Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Genre: Fiction
Reading Experience: a challenging, yet fascinating read
Rating: *****
This book is a novel describing a future for the world. In this future, the government has complete control over the country, the people, and even their minds. The main character, Winston, is one of the few people in his life that does not believe that the Ingsoc government is a good thing. This story shows how a future where the government tries to make things look as though they are perfect, and doesn’t admit to anything being wrong, can definitely be negative.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

21 April 2010

1984

Dear Ms. Westfall, 21 April, 2010

I have just finished reading 1984 by George Orwell. This book is a novel describing a future for the world. In this future, the government has complete control over the country, the people, and even their minds. The main character, Winston, is one of the few people in his life that does not believe that the Ingsoc government is a good thing. However, he is forced to believe otherwise through something like mind control. This story shows how a future where the government tries to make things look as though they are perfect, and doesn’t admit to anything being wrong, can definitely be negative.

1984 reminded me a lot of a book we read in fifth or sixth grade, The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Lowry’s book is about the same sort of utopia idea of society, but isn’t as bad as Orwell’s. The two are alike in the fact that the government controls everything in society. From a person’s job to their mind, the person has little control over their own life. The Giver goes one step further to even control people’s dreams by giving them a pill at a certain age. The difference between the two stories is in the age of the main characters. Winston is about thirty nine years old wondering about the negativity of the government, while Jonas is a young boy about to receive his job for the rest of his life. The books are extremely similar, but because Winston is older and much more mature, it is easier to understand more important aspects of society, such as war between Eastasia or Eurasia.

Even though I extremely enjoyed reading Orwell’s novel, I feel as though I may not have caught the smaller aspects of the book. I understand the plot and some aspects of Orwell’s writing style but I feel as though most of the deeper themes went over my head. I understand the significance of creating a language using fewer words to control the minds of the citizens, but I’m sure there is much more in this novel that I did not catch. However, I still enjoyed reading this book a lot.

A historical lens would probably be a good perspective to consider when reading this book. The book was published in 1949, when the Cold War was going on. With this in  mind, it is understandable why Orwell would write a book describing the negative consequences of a totalitarian regime. This regime is another level of Communism, and the spread of Communism was the main factor of the Cold War.

The ending of this book was a surprise for me, in both a good way and a bad way. In the middle of the book, I almost expected for Winston and Julia to somehow overcome the horrors of Oceania. The ending was completely the opposite: the government got the best of the two individuals. I liked that the ending was something I wouldn’t expect. It just even more pushed the idea of to what extent the government’s power can go. The only reason I didn’t enjoy the end of the book is because the hero didn’t become stronger than the enemy.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

2 April 2011

1984

Dear Ms. Westfall, 2 April 2011

I am currently in the middle of reading 1984 by George Orwell. I  have only read two books by Orwell, this being the second, but already I see a theme in his writing styles. In Animal Farm, the story line was based around a farm in which the animals had to decide the best way to live their lives: working hours, rules, and a system of leadership. In this book, the world is based on a system where the government is able to find out almost anything about the citizens living in Oceania. Even those these stories are about different species, both are about ways of different leadership having power over others.

I find that one of the major aspects of Orwell’s writing style in 1984 is the irony surrounding the plot. As he introduces the reader to the civilization, there is so my irony in the organizations and their functions. The Ministry of Love is the best example of this. The Miniluv, as it is called in the local language of Newspeak, is the branch of the government that dealt with the rules and laws of the society. Love is a strange word to be in this branch of government because love is normally not such a serious word. When our society uses this word, it is always used in positive scenarios. However, the narrator describes the Miniluv as being “the really frightening one” (8) out of all of the other branches. Besides the Miniluv, there is the Ministry of Peace. This branch of the government deals with matters concerning war. It makes sense that the Ministry of Peace, or the Minipax, is the part of government that tries to achieve peace through war, however the name is still ironic. The names for the other branches of government are understandable: the Ministry of Plenty which handles the economy and the Ministry of Truth which manages news, education, etc.

What fascinates me about these types of books is the creativity that the author used to write with such detail about something so foreign. I find strange books like these so entertaining because it is not like anything I have been able to read or even experience before. In author classics, such as Pride and Prejudice, even though I never experienced the culture and social values displayed in the book, I can still imagine them easily. In 1984, it is a completely different scenario because the idea of “Big Brother is Watching You” (5) is just so different from my life. I like reading about the influence that the government and leaders of Oceania have over the rest of the society. In everyday things from where to buy goods and movies, there can be found evidence of the government’s influence.

Also, time is something interesting in this book. Time is something that does not seem to be too important. The narrator describes time as something that “was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two” (10). The main character wasn’t even sure of his own birthday; he wasn’t sure of the year much less the actual date. This shows the importance of the individual in Oceania. In our society, birthdays are days of celebration. In Oceania, birthdays aren’t even surely known, much less things to celebrate. My favorite part about reading this book is the level of depth the details go to make this a believable society. I can’t wait to see how Orwell continues the story.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

22 March 2010

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Dear Ms. Westfall,

I have just finished reading Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, by Edith Hamilton. This is a book that gives introduction, diagrams, and classic stories of the great Greek Gods. From the most powerful god, Zeus, to the seemingly unimportant  Amazons, Hamilton’s book covers everything of ancient Greek mythology. In one book, these tales cover the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as smaller and shorter stores such as The Quest for the Golden Fleece and stories of Perseus. The most interesting stories to me are stories of lovers. Cupid and Psyche, is one of the love tales that Hamilton explains. In this tale, Psyche is the most beautiful girl in the land. However, no one can fall in love with her; they can only worship her and wonder about her. She is forced to leave her family and find a home elsewhere. Psyche finds a castle where she is welcomed and treated to hospitably by a host that will not let her see him. Psyche and the host, who we later learn is Cupid, fall in love and become husband and wife. Even though Psyche has never before laid eyes on this mysterious man and yet she has given her life to being with him. Love is a strange thing in ancient Greece times. Whether it happens instantly, or without sight, in every story there seems to be an aspect of love.

Besides basic Greek mythology, Hamilton also has a section on Norse mythology. This type of mythology is a lot less optimistic as Greek mythology. In ancient greek myths, the gods are seen as great beings with fantastic and unending lives. This idea is turned around in norse tales. Gods are still seen as beings above humans, however these tales are of gods that will all eventually die fighting a hopeless fight against evil. Even humans are said to spend their lives in the end fighting the unwinnable battle against death.

An interesting aspect of ancient Greek times is the emphasis put on certain people. Of course gods and their descendants are seen as greater beings than humans.   However, another contrast seen throughout times is religion against the gods. When Odysseus returns from his long voyage from the Battle of Troy, he returns to a house full of suitors waiting to marry his beloved Penelope. After killing most of the suitors with the help of his son, Telemachus, Odysseus is left making a tough decision: whether or to kill the priest and the bard. In the end, Odysseus decides to kill the priest, but let the bard live. He does this because the bard has a connection with the gods through poems and songs. Homer was one of these bards and is mentioned constantly throughout the book.  In ancient greek times, anyone with a connection directly to the gods is seen as more important than others.

It is interesting how Hamilton introduces the various tales and sections of her book. Instead of having a ‘works cited’ section at the very end of the book, she writes about where her information came from at the start of each. As we look at annotated bibliographies for history research papers, this sort of reminds me of the criteria for our papers. Hamilton’s introductions explain where the information came from and gives a brief explanation of the tale to come. I liked Hamilton’s writing style. Instead of just rewriting mythological tales, it seems as if she adds her own style and flare to the classic stories. It might just be my love for the subject, but this was the most enjoyable book I have read this year.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York, NY: Warner, 1999. Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

12 March 2011

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

I am in the middle of reading Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton. This is a book that brings together the many different stories of Greek Mythology. From an introduction of all people and gods, to helpful diagrams of family trees, to stories of the characters, this collection of tales shows ancient Greek life and beliefs in a way that is interesting to the reader.

The power that the gods have over the mortal citizen is incredible. The stories are sure to distinguish between the power of the gods and the power of witches. A god has strength, the power of disguise, the ability to control others’ lives. One witch, Medea, had the power to help her love, Jason, in his trial to obtain the Golden Fleece. She used her magical powers to help him succeed, and when she needed to she was able to use these same powers to gain revenge. Giving an article of clothing to her enemy, she used her powers to set it and the wearer on fire. With an instant death, Medea had her revenge. Even though a god is more powerful, the abilities of the two types of beings are completely different.

What I find curious in reading about these past lives is how easily the people do things. They fall in love in a heartbeat; thus dedicating themselves to that person for the rest of their lives. Also, they forgive people for murder and betrayal after just a few words of persuasion. Finally, they agree to things in a matter of moments. Things sure were easier in a time when mythical gods ruled the planet. Another aspect of Greek life that interests me is the importance of hospitality. There are many rules to Greek hospitality. One of which is: “It was accounted great discourtesy to put any question to a guest before his wants had been satisfied” (129). Hospitality is extremely important to the citizens of ancient Greece or areas near by. The gods behave kindly towards those hospitable and harshly towards those cruel to guests. If these same levels of hospitality were still around today, things would be very different. Nowadays, one can’t come inside the house without being questioned; much less eat with the homeowners inside.

The names of Greek gods are seen all around New Orleans. Caliope, the muse of epic poetry, is the name of a street near downtown. Apollo, Zeus’ son, is the name of a ball that takes place during January. And of course, almost each big Mardi Gras parade uses a name of a Greek god. Endymion, a shepherd; Orpheus, a great singer; Muses, nine daughters of Zeus; Iris, a messenger of the gods; along with other parades are evidence of Greek mythological influence. Even outside of New Orleans there is evidence of the gods in our lives. The planets and galaxies each use a name of an immortal being. Andromeda, wife of the great Hector, is the name of a far off galaxy. Each planet has a name that corresponds with a planet. Mercury, Hermes; Venus, Aphrodite; Earth, Mother Earth; Mars, Ares; Jupiter, Zeus; Saturn, Cronus (Zeus’ father); Uranus, sky (Cronus’ father); Neptune, Poseidon; and Pluto, Hades. There is obvious evidence that Greek mythology still has an influence in life thousands of years later.

I have extremely enjoyed reading about the “monsters, mortals, gods, and warriors” of the book. This collection of tales teaches me not only about mythology, but about ancient Greek civilization. I have just gotten into the events leading up to the Trojan War. It is interesting reading about the war in this book and comparing it to Homer’s Iliad. Being able to read about it through another perspective, I look forward to seeing how the war progresses.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York, NY: Warner, 1999.

Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV AP

23 February 2011

The Reader

Dear Ms. Westfall,                                                                                          23 February 2011

I have just finished reading The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. This is a story about a boy growing up in a relationship with a woman that goes from sexual to one, to an unhappy one, to a pleasant and peaceful one. As a law student, Michael sits in on a trial that could potentially prove Hanna a murderer. With a long and terrible middle, the couple still manages to have a great beginning and end to their relationship. The death of Hanna at first angered me. However, the more I thought about it, the more I think it had to be done. Of what I understand, Hanna’s life ended very well for her. She was about to be freed from prison with a happy future set up for her, she had overcome her illiteracy, and she and Mikael had worked things out. Even though it ends with a tragic suicide, the final chapters of the book make it so that I am not angry at Hanna for killing herself or at Schlink for making it happen. In fact, I am happy that her life ended on a good note.

What interests me about this novel is the organization. The text is separated into three different parts. The first is the romance of Mikael and Hanna before she then disappears. In this part, Mikael slowly becomes developing into a man by thinking about other options besides being with an older woman everyday and doing badly in school because of it. The second is a long, excruciatingly painful trial where Mikael watches Hanna verbally tortured on the stand. In this section, he chooses to watch her being sentenced to life in jail for murder. The final section begins with Mikael attempting to justify his love for Hanna and trying to move on in his life. It ends with him thankful for his experience with her, and more than happy to help her in her future life out of prison. The plotline of this novel makes a complete circle. It begins with Mikael being in love with Hanna and wanting to spend time with her. The middle is about him being angry and almost spiteful towards his memories of her. Finally, it ends with him falling back into a pattern of fondly thinking of her. The sections of the story are not only based on levels of time, but the different phases he goes through when thinking about Hanna.

The ironic factor that I found in this book is to what lengths Hanna is willing to go for her social status. Instead of desiring for the world to see her as innocent and incapable of being the cause of so many deaths, she would settle for that instead of the truth. In reality, Hanna cannot read or write. She used to make young children of the concentration camps read to her, but not just to spare them from working to death. Hanna did this to be able to listen to someone read to her. Hanna would prefer go to jail for the rest of her life than for society to know that she is an illiterate woman.

This sort of shows that people take for granted the knowledge to know how to read and write. Normally, I wouldn’t think about how important it is to know how to form letters and words. However, as I write this letter right now, I am thinking about the text with as much focus as I think about the ideas. In this novel, the inability to read and write is seen as something to go to jail for the rest of one’s life. Hanna is shown as a character that fears the public’s view of her more than a lifetime rotting in prison. This just goes to show how important a good education is for one’s future.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Schlink, Bernhard, and Carol Brown. Janeway. The Reader. New York: Pantheon, 1997. Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

13 February 2011

The Reader

Dear Ms. Westfall,

I am currently in the middle of reading The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink. So far the story is about a fifteen year old boy who has just gotten over being ill with hepatitis for a long time. At first, he found pleasure in being with a woman in her mid-thirties. However, now the struggle is to decide on spending more time with Hanna, or spending his time with his new school mates. As he makes these decisions, mostly all in Hanna’s favor, Hanna takes the upper hand in the relationship.

Hanna is a character that I am not fond of. A fifteen year old being with a thirty year old, is different than a thirty year old being with a fifteen year old. A teenager thinks of it as a triumph to have a older woman want him. However, the older woman should not be looking for a teenager’s companionship. Hanna never calls Michael by his name; she always refers to him as “kid” (25). The character of Hanna, to me, seems to have alterior motives. On their vacation together, Hanna didn’t pay for anything and was treated by Michael. This relationship did have its positive outcomes, though. Michael started doing better in school because Hanna told him he had to if he wanted to continue seeing her. Michael did better in school than anyone thought he would.

I just read the first part of the story, but so far I can’t really tell where the story is going. In the first part, it ends with Michael thinking that he saw Hanna. Hanna treats Michael as both a lover, and almost as a child. Besides always referring to Michael as a kid, she treats him as someone inferior to her. Also, she doesn’t take baths with him, she bathes him. She tells him, “The tub is still full. Come, I’ll bathe you” (49). Just as a parent would bath a child, Hanna enjoys bathing Michael,

The writing style of Schlink uses lots of extended metaphors. When Michael is bringing up coal from the cellar of Hanna’s house, the author uses the metaphor of coke. For the next few paragraphs, Schlink describes carrying up the coal as “fetch[ing] the coke from the cellar” (23). The author mixes metaphors with details to create an interesting text for the reader. I have enjoyed reading this book so far, and I am looking forward to continuing to read it to see where the story will take me next.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Schlink, Bernhard, and Carol Brown. Janeway. The Reader. New York: Pantheon, 1997. Print.

Lindsey Baker

Westfall

English IV

2 February 2011

Fight Club

Dear Ms. Westfall,                                                                                          2 February 2011

I have just finished reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Throughout the tale of the main character’s journey in his life, there are a lot of events surrounding a central theme of an identity crisis. The main character says often that “I know this because Tyler knows this” (12). Tyler is the main character’s best friend and one who the main character depends on for certain things. Besides just admitting that he only knows things because Tyler does, the author also hardly ever uses his name. His name is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the text and no other character call him by name. He introduces himself to people using fake names. Also, in the text he will constantly say that “I am Joe’s” (114) and finish off the phrase with a body part. The main character doesn’t relate himself with a specific identity and is constantly relating himself with others besides who he actually is. Finally, the main character never uses quotations when he speaks, further showing his lack of identity. In the end, this makes sense as more of foreshadowing instead of a theme because of the plot twist. However, until then, all these tie together to form a theme of lack of true identity.

Tyler’s character, who as we find out later is actually another part of the main character, knows lots of random information about deathly chemicals. It surprises me that someone who lives in a dump of a house and doesn’t seem to have a steady job is so smart with chemistry and scientific objects. He knows how to burn someone’s skin and how to stop the pain. He knows how to make soap from fat sucked out of the rich. Besides this type of educational knowledge, Tyler also seems to know a lot about life. He tells the main character that one can only truly rise is if you’ve been down as low as possible. Tyler tells the main character many other life lessons like this.

In the end of the story, a lot of things begin to make sense. For starters, the fact that someone blew up the main character’s apartment, the explosive information that Tyler knows, and the bombing scene at the start of the book are all made clear when the reader discovers that the main character and Tyler are the same person. Maybe now, the reader knows that the main character was only partially lying when he told the police detective that he didn’t blow up his house. He, himself, didn’t blow it up. But perhaps he, Tyler, could have exploded it. As Tyler gets more and more confused with the main character, it’s slowly becomes visible that whenever the narrator didn’t use quotations to speak, it was because he didn’t have to speak. Also, when more people begin calling him “Mr. Durden,” which is Tyler’s last name, it’s clear that the confusion is getting stronger.

Palahniuk did a great job of setting up the plot in the beginning of the story, and tying it together in the end. Everything I noticed that what I thought was a part of an important theme was actually the author foreshadowing later events in the story.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Baker

Work Cited

Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1996. Print.