This Post is About Nothing..

NOTHING

"Nothing will come of nothing." In that phrase alone nothing is used in different ways, and the various meanings of 'nothing' is a constant theme throughout the play. The primary 'nothing' in that sentence means no endowment or reward, while the second is Cordelia's apparent lack of love and communication.  I feel the theme of the word nothing is that often we take things that seem to mean or be nothing as insignificant and the things that appear of great importance don't have meaning. King Lear thinks all the words of love that Goneril and Regan spew have meaning while Cordelia who says "nothing" truly feels the most. Another example of the theme is when Lear has lost his power, his family and his mind.  He thinks he has nothing but in this state he is finally able to come to realize who he really is and what the people around him feel towards him. In my life, I often should stop and think about material things that seem to make me feel pleasure and understand all the items and status in the world mean nothing. All to often routine or common things are mistaken as nothing when something as simple as a meal with my family can have a tremendous amount of significance.  Another idea on the theme of nothing, is the cliche "make something out of nothing". Take a situation that seems futile and think about it in an abstract way to create something. In the realm of thoughts, something can always be made of nothing. There is an endless supply of combinations of words that can be put together to create something that has never been written or spoken ever before. So when the mind seems blank and all one can think of is nothing, create something. Begin to put words together to form a nugget of thought that no one ever has had. In that moment, you have created something out of nothing.

1984 Section 5

WHY IS 1984 A CLASSIC?

It is a political novel written to warn Western readers of the dangers of a totalitarian government. The book was written just after WWII when the American public was unsure of how communism would work as a social experiment and many were highly optimistic. It is a classic due to the fact that it portrays the perfect totalitarian society, the most extreme realization imaginable of a modern-day government with absolute power.  The title gave readers in 1948 an ominous look at what the future may hold.

1984 Section 4

A few days after their meeting with O’Brien, Winston and Julia are relaxing at the room above the store. Winston begins reading the book about the rebellion.  The next chapter of the book is an incredibly long and overly drawn out excerpt from the book by Goldstein.  This part of the novel is awful and dry as hell.  Suddenly the Thought Police bust into the room and arrest both Julia and Winston. Winston becomes disoriented and isn’t sure what time they took him. He is taken to the Ministry of Love, basically a giant prison where people are tortured and brainwashed.  He spends days, weeks, months and maybe even years inside. They break his will to the point that he is able to accept that 2+2=5 and gives up all hope of rebellion. He is finally released after giving up all he cares when he is faced by his phobia of rats. Winston is released back into society and is a completely changed man.  He no longer can even think his own independent thoughts and is controlled by the government.  Many people go through this experience and like all those people, Winston is shot by the Thought Police after an indefinite period in society. The last sentence of the novel is, “He loved Big Brother.”

1984 Section 3

Winston rents a room above an old man’s store, deep in the slums of the proles. He and Julia use this room as a place where they can escape together.  By now their relationship has become a solidified part of their lives. One day O’Brien makes contact with Winston and asks him to come to his home.  Winston and Julia arrive at O’Brien’s home and are excited as he explains the rebellion to them.  He gives them books written by Emmanuel Goldstein the thought leader of the revolution. This part of the book is the climax and it’s getting pretty exciting. If Winston succeeds at overthrowing the government it would be a miraculous story and would be similar to if one person had overthrown the Soviet Union.

1984 Section 2

In the beginning of the section Winston thinks about how the power lies in the proles, the peasants who the government doesn’t watch nearly as carefully because they lack the intelligence to create any rebellion.  Winston writes in his diary that the proles must be organized and then they will have the power to overthrow the government. He also reminisces on an event where at his work he finds a piece of evidence that proves multiple leaders, who were charged with treason, to be innocent. He thinks of writing about it in his diary almost as a letter to O’Brien, who he is convinced is in on a rebellion. The biggest event of the section is one day Julia slips Winston a note that says I love you. The two arrange a meeting place deep in the woods and begin a love affair.  It is the classic forbidden love story that makes the love so much more thrilling. Similar to Romeo and Juliet except instead of a family that forbids them it is a terrible, brainwashing and controlling government.

1984 Section 1

Winston Smith lives in London.  Not the London we know today, nor the London that existed in 1984.  A London ruled by a totalitarian government that has complete control over the lives of everyone of its citizens.  There is no privacy. There is no place where the governments cameras and microphones cannot spy on you.  Big Brother is always watching you. The novel begins with Winston returning home from a day at work as a low-level government official.  He sits down writes in a diary, which is completely illegal and punishable by death. He writes about his life but he also writes about his hatred for Big Brother and his longing for clarity, understanding and a better life.  In this first section, there are only two other characters of significance. Julia, an attractive young woman that Winston hates because he knows he cannot be  with her and because she seems like the type that would report him to the Thought Police.  The other is O’Brien, a high ranking inner party official that Winston seems to like because he seems smart and feels that he is the type that could be a rebel.  Orwell wrote this book in 1948 which is interesting because it draws from the ideas of the Nazis and Soviets. He has created a world where one of these parties succeeds in gaining complete control of their population.