Book 2 Chapters 7-10: Inhumane
"The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account. When once you were in the grip of the Party. what you felt or did not feel. What you did or refrained from doing, made literally no difference. Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again...They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, an embrace, a tear, a word spoke to a dying man, could have value in itself" (136).
This particular quote stood out to me because it highlights one of the main aspects of the Party and the people of Oceania. The Party wants its citizens to live their life without any emotions, while the people of Oceania allow them to do this because they do not know any better. If anyone from Oceania does try to rebel against the Party, eventually the Party will vaporize them. The only people who can actually feel emotions are the proles, however they seem to be ignorant of their circumstances. Throughout the book it seems as if the Party are ventriloquists and the citizens of Oceania are their puppets. The Party controls their puppet to make them do anything the Party wants them to do and the Party can make it seems as if the puppets are happy, but at the end of the day the puppets are emotionless and will not do anything the Party is against. This life that the people of Oceania live is inhumane, it almost seems as if their life is pointless because they are not living their life they way would want to, instead they only do what will make the government happy. The part about how in individual relationships almost any gesture is valuable stood out to me because it does make me think about how some people say most people will remember the gestures a person did because that is what stands out. I hope that as more people of Oceania like Winston realize that they can feel emotions like happiness and that it is not a bad thing like the Party tries to make it seem as, they will try to rebel against them. One person cannot do the rebellion of their own, however with the majority of the population of Oceania rebelling against the Party, it is a possibility to be able to win the rebellion against the government.
This particular quote stood out to me because it highlights one of the main aspects of the Party and the people of Oceania. The Party wants its citizens to live their life without any emotions, while the people of Oceania allow them to do this because they do not know any better. If anyone from Oceania does try to rebel against the Party, eventually the Party will vaporize them. The only people who can actually feel emotions are the proles, however they seem to be ignorant of their circumstances. Throughout the book it seems as if the Party are ventriloquists and the citizens of Oceania are their puppets. The Party controls their puppet to make them do anything the Party wants them to do and the Party can make it seems as if the puppets are happy, but at the end of the day the puppets are emotionless and will not do anything the Party is against. This life that the people of Oceania live is inhumane, it almost seems as if their life is pointless because they are not living their life they way would want to, instead they only do what will make the government happy. The part about how in individual relationships almost any gesture is valuable stood out to me because it does make me think about how some people say most people will remember the gestures a person did because that is what stands out. I hope that as more people of Oceania like Winston realize that they can feel emotions like happiness and that it is not a bad thing like the Party tries to make it seem as, they will try to rebel against them. One person cannot do the rebellion of their own, however with the majority of the population of Oceania rebelling against the Party, it is a possibility to be able to win the rebellion against the government.
It's really intriguing how they feel emotions are a threat to the Party. Even though emotions are something that are pretty much uncontrollable. Having to contain your true feelings is very difficult. Your comparison of the citizens and the Party to ventriloquists and puppets is spot on! They control all aspects to their life, all for their own agenda. Emotions are definitely something powerful and this needs to be realized by all the people of Oceania so that they can finally prosper.
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie! I really liked the quote you picked because I felt it truly represents the way the Party viewed the citizens of Oceania. I think that your analysis of the quote was very well said and planned out. Overall, I really enjoyed the quote chosen and the way you explained it.
ReplyDeleteHey Jackie. Really nice job. The analysis was very detailed and I really enjoyed it. My favorite part was when you compared the government to ventriloquists and the citizens to puppets. That is a great way to describe this society because they are controlled in every aspect one can think of. It's very true that living life in Oceania is very pointless because one can't live life how they want; they can't enjoy life, so what's the point of living. I feel like more people have realized they can feel emotions but maybe since they are so controlled they are scared to express them, or they don't know how to express them because they don't know what these emotions are. In my opinion, if they knew what emotions were, life in Oceania would be a little more bearable.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used the word inhumane. It really describes the Party's actions and how they don't allow their citizens to have freedom. Great quote!
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