Kayla Hernandez
Stolen
By: Lucy Christopher
Gemma, 16-year-old teen, has a life of adventure and travel. At an airport she goes off to get some coffee before her flight. She leaves her parents at the gate to wait for her. At the coffee shop she isn't able to buy her coffee because of her money, and then this mysterious guy offers to pay for her. He asks to sit with her and talk to get to know each other. They sit down and he introduces himself, as Ty.
Gemma wakes up at the back of a building next to a dumpster and Ty is taking her clothes off, but she's all too drugged up to try to figure out where she is and how to stop Ty when she doesn't have the strength. Ty then covers her mouth with a cloth and Gemma slowly goes back to sleep. Next, "All I remember after that is the numbed-out jolt and sway of being in a car. The engine grumbled on, forever"(12). Then Gemma wakes up on a bed, feeling sore and sweaty, but still not aware of her surroundings. She eventually is able to make out a, "'Where am I?'" and the response is, "'You're safe'". This makes her more anxious and full of rage that she begins to yell at him for what he has done with her.
Gemma comes to find out that she is in the middle of a desert in Australia, where all she's surrounded by is red sand and an abandoned building. No signal, no one else to call for help, only Ty. As the days go by, she asks him why he brought her here, he tells her "'That's easy.' ... 'Company.''(30).
Ty treats her like she is a doll, a toy he wants to play with and free him of boredom. Trying to escape could put her in a lot of danger, so for now she has to go along with his plan until she familiarizes herself. I believe after having to spend so much time with this man and being the only way of communication, Gemma's feelings could changed from hatred to heart felt feelings, maybe love.
This is a scary topic of discussion, but unfortunately it's something some people on this world have had to go through. It brings some of that reality into a book to make readers aware of what could happen. I don't personally connect with the book, but it does make me aware of how things could change in the matter of minutes and what occurs in the outside world. How this world is full of evil and we always have to acknowledge our surroundings and make sure to be careful, because we can't trust anyone now a days.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
The Unsolved Case
Preeti Sharma
Far From You
By Tess Sharpe
Have you ever lost a loved one? Maybe a family or friend. Have you ever suffered through something as terrifying as a car accident? Maybe you know someone who has a drug addiction. Seventeen year old Sophie Winters has been through it all. At the age of fourteen she escaped a car accident which gave her a limping walk and an addiction to Oxy. At seventeen, Sophie and her best friend Mina, were confronted by a masked man. Sophie Winters is shocked and speechless as she sees Mina lying on the cold ground in the woods; a once beating heart, now stopped. The cops show up at the crime scene which looks to be a drug deal gone wrong, with the man in the mask gone and the blame given to Sophie. Everyone refuses to believe what is true: Sophie has been clean for months.
As she returns from the Seaside Rehabilitation Institution, she has the same goal that she has when she went in: To find Mina's killer. Sophie Winters struggles with every obstacle that comes in her way. With her bum leg, her parents afraid she'll relapse, Mina's brother, Trevor, not speaking to her, and counting down the days she's been clean, her determination for finding the murderer keeps her going. Sophie Winters is the girl with a lot of courage, love, and motivation. She turned her life around just for Mina. From quitting her drug addiction to finding justice in this unsolved case, she won't give up.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in mysteries. You see the story bounce back from the past to the present. It's full of suspense and very intriguing. The story pulls you in and is told in a lot of detail. I feel like it's relate-able to those who are going through a difficult time with the scenarios mentioned in the beginning.
Far From You
By Tess Sharpe
Have you ever lost a loved one? Maybe a family or friend. Have you ever suffered through something as terrifying as a car accident? Maybe you know someone who has a drug addiction. Seventeen year old Sophie Winters has been through it all. At the age of fourteen she escaped a car accident which gave her a limping walk and an addiction to Oxy. At seventeen, Sophie and her best friend Mina, were confronted by a masked man. Sophie Winters is shocked and speechless as she sees Mina lying on the cold ground in the woods; a once beating heart, now stopped. The cops show up at the crime scene which looks to be a drug deal gone wrong, with the man in the mask gone and the blame given to Sophie. Everyone refuses to believe what is true: Sophie has been clean for months.
As she returns from the Seaside Rehabilitation Institution, she has the same goal that she has when she went in: To find Mina's killer. Sophie Winters struggles with every obstacle that comes in her way. With her bum leg, her parents afraid she'll relapse, Mina's brother, Trevor, not speaking to her, and counting down the days she's been clean, her determination for finding the murderer keeps her going. Sophie Winters is the girl with a lot of courage, love, and motivation. She turned her life around just for Mina. From quitting her drug addiction to finding justice in this unsolved case, she won't give up.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in mysteries. You see the story bounce back from the past to the present. It's full of suspense and very intriguing. The story pulls you in and is told in a lot of detail. I feel like it's relate-able to those who are going through a difficult time with the scenarios mentioned in the beginning.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Survivals Tale
Isaiah Quinones
Lost in Shangri-La
By: Mitchell Zunkoff
There is nothing better then that of a strong independent woman breaking the gender barrier in our heavily masculine society that we live in today. "Girls cant do this", "Girls cant do that", with no true consideration for the great accomplishments woman have had in America and around the world. there is nothing better then a woman proving men wrong in the military, and if that excavates great curiosity in you then the book Lost in Shangri-la is the perfect book for you.
The book is all about survival, taking place in lucrative New Guinea during WW11 where the Americans brutally fought against hostile native tribes and the Japanese freshly kicked of the island with many guerrilla style warriors stay hidden among-st the vast jungles. To most this would be no place one would want to travel but for Margaret Hastings, this is exactly where she wants to be. As a woman looking to fight for her Country and break social norms, she finds her self a survivor along with Two other G.I.s in a plane crash in the middle of the vast jungle of the great island devoid of any chance of rescue.
This book is not for the light hearted. I would recommend it to most but it does have its flaws as well as the language is not as sophisticated as i had hoped for but overall it is a great novel. The book for me comes down to three major points as to why i enjoy it being: opposition to social norms, Survival, and Patriotism which really make this book stand out from other war time story like novels.
The first major reason i would like to address that makes this novel stand out above the rest is that of its great opposition to gender inequality and social norms. For Margaret Hastings, she stood out among her siblings as she always wanted to go and make a true impact on the war hands on. She joined the WAC in hopes to provide front line support that men saw not possible by a woman which she greatly blows out of the water. When offered special treatment she refuses to prove the point of independence as she is not without hard work proven where it says "Margaret spent nearly a year in basic training"(9). challenging all the stigmas for women in the 40's which gives this book its edge. Her survival skills in the jungle also support this greatly which i love and the author intended to make her into a heroine.
Another stand out reason for my passion of the book is the survival aspect of it. Being at first one of three to survive a plane crash, being the only women her grit and determination to survive is impeccable. Margaret is also very selfless as she exclaims "Wished that she before they left the crash site they'd said a prayer, built a cross, or laid some kind of marker for the twenty-one friends" showing just how much she cares for others. she takes risks for the better survival of her friends, and never sees a day where she gives up. This great determination in the face of eminent danger or death is what I believe truly sets Margaret apart from any other character and makes me love this book.
lastly the major thing setting this book apart from any other is Margaret's Patriotism which is something that can be loved by all. "WAC's were 'my best soldiers" because the worked harder and groused less then male troops" (11-12) As stated by General MacArthur showing just how important her role was overseas. Margaret never lost sight of her family and her country for which she served which makes me fall in love with this book. She fought valiantly for her life all for the American people as this was a highly published story giving hope back home.
This book is not for someone looking for complex text but rather the every day American looking for another reason to have hope. This book would also suit activists alike looking for innovative was to define gender equality. The book is best suited for the "war time story" category excelling in all critiques possible under this criteria. Lost in Shangri-La is by far the best war time story book i have ever read and i would highly recommend this to all who fall under the above criteria.
Lost in Shangri-La
By: Mitchell Zunkoff
There is nothing better then that of a strong independent woman breaking the gender barrier in our heavily masculine society that we live in today. "Girls cant do this", "Girls cant do that", with no true consideration for the great accomplishments woman have had in America and around the world. there is nothing better then a woman proving men wrong in the military, and if that excavates great curiosity in you then the book Lost in Shangri-la is the perfect book for you.
The book is all about survival, taking place in lucrative New Guinea during WW11 where the Americans brutally fought against hostile native tribes and the Japanese freshly kicked of the island with many guerrilla style warriors stay hidden among-st the vast jungles. To most this would be no place one would want to travel but for Margaret Hastings, this is exactly where she wants to be. As a woman looking to fight for her Country and break social norms, she finds her self a survivor along with Two other G.I.s in a plane crash in the middle of the vast jungle of the great island devoid of any chance of rescue.
This book is not for the light hearted. I would recommend it to most but it does have its flaws as well as the language is not as sophisticated as i had hoped for but overall it is a great novel. The book for me comes down to three major points as to why i enjoy it being: opposition to social norms, Survival, and Patriotism which really make this book stand out from other war time story like novels.
The first major reason i would like to address that makes this novel stand out above the rest is that of its great opposition to gender inequality and social norms. For Margaret Hastings, she stood out among her siblings as she always wanted to go and make a true impact on the war hands on. She joined the WAC in hopes to provide front line support that men saw not possible by a woman which she greatly blows out of the water. When offered special treatment she refuses to prove the point of independence as she is not without hard work proven where it says "Margaret spent nearly a year in basic training"(9). challenging all the stigmas for women in the 40's which gives this book its edge. Her survival skills in the jungle also support this greatly which i love and the author intended to make her into a heroine.
Another stand out reason for my passion of the book is the survival aspect of it. Being at first one of three to survive a plane crash, being the only women her grit and determination to survive is impeccable. Margaret is also very selfless as she exclaims "Wished that she before they left the crash site they'd said a prayer, built a cross, or laid some kind of marker for the twenty-one friends" showing just how much she cares for others. she takes risks for the better survival of her friends, and never sees a day where she gives up. This great determination in the face of eminent danger or death is what I believe truly sets Margaret apart from any other character and makes me love this book.
lastly the major thing setting this book apart from any other is Margaret's Patriotism which is something that can be loved by all. "WAC's were 'my best soldiers" because the worked harder and groused less then male troops" (11-12) As stated by General MacArthur showing just how important her role was overseas. Margaret never lost sight of her family and her country for which she served which makes me fall in love with this book. She fought valiantly for her life all for the American people as this was a highly published story giving hope back home.
This book is not for someone looking for complex text but rather the every day American looking for another reason to have hope. This book would also suit activists alike looking for innovative was to define gender equality. The book is best suited for the "war time story" category excelling in all critiques possible under this criteria. Lost in Shangri-La is by far the best war time story book i have ever read and i would highly recommend this to all who fall under the above criteria.
Lost Hope
Lost Hope
3/24/17
Cameron Egan
Night by Elie Wiesel
After spending a long time in the camps, Elie has found that his comrades and himself are slowly losing hope as the days progress. The conditions of the camps have gotten more grim as the years have passed, and the camp leaders have progressively gotten more harsh as well. Elie has witnessed a number senseless beatings on his comrades and has also experienced these beatings himself. Overtimes these beatings take both a physical and mental tole on Elie and his Jewish comrades. Their moral has dropped severely and they only fight to live on to the next meal every day. The next meal is all these imprisoned men seem to have their minds on. Even during the most grim times, their minds are usually on when the next meal will come. Although Elie came down with an infection in his foot and was able to receive adequate medical attention in the camp, the people he saw in the medical tent were not as lucky as him and were slowly dying because their sicknesses or injuries were too severe and were not going to be adequately treated. The doctors also wanted to treat the people who they knew had a much higher chance of surviving.
Elie is faced with a tremendous amount of adversity both physically and mentally throughout the novel. Through all the beatings, starvation, and illness, Elie is forced to try to continue his hope that once day he and his comrades will be liberated, even though his comrades have no hope at all. Most of his comrades have assumed that they are already dead, and they are just waiting for their day to come, and this challenges Elie's strong belief in hope.
After finding two Jewish prisoners trying to steal food, the camp officers sentenced them to death by hanging in front of the entire camp to send a message to everyone. This message did not really hit home with any of the prisoners because they were more concerned with when they would get their next meal, as Elie's friend said to him during the hangings "Do you think this ceremony'll be over soon? I'm hungry...."(59). This exemplifies how numb these prisoners are to all the death that surrounds them. Although a majority of Elie's comrades did not really care for the hangings, it was much to Elie's concern because he has continued his hope that things will get better, but the hangings and all of the death that continuously surrounds Elie significantly effects him. As Elie went to eat that night, he could not help but think of the hangings and he thought "That night the soup tasted of corpses."(62). Metaphorically speaking, Elie is thinking this to show his grief for his comrades who had died because he could relate to their hunger that drove them to steal the food. Also, another factor that helped drive hope out of the hearts of the Jewish prisoners were the false hopes that some of the guards gave the prisoners. One of the guards of Elie's cell block said "Everything went off all right. Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to anyone..."(69). The guard was talking about how he had talked to one of the Officers of the camps and was reassuring the prisoners under his watch that everyone was safe from the selection that lead people to their deaths. Unfortunately, what the guard said was too good to be true and ten of Elie's comrades were called upon for selection and a few were taken away to their deaths. There seemed to be no truth behind any hopeful word said to Elie and his comrades.
Elie has grown up quickly if his few years in the concentration camps, which he had to if he wanted to survive. The hope that he instilled in himself has seemed to him to be lost at times, but ultimately it is his hope that keeps him going everyday. Without hope, Elie would have given up on the first day that he arrived at the camps, but he has faced some sever adversity that has challlenged his hope. With no one else believing and hoping that liberation will come, Elie along will have to continue to push himself to reach that ultimate goal of liberation. Overall, Night contains themes of resilience and hope and although this is not a war novel involving the front line battle aspects of World War II, it does bring a whole different point of view of the war. I would recommend this book to fans of the movie Defiance and other fans interested in reading about WWII or the Holocaust in the perspective of a victim. This book is more of a quick read, so if you are looking for a more developed and detailed story, then this book may not be for you.
3/24/17
Cameron Egan
Night by Elie Wiesel
After spending a long time in the camps, Elie has found that his comrades and himself are slowly losing hope as the days progress. The conditions of the camps have gotten more grim as the years have passed, and the camp leaders have progressively gotten more harsh as well. Elie has witnessed a number senseless beatings on his comrades and has also experienced these beatings himself. Overtimes these beatings take both a physical and mental tole on Elie and his Jewish comrades. Their moral has dropped severely and they only fight to live on to the next meal every day. The next meal is all these imprisoned men seem to have their minds on. Even during the most grim times, their minds are usually on when the next meal will come. Although Elie came down with an infection in his foot and was able to receive adequate medical attention in the camp, the people he saw in the medical tent were not as lucky as him and were slowly dying because their sicknesses or injuries were too severe and were not going to be adequately treated. The doctors also wanted to treat the people who they knew had a much higher chance of surviving.
Elie is faced with a tremendous amount of adversity both physically and mentally throughout the novel. Through all the beatings, starvation, and illness, Elie is forced to try to continue his hope that once day he and his comrades will be liberated, even though his comrades have no hope at all. Most of his comrades have assumed that they are already dead, and they are just waiting for their day to come, and this challenges Elie's strong belief in hope.
After finding two Jewish prisoners trying to steal food, the camp officers sentenced them to death by hanging in front of the entire camp to send a message to everyone. This message did not really hit home with any of the prisoners because they were more concerned with when they would get their next meal, as Elie's friend said to him during the hangings "Do you think this ceremony'll be over soon? I'm hungry...."(59). This exemplifies how numb these prisoners are to all the death that surrounds them. Although a majority of Elie's comrades did not really care for the hangings, it was much to Elie's concern because he has continued his hope that things will get better, but the hangings and all of the death that continuously surrounds Elie significantly effects him. As Elie went to eat that night, he could not help but think of the hangings and he thought "That night the soup tasted of corpses."(62). Metaphorically speaking, Elie is thinking this to show his grief for his comrades who had died because he could relate to their hunger that drove them to steal the food. Also, another factor that helped drive hope out of the hearts of the Jewish prisoners were the false hopes that some of the guards gave the prisoners. One of the guards of Elie's cell block said "Everything went off all right. Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to anyone..."(69). The guard was talking about how he had talked to one of the Officers of the camps and was reassuring the prisoners under his watch that everyone was safe from the selection that lead people to their deaths. Unfortunately, what the guard said was too good to be true and ten of Elie's comrades were called upon for selection and a few were taken away to their deaths. There seemed to be no truth behind any hopeful word said to Elie and his comrades.
Elie has grown up quickly if his few years in the concentration camps, which he had to if he wanted to survive. The hope that he instilled in himself has seemed to him to be lost at times, but ultimately it is his hope that keeps him going everyday. Without hope, Elie would have given up on the first day that he arrived at the camps, but he has faced some sever adversity that has challlenged his hope. With no one else believing and hoping that liberation will come, Elie along will have to continue to push himself to reach that ultimate goal of liberation. Overall, Night contains themes of resilience and hope and although this is not a war novel involving the front line battle aspects of World War II, it does bring a whole different point of view of the war. I would recommend this book to fans of the movie Defiance and other fans interested in reading about WWII or the Holocaust in the perspective of a victim. This book is more of a quick read, so if you are looking for a more developed and detailed story, then this book may not be for you.
Run_program>Insignia_review.exe
Run_program>Insignia_review.exe
Sean McLaughlin
Insignia
By S.J. Kincaid
What if part of your brain was replaced with a computer? Part of your mind being replaced with a cold, unfeeling machine, thoughts being replaced by ones and zeroes. You would have any information you wanted at any time but at what cost? These are the some of the questions that Thomas Raines asks himself in Insignia by S.J. Kincaid.
Tom is a teenage boy that lives in a dystopian future of Earth where corporations have copyrighted everything, even the all of the world’s water and food supply are trademarked by two separate companies. World War three has erupted but is fought on Saturn’s moons with drones that are remotely piloted by people. Tom lives with his gambler of a father, Neil, and bounces around from different casinos gambling away all of his money. Tom often has to make bets playing games with people at the casino to get him and his dad a place to stay for the night. Tom hasn’t logged onto his virtual school in two months and is in danger of being taken away from his father. That is until he passes a virtual test in the form of a video game made by an army recruiter and is given the choice of joining the military at the Pentagonal Spire. To be able to pilot the drones in space someday, he must have a neural processor installed in his head which gives him a large dilemma. Does he give up some of his humanity for the chance to be somebody someday or does he go back to his dad and to being a nobody?
This book is definitely a fun time if you enjoy science fiction as it deals with lots of interesting things like virtual reality simulations and futuristic weaponry. You will probably like this book if you are in the mood for some intense moral questions such as asking if it is okay to forcefully scan through people’s memories or to hack their brains directly and give them viruses. Insignia also has some of the most believable teenage characters that I have seen in a long time. They talk much like how I would to my friends and react genuinely to the strange situations that they get put in (like gym class being a simulation but the main group of kids quickly figure out that if they die in the simulation they get to not do gym). What most surprised me about this book were the rather adult themes that are present such as ethical and moral questions and even bringing up the genocide of an entire city from a corporation. The book has some rather large anti establishment themes, Tom’s dad embodies these very well like the reason why he doesn’t have a job is that “You mean why haven’t I jammed my neck in the yoke of corporate servitude?” The anti establishment themes bring up questions about real life as what if in the future a company really does manage to copyright all of the water on the planet? How the war is fought is also an interesting topic, one of the characters describes the benefits as being “we avoid most of the consequences such as debilitating injuries, human deaths, disruption of infrastructure, and environmental contamination.” The book is set far enough in the future that it is interesting to see how things work, but is close enough to today that the themes still apply.
I would recommend this book to people that enjoyed any of the Percy Jackson books as the premise of Insignia is pretty similar. It revolves around a group of teenagers that are put in a strange situation but Insignia is more science fiction with a bit of history thrown in there. I would also recommend this book to people that like science fiction in general and are fans of dystopian futures. This book is also filled with very human characters with distinct and memorable personalities and flaws and if you are looking for that with a bit of a sci-fi flare to it, Insignia is a good book for you. Also if you enjoy video games to a good degree I would give this one a look, as its most comparable to Ready Player One but without all the gushing about how great the 80’s were. If none of these things sounded interesting I would advise you to avoid this book.
All the Weights of the World
The idea of being able to lift heavy things is something that has been present way before our time on the planet, the ancient Greeks who contributed so much to our modern day ideas and ideals. They also introduced the modern day idea that is lifting. The Greeks would hoist boulders and rocks and mules and just about anything that they could lift and try to prove themselves as the strongest men on the planet. They went as so far to wrestle each other they would go to wrestling gyms and cover themselves in olive oil and tie up there foreskin then they would wrestle in pits of dirt. They strived to jump the farthest and be the strongest, the argument can be made that it was much more competitive back then there was no second or third place. You were either the victor or the ignimonus loser. Today the paradigm has shifted from being the fatsest and strongest to looking the best and being the fastest and the strongest. The Greeks have set forth a precedent that has been totally devalued and discredited; the athletes no longer train the same anymore, they eat different and most would say that technology has advanced the way athletes think but if you ask me I think it it just general wits that have progressed is so far, the Greeks may have made bold proclamations about what they could hoist and heave but there is no way to actually prove they did so without a doubt. Today we have cameras, videos and replays which allow us to confirm amazing and one of a kind human feats. I believe that what this book attempts to do is give us perspective on what the ancient Greeks attempted to do and how the precedent was laid for athletes to follow. As idiotic as their method seems and how distasteful their training regiments may seem there is no denying that the example they set was one that all athletes build off of today. Furthermore the Greeks left a lot to be desired in terms of performance and means that they went through to achieve that performance. Modern day science has refined and retaught so many backwardsand generational malpractices in sports that it has left an entire generation with a host of health issues and bodily malfunctions.
The Rebels of Oceania
Danny Miller
1984
By George Orwell
I am amazed at the lack of awareness among the Party. Buildings are dilapidated, cities are in ruins, rations are decreasing and people are living with no shoes, but all anyone can think about is how great it is that the war is coming to an end.
Of course, there is no way to know if the war is actually coming to an end. There is no way to know anything, for that matter. Winston goes to work every day at the Records Department in the ironically named “Ministry of Truth,” where he alters documents, articles, statements, and anything that may be politically relevant, in order to align with what the government, and Big Brother, says, rather than what is factual.
The Ministry of Truth is just one of several ministries, all having names which imply the opposite of what they are. The Ministry of Peace, for example, deals with war. The Ministry of Plenty controls the rations people get, which are tend to be small amounts, such as the twenty grams chocolate ration. The Ministry of Love is in charge of Law and Order, or, in other words, torturing and killing people who defy the Party. They are all self contradictory, just like the Party Slogans:
“WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (4)
The contradictions are part of what makes this book a page-turner. When the author not only juxtaposes, but actually equates, things that are polar opposites, it gets the reader thinking, “Why don’t the people notice that the government is lying to them? Will they ever realize it? What will Winston do about it?”
Winston begins to gain a drive for rebellion, so he writes things in his journal that, if discovered, would surely get him executed, or, as Orwell calls it, “vaporized” (53). He also has a desire to defy the government’s views on procreational relationships, believing that sex is not just a “duty to the Party” (67) and that there must be a real connection involved.
It is precisely this type of defiance that makes the story intriguing. It foreshadows extreme conflict between Winston and the Party, and it begins to develop apprehension regarding Winston’s life. Everything he thinks and writes makes it evident to the reader that he is going to try to go against the Party, and perhaps to start a revolution.
I personally enjoy this book because it has encouraged me to begin to stand up for myself, which I am able to do under our government. The people in the society of 1984 must simply accept everything that comes to them, no matter how unfair or unreasonable, and this makes me realize the privileges that I have to be in a country where the people have many personal rights, a country where the media allows people to speak against the establishment.
It has also inspired me to stay more in touch with politics, since our government, at the moment, is in danger of moving toward semi-totalitarianism, with a leader who lies to his people constantly, silences people and groups of people he doesn’t like or agree with, and basically views himself as a king.
For this review, being my second one, I recommend George Orwell’s 1984 more now than I did in my first, as I am finding more reasons to enjoy it, and more possible lessons I can get out of it. I don’t just recommend it to people who are interested in politics; I would also recommend it to anyone who feels trapped, like they are unable to speak their minds for any reason, because I have a feeling that Winston is going to follow through with his thirst for rebellion.
1984
By George Orwell
I am amazed at the lack of awareness among the Party. Buildings are dilapidated, cities are in ruins, rations are decreasing and people are living with no shoes, but all anyone can think about is how great it is that the war is coming to an end.
Of course, there is no way to know if the war is actually coming to an end. There is no way to know anything, for that matter. Winston goes to work every day at the Records Department in the ironically named “Ministry of Truth,” where he alters documents, articles, statements, and anything that may be politically relevant, in order to align with what the government, and Big Brother, says, rather than what is factual.
The Ministry of Truth is just one of several ministries, all having names which imply the opposite of what they are. The Ministry of Peace, for example, deals with war. The Ministry of Plenty controls the rations people get, which are tend to be small amounts, such as the twenty grams chocolate ration. The Ministry of Love is in charge of Law and Order, or, in other words, torturing and killing people who defy the Party. They are all self contradictory, just like the Party Slogans:
“WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (4)
The contradictions are part of what makes this book a page-turner. When the author not only juxtaposes, but actually equates, things that are polar opposites, it gets the reader thinking, “Why don’t the people notice that the government is lying to them? Will they ever realize it? What will Winston do about it?”
Winston begins to gain a drive for rebellion, so he writes things in his journal that, if discovered, would surely get him executed, or, as Orwell calls it, “vaporized” (53). He also has a desire to defy the government’s views on procreational relationships, believing that sex is not just a “duty to the Party” (67) and that there must be a real connection involved.
It is precisely this type of defiance that makes the story intriguing. It foreshadows extreme conflict between Winston and the Party, and it begins to develop apprehension regarding Winston’s life. Everything he thinks and writes makes it evident to the reader that he is going to try to go against the Party, and perhaps to start a revolution.
I personally enjoy this book because it has encouraged me to begin to stand up for myself, which I am able to do under our government. The people in the society of 1984 must simply accept everything that comes to them, no matter how unfair or unreasonable, and this makes me realize the privileges that I have to be in a country where the people have many personal rights, a country where the media allows people to speak against the establishment.
It has also inspired me to stay more in touch with politics, since our government, at the moment, is in danger of moving toward semi-totalitarianism, with a leader who lies to his people constantly, silences people and groups of people he doesn’t like or agree with, and basically views himself as a king.
For this review, being my second one, I recommend George Orwell’s 1984 more now than I did in my first, as I am finding more reasons to enjoy it, and more possible lessons I can get out of it. I don’t just recommend it to people who are interested in politics; I would also recommend it to anyone who feels trapped, like they are unable to speak their minds for any reason, because I have a feeling that Winston is going to follow through with his thirst for rebellion.
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