Monday, July 6, 2009
" I am lying" True or false
I am lying. True or false? If somebody asks you that. You may get confused.
Let's evaluate the possibilities.
If the statement is true. Then the person who says this statement may be lying.So is he lying about him lying? Or is he just simply lying? Or is he lying about lying about lying?
If the statement is false, then he is not lying. But how do we know that he is not lying? This may in turn be affected by factors like how credible the person is, how sincere he is talking.
The ultimate question is true or false?
That is up to you to decide. Believe it or not.
ending
6:40 PM
When I compare this provocative story, it somehows reminds me of North Korea. North Korea is controlled solely by Kim Jung. In 1984, Oceania is controlled by Big Brother, and almost of all the citizens have been brainwashed to believe and submit unconditionally to Big Brother. Every move and thought is monitored by the Thought Police, there are the physical aspects of surveilance, which are cameras, and there are microphones and spies all around Oceania, which is part of the United Kingdom, Eurasia was Russia that conquered Mainland Europe, and Eastasia, which is basically the East, China, Korea. etc. There is also the psychologically part of survilleance, which are the children. The children are brainwashed into following big Brother, and they are encouraged to tip the authorities off about their parents or relatives having any thoughts of rebellion.
Winston, a Ministry of Truth worker, which ironically manipulates the truth and prints the false news on the newspapers, started to hate Big Brother, causing to write "Down with Big Brother" on his diary. He then falls in love with a co-worker, Julia, who fixes the Ministry of Truth's machines.
I often think that if Winston rushes into our classroom, it would be a flustered attempt to tell us about the deeds of Big Brother, how Big Brother is trying to manipulate the minds of the people of Oceania. It depends on which part of the story he visits our classroom. The above example may be when he realizes the Thought Police are gaining on him, and before he can finish his story, a whole group of men would rush in and pounce on him. This is when Philmann will start spamming the classroom with his "rofls", and the whole class will descend into chaos. But if Winston entered the classroom at the start of the story, he would talk about the marvel of Big Brother, how powerful and handsome he was. He would start preaching about how he would loyal to Big Brother, talk about how the Thought Police was monitoring everybody, about how he was a good citizen, and start to brainwash us. Thus we can see the possibilities what Winston might do in different parts of the story.
This story presuambly took place in 1984, but the citizens were so brain-washed that they did not even know the year. It is after World War 2, and the United Kingdom descends into civil war, forming Oceania. Russia conquers Mainland Europe, and forms Eurasia. China, Taiwan, Korea, the East form Eastasia. These three "countries" fight over the remaining land, forming and breaking alliances as they like. There had been a nuclear war between Europe, western russia and North America during 1945-1953. However, in this modern world, this would be quite impossible, because there is the United Nations. Any movement in military action would result in a whole-scale criticism, and if necessary, a war will break out. For example, if North Korea fired a rocket, which it is doing now, the United Nations and the other countries will start to criticise Kim Jung. After World War 2, countries in the story were probably in turmoil, and the economy was weak, and people were dying. When Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, the world was still in turmoil, and the leaders were probably very greedy and ambitious. However, the world right now is ruled by some leaders who are wise and disciplined. However, leaders like Kim jung and Fidel Castro are ambitious.
I think that the most exciting part of this book is when the shopkeeper who rents the room to Julia and Winston reveals that he is a spy working for the Thought Police. Winston is captured with Julia and he is tortured to "cure him of his insanity". He is then forced to his greatest fear-rats. The readers is kept in suspense as to what will happen to him. I was kept in suspense until he is brainwashed and returned to society. However, I think, for rebelling, he is sentenced to execution later on. Why I think this is the most interesting part is because George Orwell slowly reveals that the shopkeeper is a spy of the thought police, and since he knows the proceedings of Winston and Julia rebelling against Big Brother, the reader is surprised at this sudden revealation and is brought into suspense like what would happen next.
I think that the title of this book "1984" is quite suitable because the civilians do not know the real year, showing that Big Brother is controlling virtually everything. It might also mean that events of the story are not so far away as they might seem.
ending
4:30 PM
