1984 pt4

After in an encounter in the country, Winston finally drops his suspicions that Julia was a spy, after they make love for the first time, he gets to know her more intimately when she reveals to him some details about her previous sexual encounters.

For the several weeks after their first time, WInston and Julia keep their relationship a secret, and only meet in secluded places when they are sure that they're alone.

Julia explains to him that the Party prohibits sex, to channel the citizens' sexual frustration into their intense worship of Big Brother.

1984 pt3

Later on in the story, Orwell emphasizes the importance of having knowledge about the past in order to fully understand the present, he also shows that the Party forces the citizens into lives of ignorance by controlling history, so that they rely completely on the Party.
One day, while walking around the office, Julia slips a note that says "I love you" to Winston; this confuses him a lot because he suspected that she was a political spy.
He eventually approaches her at a lunch table, and they sit together and talk discreetly, not to be noticed.

The staff of Serapis, and the son of Sobek by Rick Riordan

The Son of Sobek

The Staff of Serapis

I read two short book about the clash between the ancient greeks and the ancient Egyptians. These are  recent Egyptian-Greek novels of Rick Riordans.


The Staff of Serapis: When the Egyptian empire was eventually falling, and the greek empire was at its peak, one of the rulers of Egypt decided to 'create' a god who was both greek and Egyptian, in an effort to overpower the greeks. To create this ultimate god he took minor god and experimented on him. This god became know as Serapis, he would take the place of all the major Egyptian and Greek gods, but he failed as Egypt fell, which caused him to lose his power. This book is about two females heroines, each from different series of Rick Riordan, who meet and have a task of defeating this god before he gains to much power. I found this novel, reasonably fun, not much of a 'big read', but I learned about the mythology behind the fall of the Egyptian empire.


The Son of Sobek: The second novel that I read is also much about two heroes, one egyptian, one greek. These two heroes also star in the same two series as the heroines of The Staff of Serapis. Both working together to defeat a crocodile, who is the son of Sobek. (Sobek was the ancient Egyptian god of Crocodiles). These two books could be a lead for what Rick Riordan has planned next, and I am looking forward to it. Not for any other reason than the fact that I am intrigued by any kind of Mythology.

1984's Main Themes

Themes in 1984

The general theme in the novel totalitarianism. George Orwell managed to personally experience during the time when he was working in USSR and later Spain. Orwell thought that socialist countries striving to communism were totalitarian and therefore he was afraid that countries that take communism’s path would end up fully controlling their citizens. In the book, he wanted to portray a fully totalitarian nation, with the message that if totalitarianism is not sopped, this is how communist countries will be like. He expected this to be real in about 35 years, hence the title “1984”. He showed a government that was in control of everything a person does in his public as well as private life, including the human mind

One of the themes that made Winston, who challenged the limits of the party’s control to be in the state he ended up, was physical control over the body through torture. If somebody is not in favour of the ruling party, the party physically tortured them until the person would do and say anything at all the party wanted. After being tortured, Winston can see for himself that even true conviction and loyalty to whoever and whatever isn’t stronger than torture; nothing is.

Another aspect the party was part of was information jurisdiction. They were in control of the past and present (and the future If they wanted). There was a ministry, where Winston worked that actually specialised on changing and deleting history. So, anything the party ever said about history was by historical evidence, true. So, it is said, “By controlling the present, the Party is able to manipulate the past. And in controlling the past, the Party can justify all of its actions in the present.”

The party was also able to make you not only do and say what is said by the party, but through psychological changing, actually make you believe in it. This can even be done without physical torture; it is done partly through propaganda. For example, signs of Big Brother alongside other forms of manipulation such as 2 minutes hate, where citizens are forced to should hateful slogans towards pictures of the enemy. There are even organisation for minors which tell children to report anything they see such as the junior spies, which are the youth wing of the Thought Police. They even ruin basic relations within the families as children have more loyalty towards the party than their own party. Therefore, it is often for them to report on their own parents.

In fact, in the novel Orwell is trying to say that one of the biggest aspects of full control is the language as that is through what the mind thinks. The party created newspeak, which is a form of full control by the party. Words get reduced every day, making people only say what is necessary and eventually to have all their concentration and energy on the party. It will eventually be a language that has no questioning to the full control of the party. It also means the loss of culture, adding to the power of the government.

Finally, Orwell was highly concerned about the usage of technology throughout the world. The message was, that in communist countries, it gives the government more control, partly due to surveillance.  Examples in the book include the hidden microphones alongside the telescreens, which the party used to spy on people. It is also another source where the government may use propaganda and instead of being a positive source of information, may be a brainwashing machine.

So, as we can see the message the author is trying to send, is that totalitarianism doesn’t let people think freely. This is to let alone, the fact that people have to do anything the government tells them to. It literally makes people salves. Not only that, but it stops people from being humans, it is against humanity.

1984 pt2

Winston continues to be intrigued by the "real" past, although he must keep everything for himself because "thought crime IS death", so he tries to act as normal as possible.
So that the Big Brother is never wrong, Winston's job is to destroy and update past records to match them to present developments. Later on, he finds out that the Party is planning on reducing range of thought so that thought crime becomes impossible, and all rebellious thoughts stop. He remains suspicious about Julia, the dark-haired girl.

SECRET SCRIPTURE 12

I have gotten back the secret scripture and trying to finish the book. I am advancing to the end and finally have received some shocking facts that is having a big impact on the characters especially poor Roseanne. However I have still  not discovered the whole plot which can be quite frustrating. Dr Grene is getting worried as the demolishing of the Roscommon mental  building is coming close and most of the patients  "have " to be relocated. We get to hear about other people living in the building such as  a group of men who were soldiers some of them fighting in Congo, even though they are not mentally ill apparently they fall into the "detritus" of the system. This phrase being quite peculiar to me. I am starting to understand why it is so important for Dr Grene to know the reason behind Roseanne's administration into the hospital as the new facilities will not take everyone and how even this old me are being taken away from there home and relocated somewhere else. In the present Roseanne's health is deteriorating this is a sign for me that the book is coming to the end, however Roseanne is worried about what will happen to all of her books that she has so carefully and painfully written, this is another question we the readers need to take on board. Roseanne through out this book has not had the best life and from the moment that the readers got hope and excited about the prospect of Roseanne's good life it is taken away in an instant. I am discovering that women back then were treated as a commodity or an employe always having to be there on time and if a mistake were to arise the commodity was fatly and had to be taken care of. Fr Gaunt who is a priest has been disappointing me a lot, I am a christian and have always had faith in the church but if there are people like Fr Gaunt alive then there is something wrong. In my point of view he is a selfish, self absurd and mean priest which is ironic as the church is all about giving and being selfless. In this book he treats Roseanne life and emotions as a business deal or as an annoyance.

Animal Farm

Chapter 2:

A few nights after Old Major made his speech in the barn to all the animals he dies, and for three months the animals are left there planning and making preparations to carry out his dying wish; to overthrow Mr.Jones and to take control of the farm. The leading of all these preparations lies in the hands of Snowball and Napoleon, two pigs, who take care of business alongside a younger pig called Squealer. The animals on the farm find it hard to get used to the plan for overthrowing their master because he has born and raised as slaves. With the help of Boxer and Clover, two cart horses (Boxer is known widely for his strength), the pigs finally manage to prepare the rest of the "comrades" for revolution.

One day, the animals decided to rebel against Mr.Jones and his men. Mr.Jones had been drinking with his neglected and lazy men and had forgotten to feed the animals, the cows, who were craving food, broke out and went to break into the food storage. Mr.Jones came down and started whipping the cows, which enraged the rest of the farm animals and caused a revolution; horses, pigs, donkeys, sheep, all started to pile out and soon enough managed to drive the humans away from the land. Surprised, after their immense success, they decided to run around the fields in a victory celebration as if to make sure no human trace was left. After having galloped triumphantly around the plot, they come back and burn all of the evidence of their slavery: chains, whips, even Boxer's hat that kept the flies off during the summer, everything had to go.

They sang "Beasts of England" all night long until they were too tired to carry on any longer. The next day, the pigs taught the rest of the animals how to read and write and Snowball replaced the "Manor Farm" sign with "Animal Farm".

The Maze Runner... Part 2

I have read a couple more chapters since last time i posted in this blog. After Thomas has spent a couple of days in the glade, Minho, a runner. Arrives back from a day running in the maze with news. He tells Ably, Thomas and the others about a dead Griever (Scary monster) he found in the maze. Ably and Minho go into the dead maze to retrieve the dead Griever. Although as the sun started to set and the door were seconds from closing there was still no sign of Minho and Ably. But then the doors were inches from closing Thomas saw Minho carrying Ably towards the closing doors. Thomas races through the tiny crack left in the doors and into the maze. The doors slam shut behind him.


Minho is pretty mad that Thomas broke the number one rule and ran out into the Maze. Ably has been stung by a griever, who was only playing dead. Because he didn't make it back into the Glade by sundown, he won't be able to get the Serum and will most likely die. Minho runs off into the maze leaving Thomas and Ably alone. During the night Thomas gets attacked by many Grievers. Towards the end of the night Thomas finds Minho and together they trick the grievers to fall of a cliff. When they get back to the Glade, Ably is still alive and they give him the serum. Thomas also becomes a runner for the Glade.

Im really enjoying this book! Also i cant wait to find out more about the maze and the creatures inside it.

1984 character brief general overview

Characters in 1984

In the book 1984, there are various interesting characters. Their importance and status varies. I picked a few of them to discuss general brief character overview. The choices were base on their importance within the story itself as well as how interesting they are.

The main character of the book is Winston. He is a low ranking member of the party, but in reality is strongly against it. He is attracted to Julia, however their love must be kept secret. His dream is to create a revolution against the government.

Julia is Winston’s girlfriend, who he didn’t like at first, as he was afraid that she would report him to the Thought Police if she found out about his secrets. However, one day she passed him a note confessing her love. She enjoys having sex and admits having sex with numerous members of the party. She also dreams of a revolution, but for entertaining, rather than moral or intellectual reasons.

Syme is a highly intelligent man, who is in favour of the party. His main goal is to promote Newspeak and always tries to convince Winston of why it is so good. He is working on a new edition of the dictionary. Winston thinks he too intelligent, meaning the party probably sooner or later will murder him.

O’Brien is a very powerful member of the party. Winston suspected that he was a member of The Brotherhood, which is supposed to be a rebel group. However, it turns out that he pretended to be one in order to find out Winston’s secrets and turn him into the Thought Police. He is also the main figure when torturing Winston.

Big Brother is supposed to be the leader of the party and the Head of State of Oceania. However, he never appears in the book. Winston considers the possibility that he doesn’t exist and is just being used as an icon for the party. Wherever you go, there are pictures of him with a notice “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” referring to his totalitarian regime.

Emmanuel Goldstein is another character that doesn’t appear in the book. He is supposed to be the founder and leader of the opposition party and rebel group The Brotherhood. When O’Brien pretends to be a member of The Brotherhood and is asked by Winston whether he exists, the answer is “ofcours”. However, when he is asked after we find out he is a party member, Winston doesn’t give a direct answer.

Mr Charrington as the owner of a store that sells things that was already used. He is old and is along with Winston interested in the past, when the Party wasn’t in power. He seems to support the revolution against the party as he is in favour of Winston’s relationship with Julia and even provides the couple a room without a telescreen where they spend their private time. However, it turns out that he was a member of the Thought Police…

Parsons is a neighbour of Winston and a member of the party. He has a wife which, to Winston, seems rather dull. He also has children who are in the Junior Spies club. Parsons has numerous suspicions about Winston, including that he is in opposition to the party.

In conclusion, it must be said that the aim was not to give too much information in order for my articles to be read in more interest. I was correct about how these characters are often different, despite this being a totalitarian community. However, when identifying these characters, I realised that there are also similarities

1984 character further analyses

1984 Characters, Further Analyses

We read the story from Winston’s point of view. He is not brain washed and the world therefore seems much more terrible than if the story was from another citizens point of view. Through his point of view, we, alongside Winston learn about the main aspect of the party – mind control. Winston writes a diary, which in our eyes challenges the powers of the party. So does his affair with Julia as well as joining the opposition Brotherhood party. He dos this because he wants to express in some form that he wants to be free from the party's oppression and so after writing the diary, he thinks the police will find out. This later makes him not care too much about doing illegal actions (although technically nothing was illegal as there was no official laws, there were de facto rules instead) such as trusting both Mr. Charrington along with O'Brien. When Winston is in jail, we find out that the police and the state were surveilling Winston for the past few years. Under this regime, Winston often keeps giving himself false hope, knowing what exactly he is doing.

Julia is the only character we know that supports The Brotherhood. However, she doesn't do it for morale views such as Winston, she does it for her entertainment and unlike Winston, doesn't thin about it too much and tries to make her life as best as she can. Rather, than rebelling, her main concerns are having set and not getting caught by the party. Winston knows their relationship will probably not last long whereas Julia has no plans of finishing her pleasure and enjoyment. 

After it is reveled that O'Brien actually tricked Winston that he was a member of The Brotherhood,

he is the main figure involved in the torturing of Winston. However, unlike other characters about who we fin more and more about through the book, there is stronger sense of growing mystery about O'Brien which is what makes him such a mysterious and very interesting character. We assume that he actually believes in the party's ideology, as Winston claims to sense it in his tone. In fact, the novel keeps O'Brien as a character we will never really know.

Great Expectations

I've been reading a lot and managed to read 8 chapters since the last time I wrote! And I finally reached the part where the truth about who is the "sponsor" of Pip (who is the one who is paying in order for him to become a gentleman) We realise it is the convict who the main character helps in the beginning. This is a big plot twist in the book as everything so far has made us believe that it is Miss Havisham who is sponsoring Pip. ( It wasn't that shocking for me as my sister read the book before and spoiled it for me...)

I also wanted to talk about my favourite character in the book so far. I would say that this is Joe, the blacksmith who is taking care of the Pip in the beginning of the story. This is because he is very modest, selfless, kind and generous. His love for the main character is shown even in the very first chapters, where he never argues with Pip, but treats him as an equal and most importantly as a friend. He is put through having a horrible wife (Mrs Joe) just because he really cares about the boy and doesn't want to leave him. Even when Pip is at his worst, is ashamed of home and treats everyone from his family and friends as if they are on a "lower level" than him, because they are poor, Joe still stands by him and supports him. Even when the boy insults him, Joe accepts it silently and never shouts at him. This makes me feel sorry for him, because he is ready to do everything for someone who is ungrateful and treats him badly.

"Torn" by Amanda Hocking

I have really advanced with my book and its getting better and better. Wendy has been kidnapped along with her brother Matt and Rhys, and strangely Finn hasn't come to rescue her as expected. Finn is her tracker so he is supposed to constantly know where she is or if she is in trouble, and usually always comes to her rescue but this time he didn't. Which makes me think that he has somehow been attacked and he is being held hostage somewhere. Wendy is really worried and tried to use her persuasion on the guards at the prison but it didn't work as she still needs training. After a few hours she was released and she met Loki who is in charge of keeping her safe until she is ready to meet the King of the Vittra who is the king of all the evil Trylle, the same ones who attacked her and kidnapped her. She finally got to meet him and the King explains that he is her father and that he and Elora were together for a very short while to unite the two kingdoms. It didn't work out and ever since they were enemies, Elora gave Wendy up to another family though Oreon, the king wanted to raise Wendy and be a family. So Oreon told Wendy that she had to make a choice about which kingdom she wanted to rule, and he wouldn't release her friends until she had had a really good look at his kingdom, so therefore black mailing her. Wendy doesn't really know what to believe and all she wants to do is save her friends and live a normal life. Although she seems to be growing closer and closer to Loki, he seems to be intrigued by her and she finds him very attractive but she still has extremely strong feelings for Finn. I am really enjoying this book, the love triangles and plot twists. I can't wait to read more! 

I have started reading a new book All quite on the western front. It is a good book about the war and it shows how the Germans were running out of men in the war and wanted a cease fire. They stopped fighting on the 11th of November at 11am. I think it is a very good book so far and it is a good book to sum up this theme of WW1.

Dreadnought: Iron and Blood

Hey there! Peter here! So far, I personally thought that this part of the book is very interesting.
 The unification of Germany became successful because of the growth of industry and railways. Germany started taking part in the European politics more and more. Most of the German success were achieved by a very famous German political figure: Otto Von Bismarck

Otto Von Bismarck

For 28 years (1862-1890), the greatest German tactician and politician since the Middle Ages dominated European politics through force and diplomacy. He was the key man to revolutionised Germany one of the greatest powers in the world. Bismarck's greatest gift was intelligence. He was the most skilful politician of his time. His perseverance ushered Germany into a new age, the 'Age of Bismarck'.

Bismarck was made Chancellor of Germany by William in 1862. At that time in Berlin, there was a quarrel between the King and the parliament about military policies. Bismarck came and solved out the problem and united the German politicians. On September 22, the climatic meeting between Bismarck and Kaiser William I took place at the summer palace of Babelsberg. The king told Bismarck that he had trouble dealing with Military policies. Bismarck replied that he will help out by being in charge of domestic and foreign affairs. He explained the the Budget Committee why the king must be allowed to make decisions about the army by giving a famous speech: "'Germany does not look to Prussia's liberalism but her strength... The great question of the day will not decided by speech and resolutions of the majority - that was the great mistake of 1848 - but by iron and blood.'"

Bismarck gained his fame when he provoked the Austrian government in 1866 by saying that he will create a new German constitution from which Austria will be excluded. Austria knew that war is imminent. On June 15, Prussian troops marched through city-states saying that Prussia will declare war on them as well if they resist.
When war broke out, Europe predicted the defeat of the Prussians and a victory to the Austrians. Prussia attacked Austria (population: 35 million) with 300,000 soldiers. The Austrians were waiting with 500,000 and 1,500 artilleries. Both sides collided in a bloodbath but suffered heavy casualties. However, the tides of war turned when the Austrian army started to retreat in the afternoon. The following days later, the Austrian Empire surrendered and the Prussian troops marched through Vienna. Austria was forced to give up land to Prussia.

The Austro-Prussian war

Bismarck became even more famous when he defeated the French in 1870. France feared the Germany will become too powerful so they declared war on Prussia. The French soldiers yelled 'à Berlin!'. Like the French stereotype, they surrendered after a month after a humiliating defeat at Sedan on September 1. The German surrounded Paris with rings of artillery. Bismarck was lenient on France and let her go. His objective was political not military. The French were ordered to give provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia. The Europeans thought of Germany as a 'nation of conquerers and destroyers'.

The Franco-Prussian war

I am reading a book called: The Way's of shadows by Brent Weeks 

This book so far has proven to be intriguing and the use of vocabulary is good. This book is about a boy who wishes to join a group of assassins and in doing so is apprenticed by the 'ultimate' assassin. In the book there are two parts of town, the dump: where there are horrible things like brothels, slavery and a lot of death. And the rich part of town, where all the aristocracy lives, but even there murder and crookery take place. So far I really like the book, it's opening up my imagination and is employing great vocabulary which will hopefully help my next essay!

Animal Farm

I have decided to stop reading Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton as I found it quite difficult do understand, and I didn't enjoy that style of book and the style of writing because I kept having to look up words on most pages, which made it challenging to read and to comprehend everything.

The new book that I have decided to read is Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Chapter 1:
One night, Mr.Jones (the owner of the farm and of all the animals from the farm), stumbles back to his bed drunk and forgets to lock up all of the animal's farm building's properly. When Mr.Jones' lights go out, all of the animals from the farm pile up into the old barn to hear what Old Major, a boar who is the wisest and most respected animal on the farm, has to say. Old Major feels that his life is coming to a close as he is getting quite old and he wants to share his intelligence and his wisdom that he has acquired over his long lifetime.

He tells them the thoughts that he has had in his lonely stall over the years, and what he is basically saying is that the animals of the farm live short, miserable, laborious lives. They are born as slaves, work until they can work no longer, they are given just enough food to keep them breathing and working and eventually when they are useless they get butchered and sold as meat. Even if they aren't given enough food, Old Major says they live on rich soil, and there should be plenty of food for everybody and there should be no reason for the animal's misery. He blames everything on the humans that steal everything from them- eggs, milk, foals, etc.- and they give nothing in return of the hard labour that the animals have to go through.

Old Major then goes on to tell the animals the dream he had; where animals could live without the tyranny of men, where the animals are free to do as they wish, where the animals are fed enough food and treated with dignity. Old Major tries to convince the animals that this is a possibility that is achievable, but that they have to work together realise this dream. They then go on to dispute and argue if rats should be treated as comrades, and Old Major explains that any creature that walks on four legs is a friend and on two a foe.

He then explains that once they have defeated the humans they must not obtain any of their habits; they must not wear clothes, drink alcohol, engage in trade, touch money, etc... He then teaches all his fellow animals "Beasts of England", which explains the ideal life of the animals, they sing it proudly until Mr.Jones fires a shot and all the animals return to being quiet.

Great expectations

I am very happy as I am starting to go through the book a lot more quickly and I am thinking of finishing it by the end of the December holidays. The story is becoming more interesting and I start to find out more details about the different characters. I am not going to summarize the story for you as I am not sure if you are following what is happening and how interesting it is for you. I just wanted to say that I am enjoying it a lot and I recommend reading it. I am going to be writing another post shortly descibing the characters, but now I just wanted to give you my opinion on the book.

"Torn" by Amanda Hocking

Torn is the sequel of Switched and I'm addicted already! I've only read about 10 pages so far but its amazing! It picked up just where I left off with Switched and I can't wait to find out about what happens to Finn and Wendy and if they will get back together or not... Finn can have very big mood swings from sweet and kind to distant and cold, but when he is with Wendy he is the best version of himself and I think that they truly belong together! I can't wait to read more!

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

By James Dashner

I started reading “The Maze Runner”..

Thomas wakes up in an elevator with no memory of his past other than his name. He discovers that he is in the Glade. The glade in full of young boys, it is run by Ably and Newt. Outside the glade is a giant maze. Inside the maze there is terrifying monsters like the Grievers. The boys are stuck in the glade trying to stay alive as well as trying to escape the maze by running through it. Then, a day after Thomas's arrival, a girl is delivered through the elevator into the Glade. She is the first girl to arrive in the Glade, When she arrives she starts mumbling strange words and then lapses into a coma. Thomas has a feeling like he knows her but keeps it to himself. 

So far this is a really great book, I'm enjoying it a lot.  It is very exciting and interesting. I cant wait to find out how the story ends.

Oblivion

I have finished 4 books in the POWER OF FIVE series and i am reading the 5th and final book, i will be starting it this week and i hope to finish it before christmas. The series is really interesting and i hope everyone else tries it out. 

The new book is called Oblivion

"Switched" by Amanda Hocking

I have now finished my book! 
It was amazing and I loved reading every single page of it! I was hooked as soon as I picked it up. The ending of the book was amazing and a bit of a cliff hanger. Wendy's christening day was arriving and everybody was helping her get prepared for it especially Finn. At a rehearsal dinner Elora told Wendy that at the christening she would have to change her name, obviously this was a bit of a problem for Wendy. So she begged Elora to keep her name but she wasn't getting anywhere so Finn intervened and stood up to Elora. This caused Finn to leave, as Finn was packing Wendy barged into the room crying begging him not to go, she also expressed all her feelings for him. Finn told her that he had feelings for her too and that's why he quit, Elora didn't fire him, he then also told her he loved her and he kissed her. Wendy was so stunned by the kiss she forgot what she was talking about and he left. The day of her christening arrived and everything was going ok though Wendy was still heart broken and she missed Finn. All of a sudden there was a huge attack on the palace, and Finn came back to save her, after the attack, Finn kissed her again and they spent the night together though nothing happened. What Wendy didn't know was that this was Finns last night and that she would never see him again. The following day she planned with Rhys, her changeling, to leave and go meet her old family which was in reality his real family. 
The book ends with them arriving at Wendy's old house. I am about to start the next one and can't wait to find out what happens!!!!