Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Final 1984 Reading Response

Big Brother has undeniably won. Through Winston's feelings towards Big Brother going from hatred to adoration, Big Brother has obviously won. Eliminating opposition (in this case, through torture and brainwashing) ensures that no one will try to stop you, thus reinforcing Big Brother's victory. Throughout the book, Winston was against what Big Brother stood for. Even in the beginning, when he hadn't just yet started performing his acts of defiance, he hated Big Brother. During the Two Minutes' Hate, a time during which Goldstein, an enemy of Big Brother, is to be despised, "Winston's hatred was not turned against Goldstein at all, but, on the contrary, against Big Brother..." (16). To have this long-lasting hatred and dissension turned into love and conformity constitutes winning.

One way the One State could be brought down is through the proles. This chance is slim, however, seeing as how not only are they uneducated as a whole, they simply don't believe that any sort of life could be better than the one they have now. Seeing as how the only life they have lived is that that the One State provides for them, they can't imagine anything else. They could, conceivably, band together and rebel and possibly win by sheer numbers alone, seeing as how proles constitute 85% of Oceania's population, but the thing is is that they have no reason to. The Party has ensured that.

By the end of the novel, Winston has become a product of the One State. He no longer has any sort of dissenting thoughts. He is like a machine. He will go along with what the Party says, he will support what they support and value what they value. He is essentially a model citizen, even if that means chugging gin and not questioning what is asked of you. All in all, the Party, and Big Brother, have won.

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