1984 pages 179 -224 Week 6

Well, Winston finally has "the book" in his posession. When he finally gets a chance to read it, it's not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting some sort of book of plans and rules of the brotherhood but it wasn't. At first the book appeared to be some sort of brainwashing book, but then, as Winston read further, I didn't even know what to call it. It's not a guide line for how to be in the Party or Brotherhood, it just tells how the Party came about and why things are the way they are. Informative? Yes. Interesting? Not really. Winston makes the comment that "the best books are those that tell you what you know already." I must say that I disagree with his thinking. While some instances were new, most of the book consisted of what I (and Winston) had already concluded.

One of the things that the book did teach me which I found interesting was the reason why war was happening. It's a way to oppress the people and gain control over labor power. I was also surprised to hear that Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania were all allies. I had been confused about the triangle all throughout the book and I hadn't even imagined that it was a conspiracy/plan of the three countries.

The book also helped me to better understand the slogan: IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. The book says that people will never rebell because they are given no reason to. By not allowing the people to even know that there's a better life, they have no reason to rebell because they think what they have is as good as it gets.

Within the IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH chapter, the perfect Party member is described as one who can tell a blatent lie and actually believe it. It also says that at age 16 teenagers will be evaluated to see where they fall in the party. This makes me wonder why Julia isn't an Inner Party member. She appears to have been leading the life of a model party member for many years and it seems kind of strange that she wouldn't be an Inner Party member.

Something that I took as foreshaddowing throughout "the book" was the emphasis on the high, middle, and low classes. It is explained that the only way the 'high' can be overthrown, as shown in history, is when the middle class feels oppressed enough to rebell. It also illudes to the fact that the Proles (Low class) could never rebell because they are too dumb. However, I think that the Proles are planning something. For example, the woman singing is comparable to a free bird. She must have a reason to be feeling free. The Proles make up 85% of the population and I don't find it inconceivable that they could overthrow the Party.

After reading the IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH chapter to Julia aloud, Winston discovers that she was asleep most of the time. After taking a nap he wakes her and they go stand by the window watching the Prole woman sing. It is here that the telescreen speaks back to them. It repeats everything they say and then the picture falls off the wall and it's revealed that the telescreen has actually been behind it the entire time. Police men begin barging into the room where Winston and Julia have been staying for so long now.

The picture that Orwell creates in this scene is absolutely horrible for me. The police are so bestial and violent, yet Winston and Julia can't do anything about it. It's been obvious that this moment was coming for a long time, but I didn't want it to. There was definite foreshaddowing in the room that day in the way everything was so calm and Julia's remark about the cold (death). In my opinion, the worst part of the attack was when they carried Julia away and Winston said he never saw her again. For some reason I figured they would meet up later, but I guess the police don't have a reason to put them together.

As Winston is being drug down the stairs Mr. Charrington is staring back at him, though his appearance has completely changed. Winston finally realizes that he's actually a member of the thought police. I have been pulling for Winston throughout the entire book, but I kind of questioned his stupidity. Did he really think that he everything was going to be easy because he found a secret room? I suppose it is possible that he knew something was't right with the antique shop and wanted to die, but I really believe he was clueless about the situation.