short period of time. Normally that would provoke curiosity and rebellion like with Prohibition. The Party is basically erasing all emotion by ending love and other feelings which would make life mundane and drab.

Chapters 7-8
I think life as a prole during this time period would be just as nice. They may lack some luxuries and have a bit of a harder life, but they are free to think however they please and do not have to deal with all the tedious rules of The Party. I think with each day that passes, Winston is questioning and thinking more of how he or the proles can overthrow The Party. Walking around the prole neighborhood is dangerous because if he is caught, they could begin to watch him more closely. I thought the old man would reveal how things were long ago but he is unable to focus on exactly how things were as a country. It could just be coincidence that he ran into the dark haired girl again but if she is a part of the Thought Police he needs to be a lot more careful when doing something wrong.

Part 2
Chapters 1-3
Falling and pretending to be hurt was a clever way to pass on a note in this world of no privacy. I think Winston will do whatever it takes to meet this girl but what could make her claim to love him after no other true contact? It must be nerve wracking having to wait days before being able to talk to her. Winston's dream about meeting Julia and their actual sexual endeavors was nearly the same which must be shocking for him to think about. It's kinda odd and disturbing how at such a young age she claims to have done this with scores of men. And what happened to all the other men who she had relationships with? Julia is quite careful with their relationship and the planning of meeting places. Winston's attitude has changed somewhat and he seems less optimistic of anyone, even the proles, being able to overthrow The Party.

Chapters 4-6
The rented room above Mr. Charrington's shop is as close to a 'regular' life as they can get in this time period. I think that eventually Mr. Charrington will be recognized as a thought criminal and he will be forced into turning in both Winston and Julia. I wonder what happened to Winston and his journal? It was very important in Part 1 but now, has not been mentioned since. Even though they both dislike The Party, I think they have separate feelings on the situation. Winston seems more focused on the future change while Julia seems mainly focused on just living and rebelling in her own life. Winston's encounter and conversation with O'Brien actually helped out both of them. Now if anyone was watching them through the telescreen, they will believe that those two have much more loyalty than they do. I think O'Brien is a recruiter and member of The Brotherhood.

Chapters 7-8
Winston's childhood sounded just as bad as if not worse than how things are now. Living in a food shortage that dramatic must be horrible. I think the future for Winston and Julia is looking pretty grim. Eventually they will both be caught and tortured unless they are very lucky. It must be pretty exciting to realize that The Brotherhood actually does exist. I think the only things Winston really cares about are Julia and making a change in The Party. It's a really smart idea that each member of The Brotherhood only knows a few other members so that when they are caught, only a few names can be confessed.

Chapters 9-10
It's really bad timing for Oceania to switch enemies in the middle of their Hate Week after everything was prepared with the name of the wrong enemy. It's crazy how the citizens can just seamlessly switch their hatred to someone else. The Book finally explains the boundaries of the three super states; I think it would have been better to explain this much earlier in the novel. The Book was very boring and hard to focus and understand. I thought it would explain more of how to overthrow The Party and what people can do to help, but it just explains why the world is how it is. The leaders have stupid opinions on politics and economy. The situation in which Julia and Winston heard the telescreen talking in their supposed safe room must be horrifying. I guess they took for granted how safe the room was. But why did Mr Charrington wait so long to turn in the two of them? He could have even had Winston possibly arrested for buying the journal or glass paperweight. If this happened to me, I would lose trust in everyone around me.

Part 3
Chapters 1-3
The torture done to criminals in the Ministry of Love sounds as bad as any time period or place in the world. I'm curious as to what goes on in Room 101 that can be so horrible. O'Brien working undercover, similar to a spy, came as a complete shock to me. He seemed truthful but even he was against thought criminals. Winston must be rather confused with answering some questions. Sometimes you think your correct and you are but The Party wants you to think something else so that makes you wrong. I still think that they don't need to be right about everything and it must be hard to think something else like two plus two equaling five when it has always equaled four before. It takes the sick mind of a controlling leader to want to make citizens change so much and be completely under their control. I don't understand how Winston can already 'know' what is in room 101. I think that it is pretty much pointless for Winston to argue anything with O'Brien because he can't prove anything and even after O'Brien listens, he just feeds more lies to Winston. All of the lies that The Party wants him to believe are contradictions of how things should be. Must be shocking and demoralizing for Winston to see what has become of his physical appearance since he is now just skin and bones. However, it is quite noble that through all this he still believes himself loyal to Julia.

Chapters 4-6
It's good that Winston is gaining his physical self back and being tortured less now. I think he is just obeying to stay out of trouble but if he actually learns to love and believe in everything that Big Brother says, he will be freed and allowed to leave Minilove. I think when O'Brien told Winston he already knew what was in Room 101, he just meant that each person knows what will be in it for themselves because it is their fear. It's unfair though that some people are killed by fears in Room 101 and some are just tortured but allowed to live. Even with any amount of torture, I think it is literally impossible to change a person's emotions towards something. Power, torturing, and demoralization can force you to say things but not force you to love something deep inside your heart. I think Winston did a shameful thing by telling them to torture Julia instead of himself but the human instinct to survive would make nearly anyone feel that way. After turning in Julia, The Party realized they had totally crushed Winston's spirit and allowed him to leave. Jones, Aaron, and Rutherford were much more persistent in their efforts to overthrow The Party compared to Winston. In my opinion after the entire ordeal and Winston was released, he turned into the exact type of person he originally despised.