1984

[Suzanne]

But it is discouraging to see people flaunt their ignorance, because for all my knowledge and powers of reasoning, I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would be proud not to want to learn new things about the world around them. I just cannot get it. I wish I could.

Feel superior bleach! Many people will shun that which they will never have. Many people are incapable of learning, incapable of grasping complicated subjects and are intimidated by someone who demonstrates intelligence and reasoning skills. Especially if that someone is a woman. I have found myself a niche in college that I have been craving for a long time. For many years I had no one to really talk to, the art of stimulating conversation has almost disapeared and it can be really discouraging. I have found a few really good friends that enjoy a good healthy, articulate debate and I cherish them. For many years my peers were other moms who felt superior to me because their kids birthday cupcakes looked better than mine! Did I waste my time on making better cupcakes, no, I spent my time going back to college. Knowlege is power to me, it is the only thing you truly own in this life.

People get complacant and comfortable. They get to a certain point in their life, or certain age, and are quite happy to stagnate and many of them want you to stagnate with them. Keep growing, keep learning, stay curious, and always now I love ya!

[bleachededen]

I'd rather be old, poor and ugly, than stupid.

Amen, sister. Can I get a Hallelujah!?

[bleachededen]

Knowlege is power to me, it is the only thing you truly own in this life.

This is one of the best statements I have ever seen. It could have been written by Thoreau or Mark Twain. I love it.

[Robert Tulip]

Knowledge is power is the central idea of the book Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda.

[President Camacho]

I'm over 100 pages in and I am very impressed with the book. It's exploring how complete BB's strangle hold is over Oceania. This is a compatible companion book for the other book I'm reading, The Dialogues. In the Dialogues Machiavelli is explaining how to turn a democracy back into an autocracy. Machiavelli uses some of the exact same means as BB with exception to the different technologies available in Oceania. I'm sure if Mach was aware of the technology available - he'd use it along the same means. Something tells me that his version would differ economically. Oceania has a Cambodia feel that would even make Machiavelli shudder.

Newspeak. "Don't you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?" In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.

This is sure genius. Not only is BB altering the past and making it nearly entirely unavailable, he's changing language also. I'm no linguist but the implications are easily imaginable. It's going to be impossible for future generations to understand the language of their forefathers and the proles. The proles already speak a slang that's hard to understand. This alteration of language is going to build new obstacles for people in search of truth. They're not only limited in access of knowledge, now even if they manage to find a book written in the past they're not going to be able to comprehend it. Also, this is a dumbing down - narrowing the range of thought. There won't be words for ideas and thoughts that are beyond the range of what BB wants people thinking about. The abstract thought of Freedom will be totally erased! Amazing. It will serve to totally control thought and keep people ignorant.

The scratching of the ulcer means something and it's beyond me. I don't yet see a connection beyond the fact that he hasn't received decent medical care.

Winston describes how the party wants to limit emotion and attachment of any kind beyond those that serve the party. This means no family ties. Marriages have to be approved by the government and if they suspect there is any physical attraction, they vote against the union. When Winston describes his wife, whom he hardly thinks about anymore and hasn't lived with for some time, he remembers her being completely cold and stiffening at his touch. She tensed up her muscles and he felt as if she was constantly shoving him away even though she was 'submitting'. His touch repulsed her but she knew it was her 'duty' to have children. She scheduled baby making time and expected Winston to perform this cold ritual for the good of the party. His wife had been so severely brain washed that she had no lust - she was ice.

Winston naturally turns to prostitutes - an outlet that the party obviously prefers... albeit it's frowned upon (5 years prison labor).

Reading further in the book, when Winston is coming outside the antique store that he bought his journal in he spots the dark haired girl that he works with and thinks is spying on him. He suddenly gets the desire to chase after her and bludgeon her to death with a paper weight he bought at the store. Then he rethinks that idea... physical exercise? Nooooo way. The thought of exerting energy makes him come to his senses rapidly. He'd rather just go home, relax quietly in his little space, and wait for the thought police to get him. Exercise makes living not even worth the hassle. ....Now that's control!

Winston is really starting to test his chains now. He knows for sure of one falsification of history. Hell, his job IS falsifying history. He decides to take a stroll into prole territory and ask an old prole about the past. Although he's convinced that the proles are the country's last hope, the old man disappoints. He gives Winston nothing but meaningless details about his past life and nothing conclusive which Winston can use to prove if life was better in the past or the present.

"But if there was hope, it lay in the proles. You had to cling on to that. When you put it in words it sounded reasonable; it was when you looked at the human beings passing you on the pavement that it became an act of faith. The street in which he had turned ran downhill."

At the end of ONE, Winston is staring at a coin. BB's face is on the coin. It's illegal in the U.S. for a President's face to be on currency until after he's dead for a reason. I'm not sure what the coin represents in this instance but it does represent complete power and an easy way to advertise that fact to everyone who uses it. It lets everyone know the entire economy rests in the hands of BB. We need BB. BB buys my bread.

[Suzanne]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You can have two!

[bleachededen]

Camacho, you are voicing the inner monologue I had when I first read this book so many years ago. I'm glad you're enjoying it, and that you're making the kind of connections Orwell obviously wanted the reader to make. It's fascinating to "watch" you reason out the ideas in the book and connect them with your own thoughts, and I'm really glad you're sharing them with us, because it's almost as if I'm reading the book a second time through someone else's eyes. It's fantastic. Keep it up, you're awesome!

[bleachededen]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You can have two!

Thanks, Suzanne!

Praise Big Brother! Praise the Lord!

[lindad_amato]

Hallelujah!!!

[Suzanne]

I agree with bleach Pres, I'm lovin your comments, feels like you are reading aloud to us.