1984 blog

 Julia is used in the book as a sexual object. Her entire story revolves around hooking up with Winston and other Party members. Before she was with Winston he commented about wanting to rape and murder her multiple times and after being with Winston this was just brushed off.  She plays no role in the story other than to further Winston’s storyline. She had moments where it almost seemed like she was going to have some deeper character traits or storylines but it never ended up happening. All we know about her is that she rebelled from the Party in her own small ways but how it was talked about made her rebellion seem selfish compared to what Winston was trying to do, which I don’t think is fair to Julia, but maybe that’s just how I was interpreting it. Personally I think it would have been much more interesting/enjoyable if Julia had been a part of the Brotherhood. It would have added an interesting layer to her story.  Julia is confusing to me because at times she seem...

 When Winston first has sex with Julia in the clearing in the woods he woke up and looked at her and said “Except for her mouth, you could not call her beautiful”(pg.126). Then later when he meets her again and she puts on makeup he said “The improvement in her appearance was startling...she had become not only very much prettier, but, above all, far more feminine”(pg.142). His opinion on her appearance changed drastically between these two occurrences and it was because she put on makeup. He found her more attractive after she put on makeup and appeared more feminine.  While this was a bigger issue in the past it is definitely still a view of women that is held today. People see it as more appropriate for women to wear makeup. This especially applies to female celebrities. People are always finding things to judge about other people’s appearance and that often includes a lack of makeup on women. There are trends for “no makeup” makeup looks because actually wearing no makeup ...

The main thing that stood out to me in this reading was how similar the Proles are to just regular people. Winston was upset with the man in the pub because he didn’t remember everything about his life before the revolution but instead remembered a few specific details that were mostly triggered by certain words. I would say that this is a very common phenomenon. I feel like a lot of people around that age like to tell stories and often tell them in that sort rambling fashion. At least the people I know do that. They also have pubs and the lottery, antique shops, and street vendors. These are all things we have. The people that Winston talks to are fairly normal. They aren’t as controlled by the Party, they are still affected by them but much less so than characters who are in the main part of London. I think it’s interesting how the story seems to be leading towards the idea that regular people are going to be the key to bringing down the Party. Winston thinks the answer lies with the...

     I’m going to compare 1984 to Maze Runner because it’s the only recent dystopian novel that I have read and can actually remember and there is a pretty similar theme with memory. In Maze Runner the characters have their memories erased and while they still have knowledge of the world they have no specific memories of their lives. In 1984, from what we can see from Winston, it seems to be a very similar situation. Winston has vague memories of his past but for the most part can’t remember his life from when he was little and doesn’t have specific memories of life before Big Brother and the war. In Maze Runner regaining some of their memories plays a key role in the success of the characters. In 1984 everything that doesn’t align with the Government gets erased, there is no written documentation of events that hasn’t been edited to fit the Government’s ideas. Whether or not Winston had his memories erased is unclear at this point but the idea surrounding the importance ...