1984 Essays (1405 words) - Mass Surveillance, Nineteen Eighty-Four

1984 Journal #3 Never before have I witnessed such a blunt interpretation of how Orwell perceives this life we all live, how brutal and honest it can be. And also vice versa, the lies cheating and hatred that go on every day, not so far off from the life experienced in 1984 and our lives now. Throughout this last section of the story, we were mostly placed in this ironic Ministry of Love that Winston had to go through. One of the main things that stood out to me was his resilience, up to a certain point. The point where everything broke down and, literally, the only way to survive were to give in to the enemy trying to conquer him. The ending of 1984 was everything I wanted it to be, shocking and controversial. That has been an overriding theme in this book throughout and I?m sure every reader is thinking, ?What is wrong with Orwell?s mind Throughout the scenes and chapters of Winston?s torture by O?Brian; the fact that it was so ironic was always in my mind. They are in the Ministry of Love, how could love even be an option in a torture zone. Room 101 also crawled under my skin. The images I received in my head through the blunt description of Orwell were hard to read. When Winston looked at himself in the mirror after days, months of torturing, his reaction was brutally honest. ?He had stopped because he was frightened?a crooked nose and battered looking cheekbones above which the eyes were fierce and watchful.? (pg. 223). This brought up the idea of denial, and almost the awful innocence that Winston had for his government. Throughout his journey, he had slightly doubted the way his life was planned out for him, yet he never truly believed how low his Big Brother companions would go. Even throughout the torture process, the pain was so unbearable he still refused to totally give in, realizing the fact that he was in over his head. It was not until he looked at his frail emaciated body that he took it all in. All the torture the pain and the fear that had built up inside him, it was overwhelmingly controlling. By looking at his almost dead body in front of him, knowing that his ?comrades? had done this to him, you would think that would be the end of Winston. He would be so angered at the position he had been placed in at the Ministry of Love that he would be done with this torture. Yet, he went in the opposite direction by totally giving in to the government and his thoughts. He also realized how strong the Room 101 was, and that he would be able to live if he gave in. That was the choice he made, his human life, or his own creative thoughts. He made the choice that changed his life th en and there, when he told himself, ?Everything is all right, the struggle was finished?he loved Big Brother.? (245). But would Winston do it again, would he fall in love with Julia over and over again? That exhilarating feeling of total lust and love for one person, something he had never felt for anyone before, how could it have vanished so quickly, without even a trace of remorse or feeling? He spent so much of his time loving and caring for Julia, when they were in Mr. Cunningham?s room I really thought that this love was true. In the back of my head, I was hoping that it would never have to come to betrayal between the two of them, but it did. Then I began to think, how true was this love that Winston had spent dreaming about, wanting so badly at all times. And, in an instant, ?All you care about is yourself,? he echoed?you don?t feel the same.? (240.) and just like that, the love ends in an instant with a small exchange of words. The excitement of new love has completely disintegrated, and how can that possibly happen? One logical explanation is that it was never totally true from the start. T he exhilaration, the high, which Winston got from having a