"He dreamed a great deal all through this time, and they were always happy dreams. He was in the Golden Country, or he was sitting among enormous, glorious, sunlit ruins, with his mother, with Julia, with O'Brien--not doing anything, merely sitting in the sun, talking of peaceful things"(275).
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Thoughtcrime is the worst possible thing someone could even commit against the part. At least that is what is taught and accepted. The mind of the people of Oceania is the property of the party and you would be vaporized if you believed otherwise. This meant that if you thought of things that the party doesn't want you to think about, you are disobeying them and misusing their property usually ending is your demise though vaporization. It is understood by me and hopefully all my classmates that this idea of controlling someone's mind is awful. However, most people, if not all people, have thoughts they keep to themselves. These thoughts can be either within the guidelines allowed by the party or against them. Thinking of things like the Golden Country and the happiness that Winston wants is against the party. This means that you are committing thought crime for thinking about happiness. Absurd right? Well it is, but it is what it is.
Winston has always disliked that fact that he can not think for himself without being punished for it. So as we have read this novel, the whole of Oceania is portrayed as completely negative and the flames of hope and happiness that lie within it are quickly being extinguished. The reality is that this is true and Oceania sucks. Well it does, but that is when you are so caught up with all the negative, that you forget all the positive (although most positive thoughts are punishable by death). According to the quote, Winston has found happiness in his dreams and even when thinking about his dreams. He thinks about the good things like his mother and Julia. This small yet definitely positive things are completely disregarded by Winston and even the readers since they are so caught up in the negative.
In addition for Winston's freedom of thought in his dreams, at least in his cell, there have been so many other little sparks of positive throughout the book (excluding the factor of legality). For example, the fact that Winston and Julia had found a "secret sanctuary" that made them so happy for so long is a positive. Yes it wasn't really secret and yes it did come to a sudden and dramatic end but it did bring them happiness for some time. Another thing you can look at is all the stuff the Julia had snuggled into their "sanctuary". Those goods that they enjoyed were once in a lifetime thing and although didn't last long, certainly brought some joy into their live. All in all, using this quote, I was trying to point out the fact that in all of the darkness we have know to be Oceania, there have definitely been some sparks of light.
Winston has always disliked that fact that he can not think for himself without being punished for it. So as we have read this novel, the whole of Oceania is portrayed as completely negative and the flames of hope and happiness that lie within it are quickly being extinguished. The reality is that this is true and Oceania sucks. Well it does, but that is when you are so caught up with all the negative, that you forget all the positive (although most positive thoughts are punishable by death). According to the quote, Winston has found happiness in his dreams and even when thinking about his dreams. He thinks about the good things like his mother and Julia. This small yet definitely positive things are completely disregarded by Winston and even the readers since they are so caught up in the negative.
In addition for Winston's freedom of thought in his dreams, at least in his cell, there have been so many other little sparks of positive throughout the book (excluding the factor of legality). For example, the fact that Winston and Julia had found a "secret sanctuary" that made them so happy for so long is a positive. Yes it wasn't really secret and yes it did come to a sudden and dramatic end but it did bring them happiness for some time. Another thing you can look at is all the stuff the Julia had snuggled into their "sanctuary". Those goods that they enjoyed were once in a lifetime thing and although didn't last long, certainly brought some joy into their live. All in all, using this quote, I was trying to point out the fact that in all of the darkness we have know to be Oceania, there have definitely been some sparks of light.
I agree with you in stating that the thought crimes that got people in trouble were very absurd. I think you did a very good job in breaking this passage down because you give good reasoning for your claims. Throughout the text I also noticed that there were moments of happiness, although most of the moments were full of darkness.
ReplyDeleteI do think that it is horrible that the party controls and denies inner thought. I like your correlation with the quote; the happy scene that he is thinking about shows that in his mind he could be happy if he were free. I like how you mentioned some examples of how little bits of freedom made him happy for a short time.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that even the mind of Winston is being owned by the party and there is no escape from the party. Even a notion of thought that goes against the party, like you said, such as happiness can be the end of the person because they are essentially disobeying. I can't fathom a world that is just filled with darkness and little to no happiness it's just inhumane.
ReplyDeletei really enjoy how in depth you go when talking about the lack of escape from the party and i find it completely upsetting the part controls every aspect of everyones life. you are 100% correct in this analysis and i will back you up until the end
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