A little too far Victor?

Do you think frankenstein went too far in his quest for knowledge? Or, more interestingly, is it possible to learn too much? What should Frankenstein have done differently? In a larger context how should we protect and safe-guard the advancement of knowledge.

I do think that Frankenstein went too far in his quest for knowledge. I just never think it's a good idea to create life. Even if you do find the "secret to life" I don't think you should take advantage of it. In a sense, Victor is playing God, and that is when things get nasty. It's never good for someone to have that kind of a power. I think it can be possible to learn too much. Because knowing too much can have disastrous effects. I cannot think of a good example right now, but what if someone went to far and learned something that they didnt want to know. I dont know what Frankenstein should have done differently, but I dont think it was necessary for him to create a life. There are other things that he could have explored and learned so much about that could have helped people, like medicine or other kinds of research. It's like the saying Knowledge is Power, if someone has too much knowledge, they can have too much power. I guess I could use the example of nuclear knowledge. If we have a lot of nuclear knowledge, then we can build nuclear bombs and use them in warfare and wipe out tons of people.

Walton and the stranger

Compare and contrast Robert Walton and the stranger. In what ways are their situations, goals, attitudes, and personal characteristics the same? In what ways are they different?

Both of these men are trying to achieve new things. Walton's goal is to discover undiscovered territory or a new pass or something big. And the stranger's goal we later find out was to be this great scientist and do great things. They are both very determined. We had the quote in the study guide from Walton about his determination in his voyage and we can see the stranger's determination because he wont even get on the ship with Walton until he knows for sure that they are going in the same direction, even though he is clearly incredibly weak and looks like he could die at any time. They're obviously pretty similar because they get along so well, and are so interested in each others stories

Blog #9

The Ministry of Love uses various methods of torture to try to break Winston. There was the shock therapy which was used the most often and was fairly effective. Even in the movie though, it's confusing whether it's really shock therapy or what exactly it is, but it is similar. But along with that Winston was also starved and not given water and was constanly being watched by a telescreen which required him to remain completely still in his "cell." The cell is kind of a form of torture as well. These methods of torture, particularly the cage of hungry rats, eventually break Winston. The shock therapy leads Winston to be faithful to Big Brother even though he still hates him deep down, but the rats are what actually caused Winston to completely break and betray Julia. The betrayel of Julia is what O'Brien wanted from Winston, he knows that Winston is finally broken and the previous torture was just weakening him. This shows that Winston's hope for mankind and for himself is also broken and shattered. This shows that even the strongest people have a breaking point or they have one fear that can cause them to betray someone. Everyone is human.

Post # 8

The extremely long theory in the book about the classes that took up the majority of this chapter, but it makes sense to me. There is one part that I thought was really interesting, where "Goldstein" writes that society depends on what the upper classes' mental state is or something like that. It was around the same area where he was talking about how the upper class or ruling party could fall. I hadn't thought about that before, but I think it's true. This theory basically says that the proles will never rebel on their own. This is kind of big since Winston thinks they're the only hope because of their numbers. But the proles just aren't motivated and they are going to side with whoever promises them the most. This is probably disheartening for Winston since all his hopes rested with them. It's nice to finally have an explanation for hwo the world came to be as it is in the book and the explanation of the classes. It helps explain a lot about the book.

Blog #7

Orwell spends a great deal of time discussing Winston’s dreams. Discuss and analyze the dream sequence in Chapter 8. What does this dream suggest about Winston’s psychological state? Why might this dream be important to an understanding of Winston’s character? To the book as a whole?

I'm assuming we are supposed to talk about Winston's dream in Chapter 7, not in Chapter 8. In this dream, which takes place in the paperweight which reminds him of the past, he remembers his mother and how ungrateful he was with food and chocolate and wakes up crying. He tells Julia how he thought he might have murdered his mom when she asks him what is wrong, but now he realizes that he didn't kill her. The dream makes him realize how much he hates the party for taking away feelings and basically making the people inhuman. This shows that Winston is in kind of a fragile mental state. He's becoming a lot more aware of his emotions recently with his new love and remembering the past and his family. He's becoming more human, which I think he likes but the party definitely won't like.I think this dream shows how ready Winston is to fight the party and that he will soon. I think the book is about to get really interesting. I'm just waiting for him to get caught because it seems like he is long overdue, but there seems to be a lot of book left, so we'll see.

Winston knows...

At the end of chapter 6, Winston seems to know that his last act of rebellion is coming. He thinks that it will all end for him at the Ministry of Love. This is foreshadowing his death because eventually, I'm sure, he will be caught and killed. This love affair cant go on forever, especially since they keep going to the same place. I think it's amazing that they haven't been caught already. It seems like in a society where they are constantly being watched, and the same two people keep going to the same place, it would be pretty obvious that something is going on. I can't figure out O'Brien at this point. Although Winston seems to really like him, and he seems to be an important person, I cant decide if he is trapping Winston or if he too wants to rebel against the party. He could just be trying to get Winston to his flat so he can talk to him kind of in the same way that Julia did. It will be interesting to see what happens when Winston finally goes to his flat. He seems to think like it's the end of him. I'm kind of intrigued at this point.

Winston and Julia

The main difference between Winston and Julia is that Winston wants a widespread rebellion against the Party, whereas Julia wants to just outwit the Party and enjoy herself. They are similar in that they are both rebelling and their relationship is a political act of rebellion. They're both attracted to people who are like them, and not the orthodox party member. Winston loves Julia all the more because she is not pure and is promiscuous and "bad to the bone." Julia is attracted to Winston despite the fact that he is older and has bad teeth. She is attracted to him because she can tell that he is different than the other party members. Julia thinks of her sexual experiences as little victories and Winston thinks that victory doesn't come until long after you are dead. Winston thinks that he is going to die soon, and seems a lot more worried about it than Julia is. Julia seems to think that she can live two lives, and survive in the party. She believes that by controlling sex, the Party is controlling them, since they then focus their sexual energy into other things that the Party wants them to.

Defiance in Dystopian Society

Winston says that he doesn't want purity or any virtue to exist anywhere and he loves Julia for being bad to the bone. In Brave New World, the conversation between John and Mustapha Mond shows how in both of these novels, John and Winston are trying to defy the party or the world state. In Brave New World, John wants to feel things like fear, anger etc. because it goes against the World State. Winston also wants to rebel against the Party, and his conversation with Julia shows this. Both societies are suppressing different emotions, which these two men then want to feel or use to rebel with. In Brave New World they're suppressing anger and in 1984 they're suppressing sexual pleasure and love. It's so interesting to see how both of these societies have such different things that aren't allowed. Like how in Brave New World, real hate doesn't exist, but in 1984, they have the two minutes hate and hate week and they really stress hate for their enemies. And in 1984, they encourage sex for pleasure only, and not for reproduction and their people do not ever feel real hate. It's like how we talked about in class, Brave New World is not as dark as 1984.

The Party's methods of control

The Party in 1984 has many means of controlling the people. The language control that we have discussed in class is one of the most intense methods that they use, but they also have things like how they change the past. This happens to be Winston's job in the novel, which is interesting. By changing the past and records, people never know the truth. They never know what actually has happened. Today, we teach history, not only becuase it's interesting, but it's important because to understand the present, you have to know about the past. And it just keeps building, to understand what is coming in the future, you have to know what is happening in the present. In this society, taking away the past, is taking away people's understanding. Which is why it is so powerful. The people have no idea what has actually happened and they don't really know what is happening right now, because the society is always lying to them and changing things. Like in the example we talked about in class, one day the chocolate ration went down to 20 grams, which was a "positive" thing, and then the next day they announced that the chocolate ration went up to 20 grams, which of course is a positive thing and no one thought there was anything unusual about it being the exact same as the day before. It's almost like the past just isn't important. The Party even uses people like Winston to go back into old articles and delete people who have been vaporized so it's like they have never even existed, and to create people that have never existed. It's a big cover-up scheme that is incredibly effective. It's hard to explain why it is so effective, but deleting the past and records of things from the past means that these things are lost forever and no one will ever know the truth.

Language Control

Winston writing in his diary is a crime because he is writing down his negative thoughts towards Big Brother and the Party. He is thinking freely, which the Party does not want because it could cause unrest. When people think for themselves, they realize what is wrong with a society and that will probably lead to protest and unrest. So by stopping the free thinking and freedom of expression, the PArty is hoping to eliminate that threat. Winston is drawn to this activity, I think, because he is starting to realize how much he dislikes the society he is living in, and he is sick of having to deal with spying children and worrying about having the wrong expression, all of which could lead to his vaporization. When a society takes away words, they are taking away the way that people express themselves. The way in which people speak is part of them, and the words they choose usually reflect their individuality. By destroying these words, they are destroying individualit and the ability of these people to rebel in any form. Once these words are gone people will lose yet another way to express themselves, since they have already lost individuality in other ways, including clothing. It gets rid of a society's culture.

Society in Airstrip One

The government in 1984 is constantly watching the members of this society. There are posters reminding everyone of this that have the face of a man and the words "Big Brother is Watching You" on it. There is very little freedom in this society. It is a crime to think certain things and especially to write them down. And if you get caught committing a thought crime, the Thought Police will get you. They come in the night to take you away and kill you. The fact that the children want to go see the mass hangings is so disturbing. It's reminsicent of medievial times when people used to watch that kind of thing for entertainment.The children are even spies in the society, constantly watching the adults and turning them in for committing "crimes." The society does a lot through the television. Not only are they watching you, they have the two minutes hate in which they see the Party's enemies and express their hatred towards them and their way of life. And they even have exercises in the morning through the TV which they have to do religiously and cannot even half do or make certain faces while doing them. Winston talks about how the slightest twitch of his eyes can give him away. It's a really scary society to think about, the adults are afraid of the children and you are constantly under surveillance. This society is so different from the Brave New World society, the people don't seem happy and overall it has a creepy and dark quality to it.

The New World... is it really so bad?

This society really is not as bad as some people would say that it is. This is because the people are so happy and there is no pain or suffering and there is nothing that is that bad. There is the argument of whether or not this so called happiness is real. But does it matter if it’s real if these people don’t know anything else? When I really think about it this society isn’t so bad. In my opinion they aren’t really living, because to live you have to experience all aspects of life, which include pain and suffering. When I first read the book I was a little surprised by some of the aspects of this society, like the babies being born in bottles and the weird little rhymes they sing and orgy porgy and things like that, but I never thought that this society was horrible. Not even the promiscuity of the people because if there are no diseases and if there are no emotional attachments, it doesn’t matter. The society still isn’t perfect, because there are people like Bernard and Helmholtz who aren’t necessarily happy in this society, but it’s close. There are aspects that are kind of wrong though, like the fact that the babies have their destinies picked out for them, and that some are injected with things to make them not as smart. That doesn’t necessarily seem fair. But at the same time, they need these people to do the jobs no one else wants, and if they don’t realize how much their lives suck, it doesn’t really matter. So, really, the society is not that horrible.