Repression of Natural Inclination

In 1984, the people of Oceania are very limited to their abilities. The one I picked was repression of natural inclinations. This topic seemed to have the most to work with. To start, the telescreens restrict everyone’s ability to do specific things. The purpose of the telescreen is to induce fear into the hearts of people. The telescreen is a non stop stream of both surveillance and propaganda. “Big Brother is Watching You”(Orwell 2) is what the telescreens display to make people not do certain things.


People in Oceania are restricted to having sexual relationships unless they are married and forced to have a child. Cameras watch your every move from the telescreen and if you do something that is “crime worthy”, the party will seek you out and take you into the ministry of love. Another form of repression of natural inclinations is the ability to interact. People can’t have formal conversations with other people unless they find a secret place like Julia and Winston did. First Winston had to find a place and time to meet with Julia because of the letter she had given him when she fell. Winston then had to deceive a plan to locate and talk to Julia without being seen by any cameras. After he set up a place and time to chat more, Wiston met up and Julia gave him directions to a secret place. This process was very fleshed out. They made it so they would not get caught. Later in the book, Winston and Julia find a second hiding place to go to, which is above Mr. Charrington’s shop. Little did Julia and Winston know that there was a hidden telescreen in that room which led to them being caught. Throughout the book, everyone has dietary limits. Everyone has a limitless amount of Victory Gin and Cigarettes, but are limited to things such as chocolate. Also people are limited in speech. In Oceania, the language is “Newspeak”. Newspeak is meant to limit thought and to minimize the amount of wording. Limited thought is shown through propaganda. The thought police are said to monitor what you are thinking, but nobody can be sure whether they can or can’t.





In 1984, restricts are present throughout the book, not only in natural inclinations, but also thought and language. Oceania is a very restricted place and don’t forget, Big Brother is Watching You.

The 3 Stages of Reintegration

Winston is not in the best of places when we last read.  He has just been captured by the party and is now being held captive in the ministry of love.  Winston doesn’t know the time, day or how long he has been in the ministry.  The book describes the cell that Winston is being held in as “a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain”(Orwell 225).  After Winston is removed to go to room 101, he is greeted by a familiar face, O’Brien.  O’Brien performs 3 procedures on Winston.  1 is learing, 2 is understanding, and 3 is acceptance or the bond with big brother.  

During the torture, Winston is beaten.  He also doesn’t know how long he has been there for.  He is beaten till “he could not remember”(Orwell 240).  I think that this stage is to break in the subject.  To shatter that outer wall to get inside.  

The second stage is brainwashing.  For this experiment, O’Brien is in the room with him.  He is controlling the dial.  O’Brien’s says to Winston, “I shall save you, I will make you perfect”(Orwell 244).  O’Brien also reveals the photograph of the party function in New York.  “It exists, he cried.  No, said O’Brien”(Orwell 247).  In this moment, he was using double think on Winston.  He destroyed what he just had in his hand and said that “It does not exist”(Orwell 247).  The topic of 2+2=5 is brought up when O’Brien asks Winston how many fingers he was holding up.  This stage in my view is meant to clear out all of the info that might still be in Winston’s head to make room for what is about to happen for stage 3.

The third stage focuses on reintegrating information back into Winston’s head.  O’Brien had everything set up so that Winston would accept everything.  As this is happening, Winston is recovering.  I believe that this final stage is to set everything in stone for Winston so that is can’t be changed again.

The 3 stages of reintegration make the subject crippled only to set the information the party wants in their head.  each of the 3 stages have a purpose.  1 is to break them down, 2 is to wipe out all of the memory that they have of things, and 3 is to put back in new information that will stick.  Winston’s treatments are finished, the big question is, will they last?

The Brotherhood or the Party?

Kyle Petras

8/10/15

Gubanich

The Brotherhood or the Party?

The brotherhood or the party?  Both have similarities, and both share parallels, but which one is better?  The brotherhood, from the perspective of Winston, seems to be a better choice to follow than the party.  The party is what Winston has lived with his whole life.  He wants to obviously change his way of life.  In his view, the brotherhood is better than anything.  He wouldn’t have to be worried about being caught with Julia and be vaporized.  I feel like the party seems like a better choice.  Crazy as it sounds, I think it is.  

A more specific parallel is that of Goldstein and Big Brother.  Goldstein is the leader of the brotherhood. O’brien says to Winston, “Yes, there is such a person, and he is alive.  Where, I do not know”(Orwell 171).  Both “Big Brother and Goldstein are considered as the higher power and nobody knows really where they are, they just know they exist.  The brotherhood itself is a secret, underground organization made to take over the party.  Wiston had hoped it was real when he first visited O’Brien.  He explains to Winston that “You will never learn much more about the brotherhood than that it exists and that you belong to it”(Orwell 171).  Both the Party and the Brotherhood are not well known by the community of their societies.  People know very little of what they are and how they work.  During Winston’s and O'brien’s meeting, O'brien tells Winston the guidelines that are set for the brother that state, “you will be fighting in the dark.  You will always be in the dark. You will receive orders and you will obey them, without knowing why”(Orwell 174).  In the party, the same thing happens.  You have no idea why you do the things you do, only that you need to do them to not get vaporized.  These are three examples of parallels that are shared between the brotherhood and the party.

Not only are there differences to the two groups, but there are similarities that are very prominent in the text.  How O’brien talks about Goldstein and the parallel to Big Brother, how the brotherhood is so secretive as well as the party, and finally how you rarely know what is happening in the brotherhood.  These parallels are visible in the text of 1984 and there is little difference in their similarities.

2+2=5

Kyle Petras

10/2/15

Gubanich

2+2=5?

The song I chose was 2+2=5.  I chose this song because it was not only the easiest to listen to, but it called out 1984 as well.  A theme that I noticed was being trapped when it said I’ll stay home forever.  Winton is trapped.  He has set things to do everyday that he can’t miss.  Another thing that stood out was it’s the devil’s way now.  This speaks to big brother and the ministries.  They have full control over the people in Oceania, and most of it is not good.  The line there is no way out connects with how there is no way out of 1984’s society.  If you try to leave, the ministries will hint you down and vaporize you.  It talks about flies, and I thought those connected with Winston’s dreams.  It says that he keeps trying to swat them away, but they keep coming back.  Winston has recurring dreams that wont go away.  Go and tell the king that the sky is falling in when it’s not.  This totally refers to Winston telling Obrien that the Ministries will fall by the brotherhood.  When in fact, it will never fall.  This song is protesting that not everything is what it seems.  The title speaks 1984 by saying 2+2=5.  This is obviously not true.  In 1984, the past is changed to alter the future.  Wars were erased, people’s names, even countries.

Ripped to Pieces

Kyle Petras

10/1/15

Gubanich

Blog 3: Ripped to Pieces

            When Winston find out about the act of sex, he believes that this will tear apart the party.  To go a little deeper than that, Winston thinks that when people start to want to love each other, that is when this society will fall.  The act of sex will make people desire one another and make each other happy.  Another thing is that all this excitement is built up, but when people had sex, they would release that energy and have none for their everyday job or lifestyle.  Having sex is not the only dangerous doing that could hurt the party.  Us humans are engineered to find food.  It is an instinct and when you are rationed a certain amount, usually a small portion; you want more if you are hungry.  Something else would be being the best out of everyone.  Trying to overpower others.  If the society had people better than others, those people would be vaporized to equal the rest.  Going back to the act of sex.  It allows people to interact and love one another.  And releasing that energy would affect that person’s daily activity.