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THEME
May 17, 2010 10:39:51 GMT -5
Post by sgalle on May 17, 2010 10:39:51 GMT -5
When we talk about the theme of a work of literature, we are attempting to express some understanding that is communicated in the work. In the case of 1984, what would you say is a theme?
HINT: Please try to express the theme in a complete sentence, not as a single word. For example: a possible theme of Romeo and Juliet is not just "love" but "When love breaks boundaries, it ends in tragedy."
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THEME
Aug 24, 2010 13:31:17 GMT -5
Post by juanjpinto on Aug 24, 2010 13:31:17 GMT -5
" The way of manipulating the truth because of convenience, by erasing the past". This was the main theme of the book, by making the people of Oceania live in a whole lie. They altered newspapers, journals and even books to erase the past and have no history. There was one person ( Big Brother ) who ruled by methods of slavery and oppression, everything he said had to be done. What he predicted had to be right, and if it was not they would change it for Big Brother to be right. All the people had the power to easily forget things that have happened on the past and believed on what the higher chastity said. They had a set of rules that was established, they might not be fair but they could be in serious problems if they attempted to brake them. The truth was hidden making this society a dystopia.
Juan Jose Pinto
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apaez
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Posts: 8
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THEME
Aug 26, 2010 19:57:05 GMT -5
Post by apaez on Aug 26, 2010 19:57:05 GMT -5
I believe that one of the most important themes in the novel is "the importance and value of freedom". When I speak of freedom I refer to all kinds of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom to make your own decisions, and freedom of thought. In the novel, 1984, freedom is denied to citizens in every possible way. By using telescreens, the Party could control everyone's actions 24 hours a day, thus denying freedom of speech, or the freedom to make decisions. Citizens were forced to follow a certain pattern imposed by the Party. They had to be emotive during speeches and announcements, had to hate the enemy (either Euroasia or Eastasia) with all their hearts and they had to be extremely loyal to both Big Brother and the Party. Freedom of thought was also denied in Oceania. At the beginning of the novel, Winston says that only the few inches inside his skull belonged entirely to him and not the Party, but he was wrong. At the begging, the reader is left to believe that the Thought Police tried to avoid "Thought crime" by constantly using the telescreens, and young spies, but that in the end their method isn't completely efficient because people can still find ways to commit Thought crime. Still, as one approaches the end of the novel its easy to realize that the Party has found a way to manipulate people and poses their thoughts in such a way that by the end of the novel Winston Smith, who used to oppose the Party before he was captured and tortured, realizes that he loves Big Brother. As a reader, I was truly able to value freedom. Most people in Oceania couldn´t even remember what it was like to have freedom and they believed that a dystopian society like the one they lived in was perfect. They couldn't fight for a better future or for a more truthful society, for they didn't even have the freedom to acquire knowledge, only what the Party wanted them to know which wasn't always the truth. I believe that freedom is one of the most valuable things people can have, and to be left without it is absolutely unacceptable. While reading this novel I was constantly reminded of socialist countries like Cuba and Venezuela where citizens don't have the right of freedom and I am certain that even if they are provided with everything they need like food or education, none of this will ever replace the freedom they have been denied. After reading this book, I have realized that freedom is what makes human beings individuals. If we didn't have the freedom to make our own decisions then we would all be the same, like most people in Oceania who acted more like robots than humans, and I therefore now know that freedom is an essential part of life.
Ananda Paez
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apaez
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Posts: 8
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THEME
Aug 26, 2010 19:58:20 GMT -5
Post by apaez on Aug 26, 2010 19:58:20 GMT -5
I believe that one of the most important themes in the novel is "the importance and value of freedom". When I speak of freedom I refer to all kinds of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom to make your own decisions, and freedom of thought. In the novel, 1984, freedom is denied to citizens in every possible way. By using telescreens, the Party could control everyone's actions 24 hours a day, thus denying freedom of speech, or the freedom to make decisions. Citizens were forced to follow a certain pattern imposed by the Party. They had to be emotive during speeches and announcements, had to hate the enemy (either Euroasia or Eastasia) with all their hearts and they had to be extremely loyal to both Big Brother and the Party. Freedom of thought was also denied in Oceania. At the beginning of the novel, Winston says that only the few inches inside his skull belonged entirely to him and not the Party, but he was wrong. At the begging, the reader is left to believe that the Thought Police tried to avoid "Thought crime" by constantly using the telescreens, and young spies, but that in the end their method isn't completely efficient because people can still find ways to commit Thought crime. Still, as one approaches the end of the novel its easy to realize that the Party has found a way to manipulate people and poses their thoughts in such a way that by the end of the novel Winston Smith, who used to oppose the Party before he was captured and tortured, realizes that he loves Big Brother. As a reader, I was truly able to value freedom. Most people in Oceania couldn´t even remember what it was like to have freedom and they believed that a dystopian society like the one they lived in was perfect. They couldn't fight for a better future or for a more truthful society, for they didn't even have the freedom to acquire knowledge, only what the Party wanted them to know which wasn't always the truth. I believe that freedom is one of the most valuable things people can have, and to be left without it is absolutely unacceptable. While reading this novel I was constantly reminded of socialist countries like Cuba and Venezuela where citizens don't have the right of freedom and I am certain that even if they are provided with everything they need like food or education, none of this will ever replace the freedom they have been denied. After reading this book, I have realized that freedom is what makes human beings individuals. If we didn't have the freedom to make our own decisions then we would all be the same, like most people in Oceania who acted more like robots than humans, and I therefore now know that freedom is an essential part of life.
Ananda Paez
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THEME
Aug 28, 2010 13:06:32 GMT -5
Post by christianluna on Aug 28, 2010 13:06:32 GMT -5
I think that the theme of this book is -the powerful can even manipulate the truth and the freedom-. In the book, all the citizens of Oceania are opressed and control by the Party on the command of Big Brother. He is so powerful, so mean, and rules like an iron fist that no one dares to fight him. He is so powerful that he even controls the truth by replacing it by the lie. He controls the newspappers, the media, books etc. so he can write what he wants. There is no freedom for the people as they are to believe what Big Brother wants to believe. He destroys denies to the people to believe anything that isnt what his media says. He is so powerful that he even controls the past the present and the future. He re writes the books of history, he alters the media and the news, he even controls the people by creating the Thought Police. He is so big, so powerful that no one can even find evidence that he is wrong because he controls all the media and news. I think that the theme of this novel tries to tell us that the powerful, the big one can gain so much power that even he can control liberty. There isint any freedom for the people in Oceania, no one can make thier own decisions because there is a powerful one (Big Brother) that controls the people, thier thoughts and thier deciscions.
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THEME
Aug 28, 2010 13:08:10 GMT -5
Post by christianluna on Aug 28, 2010 13:08:10 GMT -5
Christian Luna
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THEME
Aug 28, 2010 13:36:17 GMT -5
Post by jonnykling on Aug 28, 2010 13:36:17 GMT -5
One of the themes for the novel could be futuristic dictatorship, because the way that the Party and Big Brother controlled the people was with the thought police, who where people who monitored common people´s thought in case there were any rebelions against the Party or Big Brother. This means that people couldnt even think about anything because they were being monitored. Jonathan Kling
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THEME
Aug 28, 2010 18:02:24 GMT -5
Post by mponce on Aug 28, 2010 18:02:24 GMT -5
There are many themes in this book, but I think that the most important is the dangers of totalitarianism. “Living with a totalitarian government can affect people intellectually, mentally and physically.” Throughout the entire book we can see that the author tries to show us how difficult is to live with a totalitarian government. Since people live in an environment that is surrounded by propaganda and fear, the party is able to control every aspect of society. They even change the past by altering every history book making their whole life a complete lie. The party eliminates everyone who is against it, creating fear. All the people who live there need to do everything for the party and believe everything that the party says to keep them alive. There people don’t know what is true or not. The party brainwash all the people of Oceania to make them believe everything they want. Many people aren’t able to control themselves so they believe everything even that torturing and murdering people is ok. The party is able to change people mentally intellectualy and phisicaly since they can control or do whatever they want. Maria Mercedes Ponce
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THEME
Aug 28, 2010 21:10:42 GMT -5
Post by palvarez on Aug 28, 2010 21:10:42 GMT -5
One of the main themes of the novel 1984 is " Every person has to have their own thought and fight for freedom". In the novel we see that Big Brother is in control of every body with his harsh rule. Along the book he uses the telescreens and spies to control every body. Big Brother and the Party brained washed citizens in Oceania and took their freedom and controlled their thoughts. Winston the main character was one that fought for his freedom and own expression and thoughts. He did that by rebelling and be against Big Brother. Winston had his way to be and hoped to be free. Along the book we people had forgotten to had their own thought and be free, instead they were depressed and sad. This made me think about the countries in the past like Russia that had a harsh way to rule like a totalitarian one. People have to see Winston as an example because in society people sometimes are oppressed and being controlled very harsh. So they have to fight for it and try to be free and have your own identity, don't lose it. Because every people has to have their own thoughts, identity, opinion, etc... and fight for it. Pablo Alvarez
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cus8
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Posts: 4
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 1:00:26 GMT -5
Post by cus8 on Aug 29, 2010 1:00:26 GMT -5
"The danger of totalitarianism toward world progress and humans individuality or humans happiness" during the time that the novel was being written, many totalitarian and Communist ideas were being born. Spain and Russia had really harsh totalitarian governments, and the cold war was getting more serious. The book was in some way written to alarm free countries how important was to maintaing there freedom and there democracy.
Orwell in the book make up the perfect totalitarian society, it is the most extreme image of a country with a government with absolute power. As we know the book was published in 1949 and the tittle is 1984, this is because the book tells and represents what will or could happen to the world and humans in the future.
We can see that in the book the government wants to have complete control over people minds. They want to manipulate people just to have more power. they want people to forget about individuality and differences among them. In this totalitarian city people are not allowed to be in love or feel friendship of need between them. They live to serf the government and to work for it. All of peoples ideals and feelings have been abolished. Orwell in the book make the contrast of what will be a human who lives in a free and democratic government ( him being Winston) and the other people being in a totalitarian country. He could see how Winston gets to feel love, pride, friendship, happiness, among other feelings. When other live a neutral and sad life.
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 13:37:36 GMT -5
Post by majosetorres on Aug 29, 2010 13:37:36 GMT -5
For me the most important and outstanding theme in the novel 1984 by George Orwell is the ability to control peoples mind with technology and the language. Technology is a basic weapon to control the Party members. People are surrounded by telescreens everywhere that control what they do and also use it as a way of showing the Party’s success to convince the community. For example, how the production of any product has raised or the defeat of a nation. Big Brother also designs a new language called newspeak which erases any word or thought that can be threatening to the Party and creates a new way of speaking that replaces English. This new language limits the people to think in any opposing idea so citizens will not be able to express rebellious thoughts because there are no words that can express it. Maria Jose Torres
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 16:58:00 GMT -5
Post by sofiasevilla on Aug 29, 2010 16:58:00 GMT -5
A theme of the book 1984 written by George Orwell is “the oppression of freedom in a totalitarian world”. Freedom is one of the most important powers that almost every human being has. In this book the society lives in a totalitarian world were the Big Brother rules the party and the people who live there don’t have freedom. They don’t have any kind of freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of choice, freedom as liberty. Because the party in Oceania have complete control of the people, when Winston start having second thoughts about his freedom taken away so the thought police controls him and denies him the liberty everyone should have. People don’t fight for their freedom in this book because they don’t know what freedom is and also because they are so manipulated and convince of the images and ideas they hear that they could not come up with their own ideas just follow what everyone says and does. George Orwell did this book with a communist idea because he was against it and so people could realize that freedom is one of the most valuable power we have and we can’t give it up and start acting the same way as everybody. Sofia Sevilla
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 17:56:52 GMT -5
Post by Jose Antonio Ponce on Aug 29, 2010 17:56:52 GMT -5
The novel 1984 could aboard several themes and messages’, depending on the perspective each individual interprets it. In my case the theme of this book is “the importance of freedom in every single person”, as the book tells, in Oceania in those times freedom was extremely limited by a sociopolitical Party that ruled the territory. Big Brother was the person who held the total power of the Party, therefore of the whole territory of Oceania. Freedom was being manipulated in such a way by the rulers that people couldn’t show their feelings, express themselves, reach their dreams, work for their own benefit, be in love, have a different opinion, and much more. This constant violation of freedom created an environment were people acted like machines without expressions, without happiness, that became slaves of one single man, Big Brother. The sensation transmitted in the book about this kind of world made me realize that people without freedom of thought, act and speech would never achieve their goals, dreams and overcome their fears; people wouldn’t have an identity a way of being, a personality that would differentiate them form others. It all comes to one single idea, freedom is the base of success were every human being has the liberty to decide to do what they want, what they like and what they belief in, and those things build up a human, not a machine. Jose Antonio Ponce
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rflor
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Posts: 5
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 18:31:26 GMT -5
Post by rflor on Aug 29, 2010 18:31:26 GMT -5
no not really ... i dont think thats the theme I believe there are many themes in the story. Several subthemes and some bigger themes which are been expressed in every chapter or action a character does or expresses. For me, the theme that most affected and made me stop and think of it was the search of humanity for a perfect world, a Utopia. Im not saying that they found it, becuase in our view a perfect world would be a place with no hunger (Winston got small and low quality food rations), no dissese (WInston had an injury in his leg which gave him pain and made him un able to do some activities), where everybody is happy and free (all persons on Oceania where under servailance) and where everybody found love (real love like julias and Winston). But thats a Utopia, here the story is of a distopia. Here theres low ration of food, but theres food for every one! There is dissease, but theres no fight for medicine or waiting in line for surgeries meanwhile people are dying due to them. There is love, towards big brother and relationships too! everyone has a partner, or at least has the opportunity of having one but with the purpose of reproduction rather than affection. No body needs money! no body is jobless! everyone has a spot in the community and works for the country whatever their intentions or believes are! a world where people know no better and will be happy with what theyve got! Ricardo Flor Blanco
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THEME
Aug 29, 2010 18:47:17 GMT -5
Post by juansebastian on Aug 29, 2010 18:47:17 GMT -5
I think the main Theme in 1984 is how Totalitarianism can manage to control peoples minds in such simple ways and get to determine how they live. The idea that Oceania people have is that they must follow everything said by the party. The three slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. And with simple propaganda of this three sentences they manage to confuse peoples minds and manage to control completely their lives.
So as Totalitarianism increases in people's minds they lack of individualism and become as a whole. WhatI think this theme expressed by George Orwell is saying is that how easily can a single person imposed by simple ideas, stop being that simple person but beggin to follow other and become as part of a same community.
Juan Sebastian Perez
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