1st Hour 1984 Scribe

Hey Everyone!
I'm scribing for April 11, 2007. This morning bright and early we greeted Mrs. Moritz with a smile.. We had much to accomplish today so we jumped into the quiz for the day. Our four presenters for the day, Dan E., Laine G., Matt F., and Tim C., provided us with the quiz. We then proceeded in "circling up" the desks for discussion.

Discussion:

Presenter Laine provided the inner circle with the first question up for discussion. He asked what the true meaning of honesty is in the society that Winston lives in. A connection was immedately made to a real life event of one of the inner circle members. The honesty in Oceania is similar to getting a homework check once a month in class. If you're not doing your homework for the first part of the month, you can fake it for that little amount of time. Paralleling to Winston's society, the homework check could represent the two minutes of hate. Or it could represent the constant lying that Winston feels he must oblige to. Another point was brought up the Party has no laws. In theory, there are no laws, so honesty techincally doesn't exist. Unwritten law sparked a new direction with the question at hand.


What is unwritten law? Is it in our society today? What are examples of them in Winston's culture? Our inner circle took a second to contemplate examples of this in the book. However, it made a strong connection to Mrs. Moritz who then proceeded to sit in the open chair and share her thoughts. She expanded on the question to some extent. What about things that we do not speak about in our society? It seems that teenagers are more willing to speak about drugs and alocohol to their friends rather than parents. Teens live in two lives, the one they lead at home and the one they lead around peers. A member of the inner circle added on to that thought. It seems like older siblings strike a nice middle ground. They are older and have been through more, yet are still trustworthy. This paralleled to "Big Brother" and the possible symbolizm of the name itself.


As the pervious question was in a way illuding to, the subject of teenagers emerged. Where have all the teenagers gone in the book? It was a mutual feeling that teens aren't talked about much, if at all, in the book. In the society of the book, there's really no room for a "rebellious" stage. There's no time to not agree with the Party. You are either a child and a "spy in training", or you are an actual party member. As the book portrays, the Parson children are accusing Winston of being the enemy. A connection was then made to the Cold War. Children would run around playing USSR and US, the equivilant of Cops and Robbers. 1984 as a book in general is reminding many students of the whole Cold War era. We are studing the 50s in history currently, so we are seeing many connections. The Red Scare and McCarthyism was mentioned in that the gov. is trying to make anyone appear guilty. It doesn't matter if they're innocent or have real convictions, the Party will find a way to make them guilty. This same priciple was present in the McCarthy hearings in the 50s. We then continued with the actaul concept of being a teenager. Is it an age group? Or is a teenager a person who is going through an awkward/rebellious phase? We ended this question by referring to the teenagers as the next generation of society. No matter what happens. the teenagers will be the future leaders in the communities. The older generation must keep that in mind when deciding how to treat the "spys in training."


Our discussion today focused a great deal on the Proles in Oceania. At first, there was a bit of confusion as to who the Proles truly are. They are 80% of the population who are so far below the rest of the society that the Party doesn't concern themselves with them. They are not educated enough to be a threat. The question that came up was if members of the Party can decide to leave and go live a life of a Prole. The answer that was concluded was no. If a member decided to leave, that would look all too suspicious. Techincally, they wouldn't be breaking any laws, since there aren't any. However, they would be accused of thought and there for prosecuted for it. The proles are not smart enough to know what their life truly is like. They party makes sure that they know enough to remain alive, that's it. So why doesn't the Party just kill them off if they are of no importance? Well, for one, they do make up 80% of the society. Even with all the great purges that have occured, it would be very hard to wipe out that many people at once. But also, they do serve a purpose. They are there to make everyone else above them feel better. They're a moral booster to those who may doubt in the Inner Party. After all, Proles and Animals are Free. Winston, however, feels that if a revolution will occur, it will occur in the Proles. He does know that they need a direction, an example. Our Inner Circle agreed that all fingers point to Winston.Then what would happen to Winston? he may become the next Goldstein. However, if he is vaporized, the revolution will not exist. They can't follow him if is dead. So many questions and so little answers!


The next question and rhelm of discussion surrounded Newspeak. What exactly is the purpose? It was fairly obvious to the discussors that Newspeak would eliminate all meaning of thought. Words will not exist, so there will means of expressing what they may feel. It, therefore, will not exist...sort of. This then related back to the Proles, would they speak it too? Or would they continue in their everyday lives? A connection was made that it would much like a scene in Finding Nemo. When all of the fish are trapped inside the fisherman net, one fish has the idea for everyone to swim down. If everyone participates, it will work. This is similar to the Proles. If they all resist this langauge, a revolution just might occur.


The final topic dissuced was Nature vs. Nuture. We discussed the ways of connection between people throughout the book. Is it better to be constantly loved and cared for? Or does being brought up in a harsh society create stronger people? The general concensis was that the children on Oceania are treated as animals rather than individuals who are loved. The nature that they are being brought up in will only be reflected when they grow up.


In general, our class did a great job today! I think I summed most of it up. There was a great deal of material covered today. It was tough to get back into the swing of things since we haven't had a fish bowl since last Friday. I am looking forward to reading further in the book and discussing more!

Peace, Martha

PS. It is Mrs. Moritz's daughter's birthday today! Happy Birthday Mackenzie!!



Question from Laine, Dan, Tim and Matt:
Why would Winston switch from hating the girl with the dark hair so passionately, to loving her instantly and changing his life outlooks right after receiving her note?