Friday, May 11, 2007

1984 First Thoughts

This is Shane and I am reading 1984 by George Orwell. So far the book is pretty good. It's about a futuristic society where everyone is constantly being watched. There are no laws but almost anything can be against the law, even if you just think it. The main character, Winston, is an average citizen of London in 1984. He isn't too thrilled about how the government is constantly watching everything he does and he occasionally will try and do things that are illegal (even thought there are no laws). He is reminded every second of his life that "Big Brother is watching him" by the propaganda like posters posted everywhere. So far this seems like a good book and I'm looking forward to see what is going to happen.

6 comments:

Jane McConnell Greenspun said...

How does this compare to today? Are we surrounded by propaganda?

Mrs. G.

Brandon said...

"There are no laws but almost anything can be against the law, even if you just think it."

I strongly agree with this because they're are also many consequences for disobeying or rebeling against this government, yet like you said, there are no laws. They aren't even allowed to THINK for themselves. That's pretty obnoxious because I'm pretty sure people have had those random thoughts that they shouldn't have, or they think something that they shouldn't say. But, if there is a government set up to read your thoughts like this one, then privacy becomes just a thought of something people used to have.

Brianna said...

Shane, I think that you have a very good summary of the first portain of 1984 but i do not get a very good feel of if you enjoy this book or not except for where you said "this book is pretty good". When you say that there are no laws I remember the quote freedom is slavery. I think that in this society everyone is "free" but always being watched and monitured. There are certain restrictions that the citizens have but still do not think twice about. For example the citizens are not allowed to write in diarys which Winston has started. Freedom is Slavery deffinatly is a quote that describes this society. Nice job Shaney!

Jessica =] said...

I also agree with your quote of " There are no laws but almost anything can be against the law, even if you think it." There are many bad things that can happen even if you just thikn of doing themje because there are the 'thought police." even though i dont really know what or who they are i know that they can ctch you if you think of somthing bad.

Will J. said...

This is Will and I am reading and commenting on Shane's post about 1984 By George Orwell. It must be horrible to live in the futuristic society depicted in 1984. To be watched by "Big Brother" all the time must be nerve racking to all the residents. Even the thought of rebellion could get you in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Hey Shane. I think it's a pretty good book too. It's a strange society. I personally would be annoyed if I couldn't even think without being in trouble with the law. As you keep reading you learn of other weird things that happen, such as Two Minutes Hate. It's a good thing our society isn't really like that.