Week 1

1984 by George Orwell is about a man named Winston who lives in a word which is under the power of a dictator that only goes by Big Brother. In every house there is a TV monitor that Big Brother can hear and see you with. The reason for this is to make sure that no one is planning to try to over throw the government. If anyone is caught breaking the rules they will be tried and killed, or forced to work in the salt mine.

Winston is in his a little over thirty and to a normal person sounds like he hates everything and everyone. Winston dislikes women because he thinks that they are annoying. This is one of the reasons why he isn’t married. He also dislikes kids. To him they are monsters that have been brain washed into thinking Big Brother is a God.

 He is wants to be and individualist but is scared that Big Brother would find out. Winston lives in an apartment with multiple flights of stairs which he has to climb every day; he climbs a few flights then rests and continues his way up. In his apartment his TV screen is located in a strange spot of the room so that there is a little spot he can sit without someone seeing him. They can still hear him but he likes that he isn’t seen.

One day Winston built up enough courage and broke one of the laws. He bought a book with no words in it, some ink, and a pen. He was going to use this book as a diary. Diaries are against the law because it is a symbol of individualism, and if you are an individualist you are trying to over throw the government. When Winston gets home he goes and sits in the space between the screen where he cannot be seen and stares at the book. He becomes nervous that he will get caught by someone but longs to write down what he is feeling on the paper. He takes a breath and starts to write. He writes about a movie he saw the other night about how women and children were killed by bombs and how people laughed and cheered at the scene. After he wrote that he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER four times.

I find it insane that people are not a loud to keep diaries. To me a diary is a way to escape from life and write down what I am really feeling without someone getting angry, hurt, or embarrassed. I understand that there are people out there looking to bring Big Brother down but that doesn’t mean people can’t have a diary. If our government ever got that bad I would want to fight back in any way possible so that I could have a little freedom. I am happy that Winston bought that diary and I hope he uses it more. Maybe it will make him a better person.