Erykah Foss
Mr. Pace
DC English IV
Triple-Entry Journal
20 April 2020
1984​ by George Orwell
Quote
“Winston turned a switch
and the voice sank
somewhat, though the words
were still distinguishable.
The instrument (the
telescreen, it was called)
could be dimmed, but there
was no way of shutting it off
completely” (4).
“WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS
STRENGTH” (6).
Significance
This is when the reader is introduced to
the telescreen, a device that the Party
uses to brainwash people in their
homes. The telescreens can not be
turned off, which shows that it is used
to monitor every movement and
conversation within Party members,
whether they at home, at work, or in
public. Since people know that Big
Brother is watching all the time, there
is less chance of perpetrators, or people
who are against the Party, getting away
with a crime.
This is one of the Party’s slogans. It is
illogical, but it shows how the Party has
psychological control of most people in
Oceania. During war, the people are at
peace because they are all against the
same enemy: Goldstein. The Party
believes and convinces their people to
believe that being independent is bad.
Plus, if everyone follows the Party,
they know they will not get hurt. When
people are forced to ignore the
inhumanity of the Party, they give it
strength.
Interpretation
Before cable, only three networks were
available to watch. The news only
played at 6 pm and 10 pm, and it was
about making your own opinion based
on objective reporting. Now, there are
different channels, but it is rare to find
a news station that is unbiased. 24/7
news stations typically have a
viewership based on common ideology.
They are more inclined to choose a
story that alines with their viewership
than they are to offer objective
reporting. This results in people
watching the news that they want to
hear instead of listening to different
stories and creating their own opinions.
I think the Brotherhood still exists,
even if the Thought Police and the
Party can detect them easily. There are
always people who rebel against
society or the government; these people
find a way to demonstrate their beliefs,
discretely or publicly. Before the
United States formed, there were lots of
people in Great Britain who were
unhappy with how King George III was
ruling. This is why they decided to
rebel and move across the sea to create
the Land of the Free.

“And if all others accepted
the lie which the Party
imposed— if all records told
the same tale—then the lie
passed into history and
became truth. ‘Who controls
the past,’ ran the Party
slogan, ‘controls the future:
who controls the present
controls the past’” (44).
“‘Has it ever occurred to
you, Winston, that by the
year 2050, at the very latest,
not a single human being
will be alive who could
understand such a
conversation as we are
having now?” (67).
“Until they become
conscious they will never
rebel, and until after they
have rebelled they cannot
become conscious” (90).
Since the Party has the power to change
the truth, it also manipulates history.
This allows them to control what their
people remember, so the Party makes
itself loveable to keep its power.
Winston’s job is in the Ministry of
Truth, where he helps alter history. He
helped people believe that Oceania has
been at war with Eurasia forever,
instead of the reality of four years.
Because of Newspeak, newer
generations will not be able to
understand Oldspeak. Newspeak is
much more simple, which means the
are layers of meaning in Oldspeak that
will not be understood. When these
deeper meanings are omitted from the
language, the human aspect of language
is taken away. Once Newspeak
becomes the only way to talk, human
emotions will disappear.
The Party centralizes power in order to
keep their people in check
Since the Party wants to remain in
power, they keep their people in the
same mindset: the Party is the best, and
Goldstein is the worst. This centralized
power means the Party has total control
over the people of Oceania. Winston
recognizes this when he watches
women fight over a saucepan until it
breaks.
Foss 2
There is a society within Japanese
culture that wants to rewrite their
history textbooks to change how their
role in World War II is portrayed. Their
goal is to ensure younger generations
that their ancestors remain prideful of
their country and ancestors. Not only
does the new textbook change Japan’s
role, it also claims that the country was
wrongly believed as guilty during the
war. It is important to learn from our
ancestor’s mistakes, which is why I
believe it is better to remember history
than rewrite it.
Newspeak reminds me of how many
people today cannot speak or decipher
the Shakespearean language, which is
because of our shift in culture. In the
Philippines, many people are starting to
incorporate more English into their
daily speech, which is making Tagalog
(my mother’s dialect) less relevant,
much like Oldspeak.
During times of slavery, some slaves
were brave enough to attempt to escape
their plantations in their pursuit of
freedom. Without these people, other
slaves would not have the courage to
stand up for themselves. It took many
decades before slavery became illegal,
but the continuous determination led to
their freedom. Unfortunately for
Winston, he was one of the few people
who rebelled. Since the Party has total
control, it is unlikely that they would
get overthrown anytime soon.

“‘Oh, rubbish! Which would
you sooner sleep with, me or
a skeleton? Don’t you enjoy
being alive? Don’t you like
feeling: This is me, this is
my hand, this is my leg, I’m
real, I’m solid, I’m alive!’”
(142).
“If you can FEEL that
staying human is worth
while, even when it can’t
have any result whatever,
you’ve beaten them” (210).
"War is a way of shattering
to pieces, or pouring into the
stratosphere, or sinking in
the depths of the sea,
materials which might
otherwise be used to make
the masses too comfortable,
and hence, in the long run,
too intelligent" (241).
Julia is trying to convince Winston that
there is more to life than simply
following the Party. At this point,
Winston realizes that his freedom is not
the only thing at stake. His entire
humanity is being oppressed, which
means true relationships and human
pleasures are not allowed to be
experienced. He did not like this idea,
so he listened to Julia and decided to
meet her again in the woods.
Winston is in love with Julia. He tells
her that the proles are human, but the
Party members, like he and his love,
are not. He remembers when he stole
chocolate from his mother and sister
and never saw them again. At the time,
he had no empathy and thought
selfishly because he was starving. The
Party eliminated human feelings. Now
that he feels love for Julia, he wants no
betrayal. This means they will continue
to love each other even if they are
tortured and forced to confess their
crimes.
War serves two purposes in Oceania: to
keep people busy manufacturing and to
give them a sense of moral superiority.
When war consumes all manufactured
goods, people are left with only the
necessities. It is not possible to gain
creature comforts or even to have
enough free time to think about
pursuing personal interests. This
becomes a way to control the masses,
keeping them constantly busy.
Foss 3
Winston knew that they will be killed,
so he focused on death instead of the
fact that he and Julia were still alive.
This reminds me of pessimistic or
depressed people who have a hard time
remembering what they have in their
life, like family and friends. Although it
can be difficult to remember the beauty
of life, it is important to try because it
makes it much easier to cope with the
difficult events one can encounter.
I think this is sweet; however, the story
does not end as they hope. Winston and
Julia truly love and care for each other,
representing their rebellion against the
Party. They know both of them will be
tortured to confess each other’s crimes,
and they think they will continue loving
one another. Unfortunately, they
underestimated the Party’s control over
human emotions. The ending is ironic
because their torture makes them
apathetic and emotionless instead of
full of love like they planned.
During World War II, American
manufacturing companies stopped
producing consumer goods and instead
produced war materials. Women that
previously did not have jobs started
working in factories that produced
guns, ammunition, and tanks, all of
which the war consumed. They did all
of this while food was rationed, it is not
hard to see how people could feel
powerless in that environment.

“DOUBLETHINK means
the power of holding two
contradictory beliefs in
one’s mind simultaneously,
and accepting both of them”
(270).
“We are not interested in the
good of others; we are
interested solely in power.
Not wealth or luxury or long
life or happiness: only
power, pure power” (275).
“A bowed, grey-coloured,
skeleton-like thing was
coming towards him. Its
actual appearance was
frightening, and not merely
the fact that he knew it to be
himself. He moved closer to
the glass. The creature’s face
seemed to be protruded,
because of its bent carriage”
(284).
Earlier in the novel, Orwell describes
how doublethink is used to control
one’s memories. If someone wanted to
forget an event, they would not only
forget it, they would forget the
forgetting process. As the story
unfolds, the Party uses doublethink to
mind-control people, which results in
the loss of forming independent
thoughts.
After much suspense, O’Brien finally
reveals the Party’s main goal: power.
They do not care about anyone or
anything else. Living in this kind of
society would be terrifying because
people only work for others’ benefit.
The citizens have no purpose in life--
they can do everything or nothing; an
unsatisfied death is always the final
outcome.
After Winston has been tortured, he
only sees a shadow of himself when he
looks in the mirror because he gave up
his own ideals to follow Big Brother.
He even sold out his partner, Julia, to
make the pain stop. The unpleasantness
of torture makes him reflect on his past
choices and think about where he is
now.
Foss 4
A real-life example of doublethink is
how people should follow their dreams
but also find a secure job. There are
many people whose dreams are to
become big stars in Hollywood or New
York City. Unfortunately, these dreams
are often unrealistic due to expense and
lack of experience. As a senior, I am
making big decisions about my life. It
is difficult finding a balance between
what I want to do and what I should do,
but I know I will make the right
decision for myself in the end.
One of the most infamous,
power-hungry people in history was
Hitler. He and his Nazis tortured and
killed millions of innocent people to
gain power. This reminds me of Big
Brother and the Party. Although the
Party does not murder for power, they
dehumanize Oceania by dumbing down
their language and mind-controlling
them with doublethink. Also, the
constant war with Eurasia creates jobs
and feelings of moral superiority to
make the people ‘love’ the Party.
Orwell wrote with a detached tone to
represent the inevitable end. He calls
Winston’s body ‘it’ and ‘the creature’
to help the reader understand that this
was not Winston in the reflection. This
scene reminds me of the end of ​Night
by Wiesel when he looks into a mirror
and doesn’t recognize himself because
he looked like a corpse. It is difficult to
imagine being tortured in such ways,
but I imagine that most anyone would
give up eventually

“Reality exists in the human
mind, and nowhere else. Not
in the individual mind,
which can make mistakes,
and in any case soon
perishes: only in the mind of
the Party, which is collective
and immortal” (314).
“What can you do, thought
Winston, against the lunatic
who is more intelligent than
yourself, who gives your
arguments a fair hearing and
then simply persists in his
lunacy?” (331).
“Power is in inflicting pain
and humiliation. Power is in
tearing human minds to
pieces and putting them
together again in new shapes
of your own choosing”
(336).
O’Brien is explaining the core beliefs
of the Party. It goes deeper than simply
controlling the truth. It seeks to define
the truth as only what the Party allows
people to believe, and there is no other
truth that is valid. Winston is having a
difficult time processing the fact that he
has never been in control of his own
memory.
This is Winston’s way of dealing with
his reality. It does not matter if he is
right or wrong because the person in
control does not have to listen to what
he says. He is only one unit that fell out
of place in the Party’s perfect world,
but the Party was able to make him
follow them again using torture. This
way, the Party will always get its way.
To help him believe in the Party’s truth,
O’Brien tortures Winston. He asks him
how many fingers he is holding up, and
Winston answers correctly (four).
Because O’Brien wants him to believe
he is holding up five fingers, he tortures
Winston until he not only says five, but
he believes that he is holding up five
fingers. He said that so the pain would
stop, proving that the Party has ultimate
power.
Foss 5
Cancel culture is a modern
phenomenon that makes a particular
narrative the undisputed truth by
destroying any voice that offers a
conflicting narrative. It is scary to see
different ideas dismissed so quickly
and violently. In cancel culture, a
peaceful debate is no longer an option,
which means it is more difficult to have
a conversation that can open people’s
minds to different ideas.
Kim Jong-un is a dictator that has total
control over North Korea. Although
other world leaders offer him a
peaceful way to prosperity, it is easy
for him to ignore their offer because he
wants to maintain his power. It would
be odd living in a dictator-ruled
country. I would hate having no
freedom and only one dictator who
makes all decisions. I like democracy
because everyone gets a say in how our
country is run.
The goal of power is absolute power. It
is not enough to control someone’s
actions like our society does through
laws and consequences. We have
freedom of religion and speech, and
absolute power has no room for these.
The only way absolute power can exist
is when people under power are
suffering. This suffering becomes a
sacrifice to prove one’s loyalty to the
power, which proves absolute power is
an unhealthy and inhuman way to
govern people.

“At the time when it
happens you do mean it.
You think there’s no other
way of saving yourself, and
you’re quite ready to save
yourself that way. You
WANT it to happen to the
other person. You don’t give
a damn what they suffer. All
you care about is yourself”
(369).
Julia and Winston agreed before being
tortured that their love will persist,
even if that means confessing each
other’s crimes. When torture becomes
severe enough, the only thing you want
is to quit feeling pain, so they stopped
loving each other for the Party. The
Party proved to them that no emotional
connections with others are enough to
withstand torture.
Foss 6
Most countries outlaw torture because
if you inflict enough pain on someone,
they will say anything to make the pain
stop, even if it is not true. These
countries share a common belief that no
one wants their citizens tortured. It is
sad and scary to think that there are
people who are willing to hurt another
human being for power. I am glad that
our current world does not believe that
torture is the best way to solve
problems.