Journal 5: (Oceania was at war with Eurasia; Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia)

(Yeah, I guess there are spoilers here, but I feel weird having the obligation to mention it since this book came out in the 40s)

So, 1984. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog that I had started reading it, and oddly enough, it wasn't until maybe earlier this week that I picked up where I left off. That being said, after I started reading it again, I didn't stop, and I actually finished it. I read for something like 2 hours straight today, completely mesmerized. I'm still not entirely sure what I thought about it, but that's what these journal entries are for, right?!

First, what surprised (and impressed) me. Whenever somebody talks about 1984, they generally only mention the dystopian premise and the images/words that came from it - Big Brother, Newspeak, etc. What they leave out is how easy it is to become emotionally invested in the characters. I was expecting political intrigue and harsh allegory/satire; what I got was that and extremely well-defined and interesting characters that were far more than just tools to further any greater purpose. The book appeals to much more than just your intellect - you actually end up caring about Winston and Julia, and it's absolutely heartbreaking when they're both tortured to the point of submission. At the end, when it was abundantly clear that Winston had become an 'unperson,' I was legitimately angry and maybe even saddened. Sure, I knew the story could never end well, but this was particularly depressing in that it served to make Winston and all of his struggles, all of his thoughts, every bit of depth the book had given him completely worthless. Nothing is more depressing than seeing a character you like be made ineffectual and pathetic.

Remember this?

Don't get me wrong, though - I'm not comparing 1984 to the abysmal Star Wars prequels, because that would be a horrendous insult to the greatness of the novel. Plus, when it happens in 1984, it isn't hilarious like Vader's "nooooooooooooooooooooooo". Instead, it's deeply disturbing, and it makes you think about the true nature of The Party and what they're capable of. Certainly the book never implies that there is any end in sight to them, it in fact implies almost everything to the contrary, particularly in how O'Brien is written. Every single thing Winston thinks, O'Brien knows, and this just proves that Winston is not a unique case - again, this is pretty heartbreaking. It isn't until the end of the novel that you realize everything you just read, every aspect of Winston's story, was probably in the context of the story fairly common, and it makes him pretty expendable. Any attachment you had to him suddenly feels strange, and you come to realize that there was absolutely no hope for him - or any person - from the beginning. The Party is simply too powerful.

This emotional aspect of the story is definitely what got to me the most - that and the psychological, which dominates most of the third section. What didn't interest me was the political. Some people might think it's strange that I say I like George Orwell yet I don't care much for politics or international intrigue, but it's these people that drastically underrate Orwell's ability to forge interesting characters and relationships. Maybe there are millions of people out there who were profoundly affected by the very, very long excerpts from Goldstein's The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism (do you italicize fictional books?!), but most of it was uninteresting to me. I don't really care about the political situation regarding the 3 states or how the Party maintained such control - Winston said it himself, he already knew, all the book did was reaffirm his thoughts. To me it didn't really matter how the Party maintained control, at least not in such excruciating detail. What I cared about was motivation, action, and seeing the characters react to their situations, and 1984 delivers this quite gracefully.

I'm probably going to be thinking about 1984 for a long, long time. Few stories have so many facets to them that blend together into one really fantastic finished product, and few that can boast this are as interesting or readable. Don't be surprised if I journal about this one again - there's still a lot to say.