1984. George Orwell
a. Synopsis
In the beginning, we meet the protagonist Winston Smith, who is writing a diary, a forbidden act in the dystopian world of 1984. Winston lives in a London controlled by Big Brother whose face is everywhere; it's a bleak place with food shortages and violence in danger at every turn. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth where he edits the past to fit the party's vision of the present. Winston observes a dark-haired girl watching him several times. Her name is Julia; at one point Julia passes Winston a note that tells him that she loves him. They rejoin in secret and have sex in a field, their relationship becomes closer and more intimate as they are together. They usually sleep in a room above Mr. Charrington's shop. Winston and Julia confess they want to join the Brotherhood, a groomed revolutionary group that stands against the party. Charrington arrests Winston and Julia in their room; he and O'Brien have both been secret members of the thought police. O'Brien tortures Winston in the Ministry of Love. Winston thinks the party will torture him until he believes that two plus two equals 5.
b. Timeline of main events
c. Learning gains
Everyone needs a private space to think or just relax from daily worries.
Be careful who you say something to; he/she could betray you
A town that has forgotten its history is doomed to repeat it.
Love is the strongest form of revelation for oppressed people.
Many times, governments control us and try to sell a false reality.
d. Message to the book author
From my point of view, this book tries to explain the terrible and miserable situation of people who live under the rule of a totalitarian government. Although governments or “parties” try to control all our lives, our human nature will always focus on being free and improving their living conditions as the most important goal.
Things I really like about the story:
The creativity and imaginative predictions about inventions that didn’t exist at the time the book was written.
The development of the story and the unexpected events.
The way the author describes the characters' feelings is so clear, and sometimes I put myself in their shoes.
Questions:
How did the party start to govern?
Why do we never know about Julia’s childhood?
Is it possible to escape from that country?
e. Meaning for me
For me, this book gives us advice and a brief idea about how it is to live in a country full of prohibitions and punishment, without the most basic necessary things like food, privacy, water, or even coffee as I could read before. Society should try to build a better future instead of looking for its own wealth and power. Despite life under machine control, they couldn't shut down people's mouths because all of us represent a place or country, by force. Sometimes love is harder than war or any kind of opposition; it has been demonstrated in the book when Winston and Julia mocked all the militaries, though police and watching screens and passionate love for each other. It is hard to believe, but even if someone has strong and firm thoughts, the machine always will be trying to make us follow its ideals. Brainwashing is possible when society stops believing in liberty.
In my view , I consider the content of the blog right, and also the design of it. I feel attracted to the clean and concise structure arranged in 5 sections. Also, I found engaging the visual aids to support your points and break up text to make it more visually pleasing. Your blog provides a space for thought-provoking and your learning gains were enriching considering that it offer a move from the surface to deeper thoughts.
ResponderEliminarFrom my point of view, you can give more visual aids to illustrate and engage’s people attention.
I consider opportune for an improvement in the blog that you could include more about the author of the book in the synopsis.