Blog #61 - Holen Yee - Period 3 - 06/13/2020

Blog #61, Holen Yee, Period 3, 6/13

6/13/20

Holen Yee, Period 3

Sophomores 2020

Blogger #61

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

Notes:

The lesson began with two questions, which were, “Why do new and different ideas often provoke fear?” and “Is Julia good for Winston?”. It was discussed that people fear new ideas because knowledge is power, and throwing people into new situations is taking people’s power away from them. It was also said that people naturally fear the unknown. The chance that everything could go wrong when entering an unfamiliar situation makes people scared. For the second question, it was said that after Winston met Julia and began meeting her as often as possible, he stopped smoking and drinking as often, and that ulcer on his ankle didn’t bother him anymore. It could be said that instead of relying on alcohol and cigarettes, he is now relying on Julia. But, Julia is also dangerous for Winston, because he is risking his life more often by meeting her.

The lesson then went into discussing what allusions were. They are “a brief and indirect reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place or event, which is NOT explained.” Allusions are not explained because the authors intend for the audience to recognize and understand them through prior experience. Allusions can create a mood in just a few words, rather than using a long explanation. There are many types of allusions and they can be references to many things.

After the discussion on what allusions were, we began into looking into what allusions are in George Orwell’s 1984. Proles are the working class, or the proletariat. The Ingsoc social class system is divided into the Inner Party (the upper class), the Outer Party (the middle class), and the Proles (the working class). Big Brother is a reference to Hitler or Stalin. It was mentioned that Stalin was sometimes referred to as “Uncle Joe”, which is similar to the name Big Brother. Emmanuel Goldstein is a reference to Leon Trotsky. The telescreens are a reference to both the Secret Police, in that they keep constant surveillance on you, and propaganda, constantly brainwashing civilians. The Junior Spies are a reference to the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. The eradication of Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford are a reference to Stalin’s Great Purges, how he killed many party members to acquire more power.

We also had an assignment to find allusions in shows, poems, or songs. We had to identify what type of allusion it was, what the allusion referred to, and how it contributed to the mood or theme of the show, poem, or song.

Reflection:

I learned that allusions are everywhere in shows, poems, and books. The allusions that were in 1984 were things that I didn’t notice. Some allusions I don’t understand, but the ones that I do understand were very powerful. The references in 1984 were references to real life events and people, making the story much stronger. These allusions tell us that the story of 1984 could have been a possibility. If real life events happened differently, and various circumstances lined up just right, we could have been living in the society of 1984. This knowledge that the world of 1984 isn’t that far-fetched makes me want to prevent the society from the book from becoming our society.

Write about your thoughts regarding the reading.

When I first read about Julia, and how she was following Winston, I was convinced that she was part of the Thought Police, just like what Winston thought. Even now, when she has been shown to have committed various crimes against the Party, a part of me still thinks that she shouldn’t have been brought with Winston to see O’Brien, just in case she isn’t trustworthy. Also, it was discussed in one of our lessons that it was never proven that either Emmanuel Goldstein or Big Brother actually exist. So, if the Brotherhood, which is the organization that O’Brien is a part of, follows Emmanuel Goldstein, does he actually exist? Or are the members of the Brotherhood unknowingly falling into the Party’s trap?

What is it like working from home?

We are nearing the end of the school year, so I believe that things are slowing down. We still have to go to class, but I don’t think that assignments will be that frequent. Lab has already ended, and in physics we are working on our last assignment. We have two more weeks until the last day of school, June 26. I think that now that everyone has fallen into a rhythm, remote learning is much easier than the beginning of trying to learn from home. 

Updates regarding the virus:

The Brazil coronavirus outbreak has passed Britain and now has the world’s second-highest death toll. The United States has 114,752 deaths, Brazil has 41,828 acknowledged virus deaths, and Britain has 41,481 deaths. The reason behind this is that President Jair Bolsonaro is rejecting the scientific consensus on how to fight the pandemic. He is promoting unproven remedies, such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, and dismissing the danger of the virus. He has said that the virus is just “measly cold” and that people with “athletic backgrounds” like him would be immune to serious problems.