Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Mrs Parson's children
The scene in the book where winston goes over to Mrs. Parsons house to fix her sink and the kids come up to winston and scream at him stands out to me alot about what kind of society the book is set in. In the scene the children yell at winston for being a thought criminal and a traitor and lept around him like "tiger cubs" and when the mom mentions the hanging that the kids didn't get to see the kids start screaming about that. To me it seems like while the adults are timid and nervous the chilren are much more loud and violent in the way they obey the rules of big brother and society. i think its because the adults sort of passively accept that they need to obey the rules of the society the children are active believers and followers to the big brothers ideals. they seem to be taught at a very young age to try and rat out adults that they think are acting against the rules and i think they try to do this at a young age because by the time they are adults this will all be drilled into their brain so much that no one will question athority and be very subserviant to whatever the higher powers want them to do.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
1984 thoughts
three themes that stand out to me in the book so far are rationing, paranoia, lies and all of these themes kind of mix together to create the overall theme of control.
in the discussion we had on monday i had mentioned how i felt there might be a correlation between 1984 and the great gatsby and i feel like no one quite understood what i meant by the reference. so to clear things up i wanted to explain my thoughts better with my blog! so the great gatsby isn't at all similar to the book 1984 HOWEVER there is a part in the great gatsby that talking about eyes on a billboard that look down onto (i think) the junk yard, and it was supposed to symbolize the eyes of god watching everyone. i thought while reading 1984 how it would be interesting if the books were written around the same time because both the authors seem to have a certain fear over all seeing powers. but they sadly were written about 20 years apart so my idea wasn't correct.
while reading i questioned how if they are constantly changing history and news and facts to support the government how do people not catch on and remember that on one day the paper said this but on another the paper said something different. Winston is aware of the lies but i think he is supposed to be due to the job he has in the story. but what about other people? do the proles ever realize the government is constantly changing and making up lies about things? my theory is that since there are thought police maybe the people who do not complacently accept the facts that are being published and told are vaporized because of their disoedience
in the discussion we had on monday i had mentioned how i felt there might be a correlation between 1984 and the great gatsby and i feel like no one quite understood what i meant by the reference. so to clear things up i wanted to explain my thoughts better with my blog! so the great gatsby isn't at all similar to the book 1984 HOWEVER there is a part in the great gatsby that talking about eyes on a billboard that look down onto (i think) the junk yard, and it was supposed to symbolize the eyes of god watching everyone. i thought while reading 1984 how it would be interesting if the books were written around the same time because both the authors seem to have a certain fear over all seeing powers. but they sadly were written about 20 years apart so my idea wasn't correct.
while reading i questioned how if they are constantly changing history and news and facts to support the government how do people not catch on and remember that on one day the paper said this but on another the paper said something different. Winston is aware of the lies but i think he is supposed to be due to the job he has in the story. but what about other people? do the proles ever realize the government is constantly changing and making up lies about things? my theory is that since there are thought police maybe the people who do not complacently accept the facts that are being published and told are vaporized because of their disoedience
Friday, October 1, 2010
Say no to GMO? or say yes..... hmmm
For those unaware of what GMO stands for it means Genetically Modified Organisms. And alot of our food today is genetically modified ranging from corn all the way to meat. I am not very well versed in the subject, however my hippie friend loves to discuss the problems with GMO. So this upcoming paper is a tribute to her.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/would-gmo-apples-by-another-name-taste-sweeter/?scp=2&sq=gmo&st=Search
The article above discusses how changing the description of genetically engineered food might ease peoples minds about consuming GMO products. They also discuss some of the benefits of GMO which I found refreshing since most articles talk about GMO as if were a blasphemous sin. Here are some of the benefits they mentioned:
1) genetically modifying the fruit would "reduce the need for antifungal sprays and allow consumers to purchase more locally grown fruit" (Thats good for the economy and local commerce)
2) adding genes to the fruit would prevent growers from having to spray the fruit, therefor reducing enviornmental impact
3)" apples grown in the Midwest are prone to a disease known as apple scab, and that by introducing a scab-resistant gene into the apples, scab could be prevented." (better looking and tasting fruit)
The articles below are also related to GMO and i have added them mostly for myself so i can publically bookmark them so they wont be lost. But you are welcome to look and decide for yourself whether to say yes or no to GMO
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/worldbusiness/03rice.html?ref=genetically_modified_food
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/09/22/genetically-modified-food-fishy-or-a-taste-of-the-future/?iref=allsearch
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/would-gmo-apples-by-another-name-taste-sweeter/?scp=2&sq=gmo&st=Search
The article above discusses how changing the description of genetically engineered food might ease peoples minds about consuming GMO products. They also discuss some of the benefits of GMO which I found refreshing since most articles talk about GMO as if were a blasphemous sin. Here are some of the benefits they mentioned:
1) genetically modifying the fruit would "reduce the need for antifungal sprays and allow consumers to purchase more locally grown fruit" (Thats good for the economy and local commerce)
2) adding genes to the fruit would prevent growers from having to spray the fruit, therefor reducing enviornmental impact
3)" apples grown in the Midwest are prone to a disease known as apple scab, and that by introducing a scab-resistant gene into the apples, scab could be prevented." (better looking and tasting fruit)
The articles below are also related to GMO and i have added them mostly for myself so i can publically bookmark them so they wont be lost. But you are welcome to look and decide for yourself whether to say yes or no to GMO
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/worldbusiness/03rice.html?ref=genetically_modified_food
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/09/22/genetically-modified-food-fishy-or-a-taste-of-the-future/?iref=allsearch
Free version of 1984 online
http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/0.html
If you haven't purchased the book yet do not fear! I have found an online version of the book, however it doesnt have the forward so you might want to borrow the book from a friend to read that.
If you haven't purchased the book yet do not fear! I have found an online version of the book, however it doesnt have the forward so you might want to borrow the book from a friend to read that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)