From whichever book you are reading, choose a quotation and then explain how it develops character, a theme in the book, or an aspect of the world it is creating. Then comment on how this particular quotation represents something similar in our society today.
Crystal Nybo
ReplyDelete"A sense of complete helplessness had descended upon him. To begin with, he did not kow with any certainty that this was 1984. It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two." pg 10 This world contains a very scary thought that the people are missing so much of the information that the government or people holding the power has. I think this is very popular in our life time now. I don't believe the government shares everything with the people because of fear of what that knowledge might do.
Bridget Cook
ReplyDelete"All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny." (pg.19)
I thought this line clearly showed one of the main themes in this book. In this society, people are created through scientific experiments an are genetically modified to fit into a specific role in society. They create an "unescapable destiny" for each fetus and thats just the way it is, no questions asked. If they adjust the way each fetus develops they can force people into whatever future occupation they need at that time. I think its really creepy, I hope this never happens in our society. ever.
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ReplyDeleteKiera Wesley
ReplyDelete"'Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!' The voice was almost tremulous with enthusiasm."(pg. 7)
I think this quote does a lot to build the imagery of what it's like in the facotry in the book Brave New World and what the Bokanovsky process looks like when completed. They are setting up a theme of uniformity and power and control because they can essentially design people to be whatever way they want them to be and in however many numbers. I predict that the idea of governmental power and control will be a major theme throughout the book. Also how this relates to life today is that society on a whole is pretty uniform and many people tend to conform to the way they are supposed to behave without question.
Christine Nafziger
ReplyDelete"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you are in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tick, an unconscious look of anxiety a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of something to hide" (pg. 54)
This quote helps develop the theme that Big Brother is always watching you. There is nothing anyone can do that someone will not notice. Everyone must be very calm and not act differently or they will become a suspect. The smallest action could get someone sent to prison or killed. Big Brother has created a fear in everyone.
Gina Chenoweth
ReplyDelete“If you have a word like ‘good’, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood will do just as well- better, because it’s an exact opposite, which the other is not.” (46)
This quote, I think, helps develop the idea of how robotic this society is trying to be. This is from the scene where they describe the different ways they are trying to progress their language. This represents our society in an opposite way. Our language is being brought down to a point where using slang is more communicative then having a large vocabulary.
"Standard men and women; in uniform batches. The whole of a small factory staffed with the products of a single bokanovskified egg(pg7)."
ReplyDeleteThis show the theme of how most of the modern people in the world that is in the book, that they all are from a single organism and changed by adding and taking out chemicals.
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ReplyDeleteDan McMillan
ReplyDelete1984-Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. P.69
O’Brien is trying to force the Party’s own logic on Winston,more specifically, he is trying to control and reshape Winston’s reality.For Winston, if two plus two equals four, then reality is objective, and if this is true he can still seek objective truths and discount the double think of the Party.
Derek Decker
ReplyDelete"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are sill worse. They're too stupid to be able..." - Loudspeaker (pg. 27-28)
In the world of Brave New World, we can see that the government has the power to quite literally play God over its subjects. Here, we can see how it has created a caste society, separating each baby into a social class, assigning them to a letter of the Greek alphabet, and then conditioning them to like their place in society, no matter how lowly. This conditioning is a mechanism to keep society along the lines that the people in power see fit, and if their subjects are happy, the government can rationalize anything they do to the masses. A similar situation in our world is the power of the Church over medieval Europe. It was an absolutely terrible time to be alive for most people, but the Church told them that the meek shall inherit the Earth and the poor are beloved by God, so they didn't rise up against their lords.
Lexy Kaftan
ReplyDelete"Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading and thinking- thinking."
This quote demonstrates how in this world they dont want people to think really at all because they say it causes unhappiness which they are wanting everyone to be happy,
Jaina Shah
ReplyDelete“Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches; the more stitches…”(49)
The meaning of mending is sewing and repairing and the meaning of riches is large amounts of money and valuable or beautiful possessions. This quote similar in our society by you could have better ending, if you do not keep changing it. And if you keep stitching than, you gone have less chances. It reminded me the word of destiny because in destiny you can’t really change and you just have to accept the way it is.
Savannah Guillen
ReplyDelete“How could you communicate with the future? It was of its nature impossible. Either the future would resemble the present in which case it would not listen to him, or it would be different from it, and his predicament would be meaningless” (10).
This is the dilemma that Winston faces while he is writing in his diary. He knows that history is constantly being rewritten by the Party, and he wants to find a way to communicate to future generations about what life was like during his time. Winston does not fully accept the Party’s control of society, and the fact that he is writing in a diary shows that he is willing to take risks in order to retain a small amount of individualism. In our society today, we know that we can easily communicate with the future, with the help of old books, artwork, and people; objects that are not present in the world of 1984.
Sarah Hale :)
ReplyDelete“WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGHT”
-1984; slogans of the Ministry of Truth; pg 26
This describes both the theme of the book and the aspect of the world it’s creating. This is a slogan of the Ministry of Truth, the Party section that Winston works for. When I quickly read this slogan for the first time I had to go back a reread what I had just read to make sure that I read it correctly! War is peace? Freedom slavery? Ignorance is strength? These words create an oxymoron, they create a false belief of what is right and the morals that one should have. War is most definitely not peace, freedom is having independence not being a slave, and having ignorance or a lack of knowledge and awareness simply creates a weak and stupid person, not someone with strength! This totalitarian society that Winston is being consumed by wants every human to be the same and obey all of the Party’s views on war, freedom, ignorance and further more what the meaning of life is.
This quote represents how easily the media can persuade people today. For example style and fashion. No matter how ridiculous an outfit, hairstyle or accessory may be, if certain fashion icons are dressed in it, then eventually the public feels the need to sport that look too to fit it and be “in-style” to what the public accepts.
Laura Ahlrep
ReplyDelete"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." (pg 60)
I thought this quote brought theme to the book by the idea of such a restrictive government where Big Brother is always watching. It says that until they pretty much wake up into reality that they are all under almost a spell then they will rebel against the ways and the only way to really know the reality of the world is to rebel and seperate themselves fully from the repression that they have had on themselves for the years. The line brings out the idea that everyone is almost programmed to believe certain things and bits and pieces are left out so no one can ever try and argue back.
This comment represents something simular in society probably in the idea that one can go through out their life just listening to certain sources to get their information and lifestyles. But not until they work for finding all the facts are they fully educated on what is going on even if it is rebeling against their own society or social group.
Leslee Fall
ReplyDelete"And yet he was right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world excists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall toward the earth's center." (pg. 69)
This quote shows the theme in the book where the world Winston lives in is controlled by the government. They have so much power that even the laws of this world arnt even true. If something falls, but the government says it didn't then people would believe them. But the quote also shows that Winston is not going to believe the government anymore and is going to stand up and believe in what he sees and hears, not just what the government tells him to believe. And throughout the book Winston will be struggling to break free of the governments control and think for himself.
Anna Billmaier
ReplyDelete"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." (page 32)
This is the Party slogan that Wiston recognizes condradicts his own subconciousness. He realizes that Oceania has been engaged with Eurasia in the past, but there are no records of this whatsoever. The Party has control of the people of Oceania's past, and therefore is able to control what the people differentiate a "right" and "wrong" for human race. They recerated the history of Oceania and, because of this, they have complete political control of how the past, present, and future are interpreted. I think this actually opposes our current form of government in the United States, but may very well take on the form of a democratic centralism-type government. In our society, we use the past and predictions about the future to base off what we think is best for our government now. Our government is much more based of of the people's wants and ideologies than the form of government developed in the book 1984.
Katie Martens
ReplyDelete“Community, Identity, Stability” page 7— Brave New World
Although this is a short quote, it says a lot about what the entire book is about. These three words make up the planetary motto. It is odd that identity is one of the words because the people of this society do not have a choice about creating their own identity. Comparing this motto with the values of Americans citizens today, I feel like there are similarities as well as differences. A core value of Americans today is individualism, as opposed to having “stability”.
Erik Enselman
ReplyDelete"At this moment the telescreen let out a piercing whistle. It was the signal to return to work. All three men sprang to their feet to join in the struggle round the lifts, and the remaining tobacco fell out of Winston's cigarette." pg 55
This represents the world in the story. Everything is so controlling that people cannot really choose who they want to be. They are all so worried that they are always being watched, even though its just a sign that tells them that. This quote to me represents factories in which there is a convayor belt and everyone is working hard and must be doing their job for it to work.
Mark Galambos
ReplyDelete"Twelve of them ready to be made one, waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their twelve separate identities in a larger being." -p. 80 Brave New World
I really like this quote. Huxley references loneliness throughout the novel, and this is one of the most important quotes on the topic. Each person really has no identity, and as they commence in the "orgy-porgy" they lose themselves and become something without an identity, something completely different.
Tori Weisel
ReplyDelete“Very likely the confessions had been rewritten and rewritten until the original facts and dates no longer had the smallest significance. The past not only changed, but changed continuously” (pg 68).
This quote is from when Winston is thinking about the photograph that he destroyed that was proof that the Party Members committed treason. In this quote it is saying that the future remains the same but the past constantly changes and soon enough the past changes places with the future. Winston is also thinking about how crazy it is that people used to think you were crazy to believe that the past is unalterable when know anything can be changed.
Brian Gleadle
ReplyDeleteBrave New World
""Stability, " insisted the Controller, "stability. The primal and the ultimate need. Stability. Hence all this." With a wave of his hand he indicated the gardens, the huge building of the Conditioning Centre, the naked children furtive in the undergrowth or running across the lawns." (pg 43)
This quote is when when the Controller is showing them around the building. I feel like it is also creating a new theme of stability. Which really applies to our world now a days as well. We need stability in our world to function. If things are constantly changing most people get really confused and dont like whats going on. Thats why we have game shows that throw in "twists", people now a days dont have the kind of reactions needed to keep up with an ever changing world. We need stability to function.
April Dick
ReplyDelete"Every one works for every one else. We can't do without any one. Even Epsilons are useful." (74)
In chapter five Lenina explains how she remembered waking up to a hypnopaedic message playing in her sleep. The idea of training someone to act a certain way while they are unaware of it goes along with the theme of manufactured thought and happiness. In a modern context, people receive subliminal messages (often times in the media) to think or feel a particular way about something. Some believe that leaders in our world use these tactics to get people to act a certain way in order to exercise their power, much like they do in Brave New World.
Brody Hovatter
ReplyDeleteBrave New World
"(Human beings) Well they used to be vivparous." pg. 24
This is what one student at the "hatchery" replies to the director upon the latter questioning him about how human beings "used" to procreate. Apparently, in this futuristic world, people are bred and created in labratories rather than naturally. Not only is this really weird and scary to think about, the characters in the book are embarrassed to talk about how humans used to create children and are even grossed out by it. Although we are no where near that in our society today, we have been experimenting with genetic engineering which is somewhat similar.
Craig Thomas
ReplyDelete"your worst enemy, he reflected, was your own nervous system. at any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom" This represents the community itself because its supposed to be a care free place. and they are talking about how ones own feelings can destroy them. which i think also applies to the world today actually. everyone is so caught up in drama and friends and who likes them and who doesnt people just need to chill out and not worry about it. cause people who care how you dress or how you talk dont matter and the ones who matter arnt going to care. they're gonna like you for who you are not what your trying to be
Kirsten Zoba
ReplyDelete"Nowadays the Controllers won't approve of any new game unless it can be shown that it requires atleast as much apparatus as the most complicated of existing games." 31
The Director later reflects on how they want the children to be very social and experiment with other children. I find this to be VERY opposite of our real culture where most parents want to shelter their children and keep them safe and unharmed from any possible thing while they still can.
Nik Toor
ReplyDelete"His exploits had been gradually pushed backwards in time until already they extended into the fabulous world of the Forties and the Thirties... There was no knowing how much of this legend was true and how much was invented." (1984, pg.33)
To me this shows a lot of Winston's personality and the spirit he has. Everyone else seems to have fallen for Big Brother's plan, but Winston and it really shows in this quote. Winston is reminiscing is a scene about the glory days, the days he misses, but everyone seems to have forgotten or at least pretends to have forgotten because they're scared of what BB would do to them.
Maxx Forde
ReplyDelete(1984)
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" (Pg 5)
I thought that this quote pretty much summed up what the whole book is about at least up to this point. That is, at least if you look at it on the surface. This is one of the main themes of the book, the fact that "Big Brother" is always watching you and that there is no privacy and basically, he is in control of everything. Even though it's right there at the beginning of the book, I feel like it was pretty good description of a lot of what is to come. This will prove the biggest obstacle in keeping a diary and all of that.
Breanna Taylor
ReplyDelete"Too little bone and muscle had isolated bernard from his fellow men" pg 67
I thought this was a great developement of character because its already telling about one character thats different than the rest and thats normally the one who the book is based on. Many times when someone is not as good as others, they achieve to be as good in another way but they dont ever stop and they become achievers. I think this books gonna be about bernards achievements
Jade Baumann
ReplyDelete"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRANGTH"
This phrase shows up multiple times in the the early chapters of the book 1984. This serves as the reader’s first introduction to the idea of doublethink. In theory, the Party is able to maintain that “War Is Peace” because having a common enemy keeps the people of Oceania united. “Freedom Is Slavery” because, according to the Party, the man who is independent is doomed to fail. Also, “Slavery Is Freedom,” because the man subjected is free from danger and want. “Ignorance Is Strength” because the inability of the people to recognize these contradictions.
This quote represents the situation in our society having to deal with the war in iraq. We are the superior nation, with ignorance and trouble gettin eacthother to cooperated of all thnig
Jenn Hergert
ReplyDelete"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."
-1984
This quote pretty much sums up the whole problem with the people of 1984. They cannot rebel against their oppressive leader because they aren't even aware of the possibility of rebellion, much less actually wanting to overthrow their dictator. And of course the biggest problem would be the fact that they cannot know the benefits of a rebellion until after they have started one..something that seems impossible in their society. They cannot know what freedom feels like because they have never felt it, and so, they cannot desire to overthrow the Party because they have no desire for freedom.