“But it was alright, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”

In the final portion of 1984 everything really takes a turn for the worst. O'Brian turns out to be a spy (what!?) and the Brotherhood unravel itself as another sham organization of the government. After Julia and Winston wake up one morning in his flat the Party surrounds him and takes him in to be brainwashed. They preform brain washings on him until his brain his turned into mindless, conformist-mush; every thought of rebellion and a world he once believed he could escape to disappeared and he begins his post-brainwashed life of victory gin and dull work. But when I was reading I began to think, what if the the governments involvement traces further back than his involvement with O'Brian? What if it was the government that had planted the journal way-back-when in the Proles section of the country? George Orwell clearly conveys that the government is largely in control, but could they have predicted actions of Winston so perfectly? Or maybe they just planted a journal in the first place, not caring who ended up owning it and tracked the usage? Was it sheer coincidence that Winston went down this rare path of rebellion or was it the governments plan from the beginning? George Orwell teaches his readers one main message in this book, trust no one. Every single person gets betrayed in this book, from the beginning with his neighbors and their child spies, O'Brian betraying Winston, and even in the end Winston betrays his own beloved Julia. George Orwell was either extremely paranoid or on point with the patterns of humans. We like to believe that in the end we sacrifice it all for love but in the end our own self-worth concurs all feelings towards others, and that is exactly what Winston does in the end, he is brain-washed and gives up everything, all so that he can live in a black and white society with a few too many eyes watching your every move. Was it all worth it though?

PART 2

In the second portion of George Orwell's novel, "1984", Winston begins to fulfill his rebellious fantasies towards Big Brother. He begins to see the dark-haired beauty, Julia on a regular basis, meeting above Mr. Charrington's shop. The affair begins with a note from Julia simply stating, "I love you" and from there their romance begins. Him and Julia both believe the same ideals of independence and as his relationship with Julia begins to move forward, so does his relationship with his coworker, O'Brian. O'Brian invites him to his flat for the newest edition of Newspeak; this is where Winston and Julia learn of the secret brotherhood that O'Brian is a part of and as hey both join, they begin to learn all about the mysterious Goldstein and the secret world that Big Brother has not discovered yet. Throughout this portion Winston's relationships are really forming. Before, Winston was simply a man sitting in his flat scheming and obsessing about thoughts of rebellion from conformity. In modern day times we call those types of people mental. But once Winston unties with Julia and O'Brian, his entire world changes from being some guy who was a bit mad to a real threat to society. It is not people alone who change the world and shake it to its very core, but the relationships people form in the process of changing the world. To succeed at something you must create a basis of people on which you can rely and trust and that is exactly what Winston is experiencing. The relationships he is forming during this portion of the book make him into something viable towards the government and nothing is more threatening to a totalitarian dictatorship than a group of free-thinkers.

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

In the novel, "1984", Orson Wells tell the story of a man, Winston Smith who is living in the territory known as Oceania (formerly known as England). Smith works as a "Speakwrite" in the section of the ministry labeled, "Ministry of Truth". Smith lives a monotonous life under the rule of "Big Brother", except Smith is different; he is curious; he is rebellious. He begins to record his feelings in a journal bought in the Proles (the poorest) section of the country. The first time he writes the feelings come rushing to him until he realizes that he is writing "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" over and over again. He records his thoughts, memories, and feelings in this journal, while at the same time; he is constantly aware of spies in everyone he meets. He illustrates how the government has turned everyone into enemies, even children are used as spies to rat out whomever the suspect, including their parents. The government has suppressed the peoples rights from chocolate to sex; they are erasing history and changing historical accounts to their liking. In the book, Smith writes in his journal of how he misses sex so dearly. He writes of his wife, who hated sex, and of his most recent sexual encounters (with an old prostitute from Proles); he also writes of his new crush, a dark haired woman from government who he believes is quite likely a spy. This book, supposedly a prediction of the future, is much to severe of a prediction to be realistic. We as humans in the 21st century have been educated to the point that we are not willing to give up our rights even if it means to die for them. For example: in the middle east currently country after country are taking a stand against oppressive governments such as in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. They were under the rule of a main leader (some cases more extreme than others) and they believed that the way their ruler was ruling didn't suit them so they revolted, and most countries are winning. The kind of oppression of that large of a body of people seems impossible seeing as there will always be the Winston Smith's of the world who recognize the unjust works their government is doing. The only way slightly plausible of creating this Big Brother society would be if the government of a country followed Marxist ideals and completely exterminated an entire race, even then they would have to go through tedious work of changing records and blocking their new society from the outside world. Oceania is an extreme instance but at the same time Wells is spot on with the type of theories about governmental control but not necessarily in the future; governments have been hiding secrets, suppressing individuals, and corrupting since the dawn of time. Orson Wells just writes of a world where the advancing of technology has brought the big brother we've always known into another dimension.

The End.

The book Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice is the story of three vampires, Lestat, Claudia, and Louis. At first Lestat is the only vampire in New Orleans until Louis and later on Claudia are both turned into vampires. Throught much conflict with Lestat, Claudia decides to retaliate and attempt to kill him, Louis and Claudia flee to Europe only to encounter more of their kind in Paris. After meeting a twisted cult of vampires in Paris a series of unfortunate happening occur until Louis is left alone with a new vampire, the leader of the vampire cult, Theatres De Vampires, Armand. After a bit of adventure in Europe with Armand Louis finally realizes that he must return to New Orleans, where he lives in solitude mourning the death of his beloved Claudia. He becomes almost a Lestat like character in the end as Lestat was in the beginning of the book, a lone vampire killing every human he passes. The entire story is told from as if written directly from an interview with Louis himself, conducted by a young journalist. This entire story is full of hidden gender perceptions and it can be said that this book kind of kick started the vampire trend. Throughout the book Louis and Claudia share a sort of twisted love connection; with immortality becomes the lessoning of the normal stigmas of romance. Claudia is five years old when she is turned into a vampire, but as she grows older her mind matures into that of a woman, she becomes a strong leader in the book even though she still has the appearance of a five year old. Her and Louis develop the sort of intimate relationship the sort of intimate relationship of a couple without the normalcy. This book explores more than just the lives of vampires, on a deeper level it explores relationships and how they evolve through immortality.

And dying now would be such a calamity, wouldn't it?

For my group book we are reading Interview with A Vampire by Anne Rice. This novel is exactly what it seems; the whole story is written as to be a long interview between a boy (presumably a reporter) and of course, a vampire. From the beginning of the book we hear of many things ranging from the vampire's history before he met his fate to become a blood sucking creature of the night to his transformation into a vampire to his life as a vampire with his less than endearing teacher, Lestat. In the beginning the vampire, Louis Du Pointe du Lac, is simply a plantation owner in New Orleans, who lives with his mother, brother, and sister. From there on the plot twists away from the monotony of simply owning a plantation to his new life as a vampire. The plot turns when Louis and Lestat's slaves begin to fear an unknown monster feeding off the community. The book so far is really very fascinating with the story being told form the mysterious vampire Louis, with occasional interjections from the interviewer. This book, later transformed into a movie staring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst, is sometimes thought of the book that brought about books and movies such as Twilight and Trueblood. This story though is much more interestingly told, their are no cliche plot lines between the beauty and the beasts, because in this story, they are all beasts. They have regrets of their blood sucking ways ,however; that certainly doesn't keep them from continuing to drink blood. This book has proved itself to be a worthwhile read so far, but we'll see how it goes, if the recent vampire craze has taught us anything it is that a plot about vampires can quickly become tired

He resolves all tongues into his own, and bestows it (pt.4, The rest of the book)

In the poem, "Faces" by Walt Whitman, Whitman explores the beauty in diversity and focuses on the spectacular beauty of the face. He explores the beauty from the face "bitten by vermin and worms" to "the most smeared and slobbering idiot" even to "a lifeboat". His focus on the specific part of the body goes deeper than just him choosing any random organ or limb. He writes about the face possibly because the face is who we are; our mouths express our opinions and thoughts, our eyes and noses take the world in to form opinions, and our ears hear the world around us. The face is a representation of who we are and that is why it is the focus of Whitman's poem. In "Song of the Answerer" the topic is purpose, or more specifically Whitman's purpose as a poet. He expresses the opinion that he feels that society comes to poets as the mediators and interpreters of the world. I feel that Whitman almost voices his belief like he feels like this task is a burden, however; he voices his opinion quite clearly and never implies the burden of his job. I didn't appreciate this poem as much which is why its blurb is much shorter. Whitman adds political spice with both "A Boston Ballad" and "Europe: The 72nd and 73rd Years of These States". These poem isn't really much more than an anti-war poems and nationalist poems which frankly is all Whitman needs it to be to get his point across that war is never the answer and that America is a good country. In Whitman's, "There was a Child Went Forth" he discusses the building of character. He shows how events in a lifetime lead the man or woman to the type of life and opinions they have today. It tells the story of young children and how they take everything with him to later be the people they are at the end, taking from parents to environment to life experiences and creating a pathway for themselves because of it. I did like this poem because I agree with Whitman that the world forms the man and later on that man grows up to form the world for a younger generation. Whitman creates a connection between the reader and the writer in, "Who learns my lessons complete". He is simply putting out there that the writer is speaking to the reader and sending them a message with his or her words and it is the readers job to interpret them. I'm not really sure how I feel about this because I've read things and felt really moved by them but then again I have read loads of pieces where I've put down the book or article and just felt underly moronic. Maybe not all things are interpretation and some things are all interpretation. Hemingway wrote blatantly but underneath it all there was so much to interpret that gave the reader such literary freedom. I suppose I do agree that the writer is speaking to the reader but I don't always think they're speaking the same language. In Whitman's final poem of the book, "Great are the Myths", and he couldn't have ended the book with a more perfect poem. While the book was completely full of life lessons by Walt Whitman in the end he reminds us to celebrate everything. Though the stanzas of this poem may be obvious they are strung together in a way that can't keep you from smiling. Both life, death, and everything in between are great and we need to remember that. I agree with him because even though it is so easy to get wrapped up in the most minute things you need to celebrate everything you have. This poem kind of replaced every negative vibe I was feeling towards Whitman. I really liked this poem and generally the whole even though it is the epitome of transcendental. Whitman shares some of the same philosophies as yoga about the sacredness of things and that is what I noticed throughout the book. I enjoyed reading the book and I say it was a successful attempt at reading a book of poetry.

Animals and vegetables! if I realize you I have satisfaction (pt.3 A Song for Occupations, To Think of Time, The Sleepers, I Sing the Body Electric)

In the first poem of this entry, "A Song for Occupations", Walt Whitman writes about the simplicity of things with a patriotic undertone. In a way his patriotism almost resembles that of a car commercial, the way he name drops states and the middle class to almost appeal to nationalists. He also uses literary devices that he is very well known for such as repetition of words such as were, if, and is, and also the imagery he creates towards the end of the poem in describing jobs. This poem really stands out as the one that is specifically focused on work. I personally didn't like this poem as much as others. I sometimes get tired of Whitman's nationalism but I don't get tired of stanzas such as, "We consider the bibles and religious divine...I do not say they are not divine, I say they have all grown out of you and may grow out of you still, It is not they who give the life...it is you who give the life; Leaves are not more shed from the trees or trees from the earth that they are shed out of you" (Whitman, 169). That so much is all I have to say about the first poem in this entry. In Whitman's poem, "To Think of Time" Whitman talks about the unavoidable topics of life, death and immortality. He speaks like a poet and stays true to his nature of repetition and imagery. He tells the story of a mans death and many others in the same sense in his poem. I really just felt this poem was a typical time passing poem and it just seemed like Whitman was saying what many others have said. However, Whitman was one of the first poets of his kind and its possible that I am jaded by poets that are in fact copying Whitman. "The Sleepers" may be my favorite so far out of Whitman's poetry. In it Whitman becomes some sort of entity that moves from dream to dream, bedroom to bedroom, and shows the more personal side of dreams and souls. Whitman speaks of how our souls are connected through dreams and that when asleep, our empathy is most deep for each other. He also notes the diversity among humans with the variety of personalities he writes about. I personally feel that when Whitman is writing about the human soul he writes with the most clarity. The last poem I'm writing about is, "I Sing the Body Electric" . This poem is all about the connection of the soul and body and is considered one of Whitman's most controversial poems because of its "erotic" content. Its all about celebrating yourself and your body as a temple. Later on the a song from the movie Fame uses this title for one of the most well known songs in the movie. The song, like Whitman's poem is about celebrating yourself and in a sense just being the best you you can be.