Post 6

This week I finished my second book of the quarter, George Orwell's 1984. As I read on into this novel, I became more and more amazed. The novel, unlike many I have read, does not end in a way I could or did predict./*spoilers*/ Winston's rebellion against Big Brother is the main conflict of the novel. His initial rebellion, the thought "Down With Big Brother" is so small in today's terms, it serves to show the real depth of oppression in Winston's society since this something as small as a thought could not and is not controlled by any modern regime. This rebellion builds throughout the novel, moving from thoughts to actions such as buying a book from a black market, then to falling in love(an emotion heavily regulated by big brother). Eventually Winston and his lover, Julia, join what they believe to be the rebellious organization known only as "The Brotherhood". However, they discover it to be only one more crime deterring instrument of big brother and they are captured. Winston is brought to the Ministry of love, who's sole purpose is torture and punishment, and in a stunning 50 page series of events containing possibly the most philosophy and meta physical reasoning I have ever encountered in a novel, is completely obedient to big brother. The book ends with Winston sitting in a coffee shop and, upon hearing some fabricated peace of news about a presumably made up government military victory, breaks down weeping with happiness, managing only the words "I love big brother."