I think the theme in this novel ‘1984’ is the opposition against communism. Democracy is needed because all people are equal, and one person should not try to dominate other person because they are not the God. Although communism shows the ideal slogan which is ‘produce and split equally’, but actually many peoples’ sacrifice was needed. Also, almost all communism countries had already fallen down. In my opinion, this book’s theme is important to teenagers in 2007 because it helps us to realize the importance of democracy.
2. Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? what are they, and how do they relate? does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?
I can think of two large related situations in nowadays. First one is the communism, which is deeply related to North Korea specifically. I could easily relate those two because this novel was written to warn the Soviet communism back in 1940s. Also, The Party which is depicted in the book strongly resembled the government in communism country. For example, The Party in book tries to sacrifice many people for few peoples’ lust for power. Second situation which is related to the book is about the security of private information. In the novel, Thought Police watches every single movement of person and punishes them when the person goes against the rule. As an example of real life, I can think of the ‘Echelon’, which is the universal monitor system used in NSA (National Security Agency). They monitor every e-mails and phone calls. Although I found two related situations with book, I couldn’t really found the solution in book.
3. Who are the main characters in the novel? do you like them? why or why not? what is special about them? what do they reveal about the universal human experience?
The main character of this novel is Winston Smith, who is the man in his thirties. I don’t like him very much, but I can understand his mind. I think I will show cowardice to avoid death and rationalize my behaviors when I confront same situation with him. In that point of view I can understand him and I even feel compassion to him. However, on the other hand, I feel a sense of betrayal a little bit because he didn’t accept his death with unchangeable opposition against The Party.
4. What is the climax of this novel? what happens? how do the events of this novel make you feel?
I don’t really know the exact climax of the book, but I think the most ‘likely climax’ part is where all of Winston’s opposition (against The Party) was thrown out and agreed ‘Two plus two make…five’. In this part, Winston throws away his belief and gives allegiance for his survival only. I felt both compassion and sense of betrayal at same time through this event.
5. What is the mood of this novel? do you find this novel saddens you in any way? why?
The mood of this novel is very depressed, gloomy, and uneasy. I think it is because author wrote about grim reality which is lived by people who are restrained by The Party. Almost all characters in this book seem to not believe their near people, and they are showing dark part of the society. Also, the mood is gloomy and dark because the book is effectively showing both inner and outer conflicts.
6. Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
I chose this passage because the content is so horrible. It is very fearful that the Party is trying to destroy all beautiful emotions of people and they are remaining only bad emotions. Furthermore, the Party is making new language (newspeak) and fabricating the past history. The Party will dominate emotions of people, and finally they are going to dominate the whole people. It is disgusting to think that the Party will manipulate all people.
7. Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? or disturbing? or memorable? describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.
Most memorable setting of the book is ‘room 101’. It is the place where numerous people being executed and punished. Every person has different weaknesses, so every person is being executed in different ways, which is using the fearful thing to each person. There are two green boxes in the room, and the fearful thing (it can be animal, or any thing) is kept in the box. In the case of Winston, the mice were placed in the box because Winston was afraid of mice. The setting is memorable because it is too horrible.
8. What is the reason that George Orwell wrote this book?
As I mentioned above in entry 1, George Orwell wrote this novel ‘1984’ to warn the Soviet communism. Because of that reason, the Party in the book quite resembles the Soviet government. However, we can still read and earn some teachings although we are not living in communism society nowadays.
