Blog #60 - Bradley Vaval - Period 3 - 06/12/2020

Bradley Vaval, Blogger #60

Sophomores 2020, Period 3

6/12/20

Aim: How do the historical allusions and connections in 1984 contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?

The lesson opened with two Discussion Prompts, which would have been a “Turn and Talk” under better circumstances. The first question read, “Why do new and different ideas often provoke fear?” and ultimately, the responses all boiled down to the basic human construct of the fear of the unknown. People are most comfortable in familiar situations and so when they are thrown in unfamiliar situations they are left vulnerable because knowledge is power. The second prompt asked, “Is Julia good for Winston?” and the general consensus was that she influenced him to be more rebellious and commit crimes against the Party that he normally wouldn’t do, whether that is a good thing or not is debatable. Something important to take note of however, is that ever since Winston has met Julia, he has stopped many of his unhealthy habits such as drinking, smoking, and even scratching his ulcer.

Notes for the Day:

The lesson strayed from George Orwell’s 1984 in order to teach us about Allusions. The powerpoint states, an allusion is “a brief and indirect reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place or event, which is NOT explained.” The last part of the definition was emphasized heavily considering that it is easily forgotten. In an allusion, the reader is required to know what the author is referencing in order to make sense of it, as it will not be explained to them. There are four types of allusions, categorized by what they make references to and they are Biblical for religious works, Classical for classical literature, Literary for any other literary work, and Historical for a historical event. We are then provided with a lot of examples of allusion in pop culture proving that allusions are truly all around us. The examples cover popular shows and franchises such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and the Star Wars series. A few of them are shown below.

One of the examples in particular was a scene from the show Family Guy where some of the main cast were depicted acting out and singing a scene from the 1965 film The Sound of Music. I personally have not seen the sound of music and so that allusion didn’t make much sense to me as the presentation had pointed out. The link to the clip follows.

Family Guy Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldzPAf9EUOQ&t=9s 

Now that we were familiar with allusions, we were presented with potential uses for allusions by not only writers but musicians as well. They are very powerful tools when it comes to creating a mood in your piece while also forming a connection between you and your audience. The whole slide is provided.

Now, moving back to George Orwell’s 1984, we were tasked with identifying possible allusions in the novel with what we had read up to thus far. Our responses were as follows:

- Proles are representative of the Proletariats, or the working class in Soviet Russia.

- Ingsoc’s social class systems resembled the class system of the Soviet Union, in which the highest class made up the small percentage of the population which stands true for the Inner Party. The Outer Party is the middle class which were seen as the most dangerous for the nation, hence, their need to be constantly watched. Lastly the Proles which made up the greatest percentage of the population which is a direct representation of the lowest class in the Soviet Union.
- Big Brother was an allusion to Stalin in the way he is portrayed being all powerful and ruling over his nation by eliminating those against himself via his men, the Thought Police. Stalin had done the same, and was even seen as a god by the Soviet People.

- Goldstein seemed to be a reference to Trotsky in the way that they were once peers, however Big Brother backstabs Goldstein in order to gain control of Oceania in the same way that Stalin had Trotsky killed by his men for power over Russia.

- The Telescreens are not only reminiscent of the Secret Police in the Soviet Union which would keep order from within the shadows, but also of Propaganda as the telescreens are constantly feeding civilians information, seemingly brainwashing them.

- Junior Spies allude to the existence of camps such as Hitler Youth which they brainwashed the children into unwavering loyalty to the leader at the time to prevent a potential future rebellion.

- The eradication of Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford by Big Brother were connected to Stalin's Great Purges, in which he would silence the rebellion by simply but ruthlessly eliminating anyone that he suspected capable or willing to defy him.

Now reaching the end of the lesson, we had one assignment to complete before the next cycle’s class and that required us to go out and find four examples of allusion in our everyday lives whether it be in a show, movie, song, poem, etc. We will then have to say which of the four types of allusions it is, and go on to explain the connection.

Reflection of the Lesson:

This lesson gave a lot of insight on ways that allusions in novels and other media can have an affect on the work as a whole. Allusions are a very powerful tool and are extremely common as proved by today's lesson, so it is important to be familiar with them, especially in this case. Although they are exaggerated, the elements present in Orwell’s 1984 bear some resemblance to those that were present in Soviet society during Orwell’s time. Had the Soviet Union never existed, or had we had no knowledge of it, a lot of the events in the novel would have seemed completely impractical and fictitious. However, since we are able to recognize the connections between 1984 and actual historical counterparts, it begs the question, could a dystopian society like the one presented by Orwell actually exist, given the right circumstances? I’m sure that most would agree when I say that a world that works this way is undesirable, and so it entices us to do what we must to prevent a world like that from ever occurring.

Personal Experience:

1984 has been quite a read for me so far. I enjoy the concept as I can rarely ever turn down a dystopian society as they are inherently interesting. The introduction of telescreens to spy on people is also an interesting take on how technology would fit into the sneaky nature of socialist government. However, I haven’t been very fond of Winston and him being the main character makes the novel rather unbearable. He’s always been rather boring and predictable throughout the novel in my opinion, and nothing much about him really catches my eye. On the other hand, the story seems to pick up at the introduction of Julia, as she’s got a little more life in her and completely breaks the expectations you are made out to have for her in the beginning. The dynamic between Julia and Winston is also pretty enjoyable and it’s almost nice to watch how Winston is improving by simply spending more time with her. Recently, O'brien is confirmed to be a part of the Brotherhood, a rebellious organization, like the two have suspected, but this all seems a little too good to be true. I personally believe that O’Brien is secretly working for the Inner Party and plans to betray Winston and Julia.

As for the whole remote learning experience, I was a little naive in thinking that the workload would lighten up a bit after the end of the AP Exams in the end of May. Sadly, in my case, I was wrong and other teachers picked up where my history teacher left off and made up for the amount of work that had been put off. Overall, I’ve been able to handle it, just at the expense of some leisure time. This, mixed in with the state our country is in, made for a very difficult collection of weeks nearing the end of remote learning, but also a newfound respect for the people who continue to stand strong and support our country’s people in these troubling times. In conclusion, I’m looking forward to the end of school even more than I was before.