H. Ingsoc Sum

H ungood/good? Kill P. Hurt mom. O selfdie. Hor friend 1. R+G exdie by H trick. H father = H too. Hdad poisendie. H kill L With swords. Hdad ghost. Talk to Hson. H sworddie. Hor storyteller. Fort. kingOceania.

Predictions for Winston

               At the end of Book One, Winston is sort of crippled against his own inhibitions. Once he gets back to his apartment, he contemplates suicide so the Party will not capture him and kill him themselves. Before he succumbs to the thought of ending his life, he remembers what O’Brien whispered to him, “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness”. Those words are what keep Winston from going through with suicide but still makes him terrified of what could happen to him. He stares at a coin in his pocket of Big Brother and reflects on the slogan associated with him-WAR IS PEACE- FREEDOM IS SLAVERY-IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

               My predictions for Winston are that he will go through with trying to take down the Party with O’Brien and that he will do it through the Proles. Though Book One ends with an uninspiring tone, I do think that Winston has a lot of anger and oppression inside of him and holding it in will kill him, but doing something about it may bring a result of justice…and also probably kill him, though he will have changed the lives of all the people in Oceania, Eastaisa and Eurasia and the generations for years to come.  He presents himself to other characters in the book with this almost shy and cooperative demeanor but we see the world through Winston’s eyes and can tell that there is a lot more to him than how he appears to the outside world. In chapter eight, Winston takes a little walk though the Prole district and we can see his amusement and curiosity with the culture and mysteriousness of this place that seems to live under the Party’s nose. He craves information about the truth and the Revolution and keeps coming back to the place where he bought his journal. I believe that that shop will be very significant to Winston and his journey to bringing justice back to the world and possibly be his place of hiding. The last few chapters of the first book mention that having sex is frowned upon and the activity should not even be used in creating other human beings because future parents could just use artsem-artificial insemination. Winston views sexual intercourse as the ultimate act of rebellion and I think that will also come into play with his plan, especially since he desires an affair and thinks might help him escape and possibly help other people escape.

BIG BROTHER-1984 and 2013

               Orwell’s 1984 emphasizes the importance of privacy by showing how detrimental it is to have it taken away from society. Privacy is definitely viewed as a privilege in the novel, especially among the protagonist, Winston Smith. On almost every surface of every building are posters marked with the slogan “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” as a constant reminder that the Party, or government, is always monitoring what you do. The slogan is a bit sarcastic with its connotation. “BIG BROTHER” normally conjures up an image of protection or of a guardian. Using the verb “WATCH” has a kind of negative association and seeing them in all caps also gives it a harsher tone. What is particularly intrusive as well as disturbing are the telescreens. The telescreens are basically televisions that only show propaganda and are also used to have the Thought Police constantly watch and look after its citizens. The name “Thought Police” particularly troubles me because it sounds like they are not only monitoring your actions but your mind, so not even your thoughts are safe. Winston cannot even write in a diary and have anything private to him, which is not only degrading his self protection but his self as a human being.

             It makes me very weary of how the government is possibly watching us as citizens. Obviously there are no telescreens or Thought Police but I still feel as though the government wants to keep tabs on people to avoid threat or takeover or anything that could demolish their appearance as a superior. The National Security Agency is constantly discussed in the media for increasing their surveillance programs on the internet and on cell phones. People such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange consider themselves whistleblowers and heroes to the American people for exploiting these corruptions of the government. However some people view them as criminals and traitors so it makes it confusing and hard to decipher who to root for. I understand that the government aims to protect and keep the people from harm, especially after 9/11, but many people could argue that the patriot act took it too far. The patriot act pretty much allows the government to interfere with anyone’s belongings if they deem to be a threat to the United States. The bill was even extended to include wiretaps, searching through business records, and heightened surveillance. It seems as though this is meant to keep the people safe, but it’s hard to do that if the government does not know who to look out for. Sooner or later, maybe America could be like 1984, which is a little scary to think about. Is Big Brother Really watching us?

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" Explication

               Before I start explicating this poem, I must make a disclaimer. I am not sure if this is important but I read the very first line of “To the Virgins” and knew that I had to write about it. This poem by Robert Herrick was the first poem that Professor John Keating teaches his students in Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society. That film is monumental to me to say the least and to see the poem in this chapter made me very motivated to explicate. Now that I got that probably useless information out there, I will actually start the assignment.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time is a poem filled with symbolism, metaphors, and imagery all pertaining to acting on impulses in the moment. The speaker is explaining how “Old Time is still a-flying” and we must “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”. The rosebuds create a symbol of youth and love while his statement about time could be a metaphor, stating that life will not go on forever. The two go hand in hand and one could also say the youth and love may not last forever.  He concludes the first stanza with “And this same flower that smiles today tomorrow will be dying”. It seems like Herrick is pertaining to a female in his poem because of the flower imagery. He ends the stanza almost on a depressing tone, saying that even though we keep living day by day, we are also getting closer to death and old age.

The next stanza continues with nature symbolism but this time among males. Herrick describes men as the sun getting higher and higher and then eventually setting. “The sooner will his race be run, and nearer he’s to setting”. Eventually men will pass on as well and it contributes to his point that men and women should just spend the time having sex and being adventurous before it is too late.

Age is very much emphasized, especially when the narrator talks about the impending tomorrow. He also emphasizes youth and the importances of discovering these pivotal ecstasies of life while men and women are still agile and carefree. “The age is best which is the first, when youth and blood are warmer” is how he begins his stanza and then quickly switches to a more almost ominous tone by concluding it with “Time still succeed the former”. He justifies his previous claim that even if you spend your life and adolescence doing other activities time will still be inevitable.

The last stanza sums up and reiterates what he has been trying to achieve all along in this poem. The last two lines are especially profound, “For having lost but once your prime, you may forever tarry”. These words of wisdom or perhaps a warning signal instructs to “virgins” that one must be aware of their time alive and not dwell or inhabit coy reservations. As John Keating in Dead Poets Society states, “We are food for worms, lads”. That is the overarching argument that Herrick makes and he makes it very well known among his first couple of lines. We might as well live as we want to. Carpe Diem.

Ghost of a Chance Explication

                Ghost of a Chance by Adrienne Rich uses figurative language and imagery to expose a man trying to separate himself from the world. The entire poem is relatively straight forward in terms of organization. The poet wrote her poem in chronological order and then ending in a simile of comparing the man thinking independently to a fish flopping around on the beach until the waves pull it back in. She also uses careful word choice by having the narrator address the reader in the opening line, “You see a man trying to think.” By choosing the word “you” the poet is addressing the reader and mentally placing them in the poem’s setting. In the reader’s mind they picture a man sitting by himself and not being able to think because of the constant commotion from people and surroundings from the world around him. At one point she mentions that, “the old consolations will get him at last”. The “old consolations” could be a myriad of things. The poet then starts comparing the consolations to a fish gasping for air in a rather morbid simile, “like a fish half-dead from flopping/ across the shingle, almost breathing, the raw agonizing air/ till a wave pulls it back blind into the triumphant sea”.  Consolations are usually things related to comfort, especially after an emotional loss. I found it odd that the poet would use a consolation as a metonymy to a fish desperately fighting for air. However, the fish struggling to survive could mimic the suffocating atmosphere of society and its constant intrusion on people’s lives and their desires to be different from the status quo. The sea is described by a very selective adjective, “triumphant” signifying the victory and/or chance of being individual. The title then, Ghost of a Chance, proves to be very poignant because though the poem never mentions it, it implies that the man probably never succeeded and eventually succumbed back into societal pressures. The man lost his chance and continues to be the fish along the shore. 

Famous Last Words-King Lear Act V

Cordelia: “We are not the first who with best meaning have incurred the worst. For thee oppressed King, I am cast down; myself could else outfrown false Fortune’s frown. Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters?” (V. iii. 4-8). – It is uncertain as to whether these were Cordelia’s exact last  words because it s the last time the audience sees her before she is taken away by Edmund’s orders to be executed. These last lines that Shakespeare writes for her epitomize who she was as a p-person.  Cordelia was strong-willed, independent, and loyal to her father even though he banished her. She is down on herself and upset from the loss of the war but that is to be expected and understood.

               Gloucester: “And that’s true too” (V. ii. 13). Similar to Cordelia, the audience is not certain as to whether these were Gloucester’s actual final words.  We learn from Edgar that his father eventually dies from grief and physical pain from his eyes being gouged out. His last line said in the play may appear at first as insignificant or easily missed, but examining it over, I can see some interesting meaning behind it. Gloucester responds to Edgar after he keeps persuading him to come with him to see Lear, Cordelia, and his brother Edgar. After Edmund says, “Men must endure their growing hence, even as their coming hither” Edmund wants his father to confront the problems in his life even though his life is coming to an end. These words show Gloucester’s will to keep living while he is still alive.

               Regan: “My sickness grows upon me” (V. iii. 127). Regan comes down ill very quickly after events start becoming worse for her. Her “sickness” is a literal pain that is inside her body but it can also show her sickness as a person. Her shallowness and deviance is really what kills her in the end, along with her sister poisoning her.

               Goneril: “Ask me not what I know” (V. iii. 194). Since the first act, Goneril has always been portrayed as dramatic. Whether it was confessing her love for her father or kissing Edmund when saying goodbye to him, it is almost always apparent in every scene where she speaks. Her last line is full of histrionics as well. Upon seeing Albany hand her letter to Edmund, she becomes hysterical. Instead of confronting both her husband and Edmund about what she was intending to do with the letter, she runs away and claims to not know anything, which only magnifies her cowardice. As the scene continues, Goneril never reappears and thus never confronts anyone about anything ever again.

               Edmund: “He hath commission from thy wife and me to hang Cordelia in the prison and to lay the blame upon her own despair that she forbid herself” (V. iii. 302-305). As Edmund approaches death, he tries to make good as if to maybe save himself and renew himself as a benevolent person. His last words are especially significant because it shows how just moments before he was completely unwilling to tell anyone anything without inflicting some sort of punishment on the one who questioned him. However, as he lay powerless and inept on the floor, he surrenders his secrets to seem as though that will fix all that he has caused.

               King Lear: “And my poor fool is hanged! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, and thou no breath at all? Thou’lt come no more, never, never, never, never, never! Pray you undo this button-Thank you, sir. Do you see this? Look on her! Look! Her lips! Look there! Look there!” (V. iii. 367-372). I felt genuine sympathy for Lear in his final moments. He may not have been the most likeable character throughout the play but he felt true sadness and grief when Cordelia died, after truly seeing how selfless and loyal she is. Lear did really love his daughter all along and seeing her executed is what really killed him. He even hallucinates at one point really believing that she was coming back to life. Maybe he was hallucinating or maybe he was seeing her talk to him again. It all depends on who reads or watches the play, but it does show that some characters did have hope.