Asia Brooks, Tahquan, Destiny, Itiyah, Abby Cierra -- use this space to begin your discussion of Divergent. You are responsible for reading the first 10 pages, asking a good Level 4 question, and answering it in CCEJ. You may also add on (new evidence) or disagree with another group member's post.
Do you believe that the beginning setting of the story is a utopia or a dystopia?
ReplyDeleteI believe that the beginning setting of the story is a dystopia because the main character's setting is depicted negatively.in the beginning of the story, we are placed in a old,run-down setting where the main character Winston smith is coming home. His surroundings are depicted as old,raggedy,dusty and crummy. As we continue in the scene our character sees a sign that says that "big brother is watching you"(2). inferring to us that, the character is already surrounded where he doesn't have freewill. He lost all free will because "big brother" also know as the government or authorities are watching him if he makes the wrong move by making his own choice.
I believe that setting is taken place in a dystopia. It is a control dystopia world. The narrator of the story, Winston talks about this telescreen in everyone's home that can pick up any vision, sound, or movement happening. People private thought is being restricted. There is a thought police that can read your thoughts. You have to be extremely careful of what you think and who you around. Winston stated, "There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at given moment," (3). The people in this society didn't have any freewill. They are being watched without them even knowing when. In a dystopian world, people freewill is restricted and it's a perfect world where nothing can goes on. As the story goes on, Winston talks about the government and how its divided into 4 minorities.
Delete-2 for typos in both posts. Please remember to proofread.
DeleteWhat role does technology play so far in the novel?
ReplyDeleteIn the novel technology is a significant part in the book so far because it is used to watch over the people who live there. Oceania is somewhere where the government has complete power over what everyone says or do. The citizens like Winston are not able to do anything without being watched or heard. For an example, in the text it says, " The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously.Any sound Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it" (3). The telescreen was put into everyone's homes to monitor them and to make sure they didn't have any secrets the government did not know about. The technology played an important role because with it the government would be able to know everything the people of Oceania were doing.
Technology would be a important part in the novel. Technology in the novel controls the way people live their lives.In the text, when winston was turned away from the telescreen ignoring what it was saying winston thought to himself"there was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment"(3).no matter what you thought, did or said everything was heard and watched. Even if you tried to hid the fact that you didn't agree with big brother you would still be tracked and hunted. Technology in the society made it easier for people to catch people and take them out of the"utopian society".
DeleteSo far in the novel, technology is significant because it dictates the people live even their fitness and health. In reality, when people begin to notice obesity and weight gain, they enroll in classes in the gym to alleviate themselves. However, in the novel their social lives (health, fitness) is ran by technology, specifically, the TV. While Winston is lying down, he is suddenly awaken by the fitness instructor who calls for “thirty to forty group!” Immediately he sprang up and began exercising. Winston’s health depends on technology. Because the TV is constantly watching, the fitness instructor watches also. Since the people are forced to exercise with a visual trainer, their lives are highly reliant on technology.
DeleteTechnology is a big deal in the novel. The telescreen that Winston talks about monitors the people. Once he cut it on, the telescreen can pick up any movement or sound. Winston tries to be very careful when he is facing the telescreen. "There is no way of shutting it [telescreen] off completely" (2). The telescreen turns on by its self when it feels movement. It plays out anything it want; news,advertisements. Winston tries to keep out of reach of it. Technology in this society makes it easier to keep hold of people, see what they are doing. If they doing wrong or right.
DeleteWhy does Winston feel a connection to o'brien and goldstein?
ReplyDeleteWinston feels a connection to o'brien and goldstein because he feels as though they know his inner feelings about big brother. Winston feels as though he isn't the only one who doesn't agree with big brother. During the two mintue hate winston described his moment with o'brien as"a memorable event,in the locked loneliness in which one had to live"(18). Winston always thought that he was the only one in a blind society to the corruption of big brother ,yet he had o'brien and goldstein. Winston believed that he had finally found people who understood his hate and dislike for big brother. He thought he found what he was afraid everyone would criticize him for in his society. He found the truth that he wasn't the only one.
Good responses this week! 43/45
DeleteBased on the first 10 pages of the novel, are there apparent characteristics of a “negative utopia”?
ReplyDeleteIn George Orwell’s “1984”, the characteristics of a negative utopia are apparent through the society’s constant scrutiny. A 39-year old, Winston Smith, member of the Ministry of Truth begins to introduce the authoritative figure in his world. The Thought Police placed the people under constant surveillance, of course, to prevent rebellion. It was perceived that Thought Police wired in on people at all times, especially without the people knowing. Unaware of the tyranny which is supposed to conduct a utopia, the people are scrutinized closely. The Thought police, which is supposed to create a peaceful society, actually creates the opposite. Winston agrees that “ You had to live- did live, from habitat that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (3). In other words, the people’s only privacy from the government is in the darkness. These are characteristics of a negative utopia because the people have no privacy, and their every move is being scrutinized.
Why are you referring to it as a negative utopia instead of a dystopia? This confusion makes your post hard to follow. 12/15
DeleteBased upon Winston’s flouting the laws by writing in the diary, do you predict Winston to rebel against the government and join The Hate?
ReplyDeleteIn George Orwell’s “1984”, Winston commits his first minor crime: writing in a diary. Although Winston is aware of the repercussions of his actions, he steadily continues to disobey the Party. By Winston’s rebel, I predict that Winston will join The Hate because he secretly despises the Party. The actions that he commits now are minor, but subsequent of his rebel. When the Two Minute Hate appears on TV, the people immediately murmur a phrase with calms them down. However, Winston grows tired of the ritual: “of course he chanted with rest: it was impossible to do otherwise…but there was a space of a couple of seconds during which the expression in his eyes might conceivably have betrayed him “(17). Winston knew that if he didn’t chant, he would be under the microscope, and it would be taken as an insult to Big Brother. Thus, Winston chanted, however, his inner emotion of despise betrayed him. Although these feelings are indiscernible, they will soon lead to his rebellion against the government. Therefore, Winston will rebel against Big Brother because he is showing early tendencies of disrespect for Big Brother.
i think that Winston will rebel against the government but not because he is writing in a diary, Winston knows that the society that he lives in is corrupt and he is smarter then allot of other people. " winston had seen O'Brien perhaps a dozen times ...he felt deeply drawn to him ...perhaps is was not even unorthodoxy that was written on his face , but simply intelligence". He feels a pull to O brien just in hoping he has some type of knowledge, Winston is to smart to be manipulated for to long so he will step up to the government
DeleteI agree that Winston will go against the government because he secretly hates that the party went against Goldstein. As Goldstein comes on television speaking about the doctrines of his party, Winston " sees the face of Goldstein without a painful mixture of emotions" (12). Winston feels a sense of sympathy because he understands why Goldstein is trying to spread his message but he is afraid because he does not want to go against the government because he can be punished. In this dystopian society everyone is forced to be under the oppression of the government and their lives are controlled by the government. This is why Winston has mixed feelings because he knows that in a way he agrees with Goldstein but he's afraid to be disloyal to the government.
DeleteI think that Winston will rebel against the government but he is kind of scared. The way the system is being ran is hard for him to do so. You can tell that Winston wants to rebel against the government because the way he felt about O'Brien. Winston says, "He felt deeply drawn to him, and not solely because he was intrigued by the contrast between O'Brien urbane manner and his prizefighter's physique. Much more it was because of a secretly held belief - or perhaps not even the belief, merely a hope - that O'Brien political orthodoxy was not perfect,"(11). It was something about O'Brie that made he feel so drawn to him. He felt a rebellious connection with O'Brien. O'Brien is like Winston motivation to go against the government.
DeleteWhat do you think the phrase war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength?
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a form of propaganda used to manipulate the peoples minds. They say that war is peace they are convening the people that they have to fight to get peace. They are saying that freedom is slavery, they are convincing the people that the state that they are living in is true freedom , that the only way for them to be free is if "big brother "is always watching. They are also saying that ignorance is strength, ignorance is strength for the oppressors because the peoples ignorance is what allows them to be so easily manipulated
in what ways does winston shows that he disagrees with the government?
ReplyDeleteWinston shows that he disagrees with the dystopian government because he doesn't always go with what the people around him does. For an example, there's a moment in a day that's called "Two minutes of hate" where all citizens yell and scream going against a man named Emmanuel Goldstein. While everyone else is yelling William is not saying anything but he does it because he's obligated to. He says, "Two MIntues hate was one that one was obligated to act apart"(14). Even though every one else is going against Goldstein, Winston does not want to he does because he's obligated to. This shows that he doesn't agree with everything the government does because in ways that are not seen he goes against them. Winston will start to rebel against them later in the book because it shows that he doesn't agree with what everything it does.
What does Orwell satirize in the text?
ReplyDeleteIn the text, Orwell satirizes sex. Society values loyalty over sex. Normally, sex is capricious, it is never planned. However, society does not encourage sex because is can be an act which violates the Party. While Julia lays with Winston, she shares the Party’s stance behind banishing sex : “when you make love you’re using up your energy; and afterwards you don’t give a damn for anything..If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate?”(133). In other words, the Party prefers the people to burst their energy on waving flags and cheering on Big Brother, not during sex. If the people have intercourse, there will not be a strong framework for the Party because the people won’t care for the absurd rules and regulations. Instead of being completely happy after interocurse, one can be equally happy while cherring for the Party. They expect loyalty and patriotism from the people because they are unloading their hate and happiness for the Party and opposing the Two Minutes Hate. Instead of engaging in sex, the people can show their loyalty for the Party by being its biggest supporters. Therefore, society values loyalty over sex/ pleasure.
I agree that in the text Orwell satirizes sex in the story. In the society the government wants citizens to avoid sex by pushing them to be abstinent. Winston is once married and he and his wife wants a child. It is difficult to make the child because the two of them are uncomfortable having sex; they do not have sex for pleasure.In the text it says, "She would lay there with shut eyes; neither resisting or co-operating... It was extraordinarily embarrassing and, after horrible" (67). It is strange for a couple to be married and have trouble being intimate with each other because in a marriage sex is suppose to bring pleasure, but on the other hand sex brings misery to Winston and his wife. The party pushes couples to only have sex to make a baby not for pleasure. In other words, the couple values tradition over pleasure/sex. Big Brother believes that sex should not be valued in society because it does not benefit the party and it is not a tradition in this dystopian society.
DeleteWhat literary elements does Orwell use in the text?
ReplyDeleteIn 1984, Orwell uses characterization as a literary element to characterize Julia as naive. Since the secret initial meetings between Winston and Julia, Winston has noticed that Julia is not what he imagined her to be. Initially, he was attracted to rebellious spirit, however she isn’t very thoughtful or witty. Winston explains the opportunity he had to push Katherine over the edge of a cliff, during a hiking trip; however, he was aware of the consequences that would result. A rebellious Julia remarks “why didn’t you give her a good shove? I would have” (135). Julia was too young to realize that pushing Katherine over the cliff would not solve the problem but create suspicion and jail as a consequence: “She was very young, he thought, she still expected something from life, she did not understand that to push an inconvenient person over a cliff solves nothing” (135). Julia is too young to fully realize the consequences of her actions because she is naive. She does not think long term, but she acts in the moment. Instead, she does not think think twice about decisions that could catapult her life into disaster or death because she is tender and naive. Therefore, the author characterizes Julia as naive.
ReplyDeleteWhat behavior does Winston exhibit that hints his hatred for the Party?
Secretly, Winston wishes he could punish the entire Party because corruption relishes him. Although Winston appears to be a compassionate, he secretly wishes plagues upon the Party. After Julia explains her over zealous sex encounters with men, he wishes she had done is thousands of times because “anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope” (125). Because the people constantly portray themselves as perfect, Winston loves corruption against people in the Party because he prays for its demise. Winton wonders, “perhaps the Party was rotten under the surface...If he could have infected the whole lot of them with leprosy or syphilis, how gladly he would done so!” (125). Winstons’s only desire to plague the Party because he loves to weaken them.This exhibits his hatred for the Party because he is not a promoter, but a snake who steadily prays for their system to reveal its corruption. He does not desire success nor progress for the Party but corruption and failure. Therefore, Winston exhibits sadists behavior for the Party because he awaits their failure.
Winston expresses his hatred for the party by secretly questioning why the society had to be set up with "Big Brother" ruling. Winston thinks to himself about how unfair the party can be sometimes and how he cannot live a normal life liking a woman because the party is constantly in charge watching everyone's moves. Winston thinks to himself, "He was mixed up with the thought of Katharine's white body, frozen forever by the hypnotic power of the Party. Why did it always have to be like this"(67)? In other words, Winston is questioning the Party's authority because he cannot love a woman whom he wants badly. The party makes most of the women believe that love and sex is not important so they hardly pay men any attention. They are focused on abstinence and being loyal to the Party. This angers Winston because it is difficult for him to find a woman and for her to be sexually attracted to him like he is to them. Even though Winston does not show his hatred for the party physically, he certainly despises it in his mind. Winston has some disappointment towards the Party and he questions it which shows he is not happy living in this society being governed by Big Brother.
DeleteHow are women depicted in this book so far?
ReplyDeleteWomen are depicted as citizens who does not have a mind of their own and they are brainwashed by the Party. Throughout the book Winston shares how women are treated and how they obey men or Big Brother. In the text it says, "It was the law by which every capitalist had the right to sleep with any woman working in one of his factories"(73). Women does have the choice to decide their own actions because the Party constantly makes decisions for them. There are laws in this society to promote men to have sex free willingly with his women co-workers and women cannot refuse because it is a law. It shows that women are degraded in this society because they are not allowed to do what they want or go down their own paths. In plenty of cases it shows, when women are forced to join abstinent programs or be loyal to The Party even if they are not happy. Therefore, women are brainwashed by The Party to do what the party wants them to do without women being able to experience free will.
What do you think O'Brien means when he says "we shall meet in the place where there is no darkness".
ReplyDeleteWhat I think O'Brien means when he says that they will meet in a place with no darkness it that they will meet in a place where they can be free because in the society that they are in now is full of darkness and they people are blind. So what O'Brian means is that they will meet in a place will they will be free. "He tried to think of O'Brian for whom or to whom the diary was written, but instead he began thinking of the thins that will happen to him after the police took him away" (103). This shows that they can't think freely in their society, so him and O'Brian will meet in a place where they can be free.
this is nasir
DeleteEND OF Q3
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