October+6+2009+Book+Review

Author: George Orwell**
 * Book Title: __1984__

I would say that the climax is when Julia and Winston gets caught and goes to the Ministry of Love. This moment was the climax since it was when O'Brien's real identity as the Party spy was exposed and because it was when Winston started to get tortured. The major conflict was Winston's rebellion against the Party, wanting to find more about the Brotherhood. The resolution was kind of a dark ending where Winston gets released from the room 101 and sees Julia but no longer feels love towards Julia nor Brotherhood anymore. The type of plot was a chronological plot with events in a sequence. The setting was very interesting. Set in an imaginary nation called Oceania. The setting was kind of dark in that people weren't allowed to love, think, have sex, or show any signs of individuality. The Party, which is the main government of Oceania, has tele-screens, spying people everywhere. One major symbol was the room that Winston rents above Mr. Charrington’s shop. It's very dark and the old picture of the Church symbolized the free, old past that is buried under dust now. One minor symbol was Big Brother's picture on the posters all over Oceania. The big face actually symbolizes the Party spying on people all the time. Winston Smith is indeed a dynamic character. He changes drastically throughout the story. Protagonist Winston appears first as a rebellious pro-Brotherhood person but after torturing in the Room 101, he changes into a hopeless and powerless Winston. He no longer thinks about rebelling after multiple betrayals from people he trusted such as Mr. Charrington and O'Brien. He doesn't even have feelings for Julia afterward. Julia is kind of a round character and she acts like a foil. She does rebel against the Party just like Winston but she only rebels for pleasure, without any serious meaning or motivation. She contrasts with Winston especially at the end. The page I opened to is page 136 and 137. This is the scene where Winston looks around the room he has rented for his affair with Julia. He sees the rusty old picture of the St. Clement's Church, which represents the past, as well as the paperweight, which also represents the past. He then sees woman outside hanging her laundry up while singing, which I thought was a sense of having emotions, fun, and individuality, which is forbidden in Oceania. She kind of represented the lifestyle Winston wanted to live. The theme of going against the authority was kind of weakened in this section but the theme of nostalgia for the past is maximized in the descriptions of the run-down city and how he just wants to be trapped in the crystal paperweight with Julia forever. 2+2=5. Someone who hasn't read this book would just think the character is stupid. But that's because they didn't read about the totalitarianism in Oceania. After the brutal torture in room 101, the fear of getting shot, pain from betrayals, and small guilt of betraying Julia eats Winston up and he turns crazy. He no longer has the desire to rebel and he no longer has any hope of bringing back the past. 12/12
 * **a. identify climax, major conflict, resolution or denoument, what type of plot (see page of literary terms)**
 * **b. comment about setting**
 * **c. identify one major symbol and one minor.**
 * **d. discuss two characters. Label as round or flat, dynamic or static. Are they archetypal or foils?**
 * **e. Open to the exact middle. What page? Write one paragraph about how this one page relates thematically, symbolically,**
 * or other (just not all plot) to the rest of the book.**
 * **f. Tell me one thing other that really only someone who has read the book will get.**