Native Son pg. 141-163 "We can get ten thousand dollars" (144).

I chose this quote because it shows how stupid Bigger really is. It seems so bizarre to me that Bigger is trying to make money off of murdering Mary. Most people would feel so blessed to get away with something horrible that they did and put it out of their memory. Of course, Bigger does not realize that he should quit while he is ahead and focus on avoiding being caught instead of putting Mary up for a ransom. I understand that Bigger may need the money, but that is why he got the job in the first place. It makes no sense to me why Bigger keeps returning to something that could get him in a ton of trouble if her were caught.

Will Bigger be caught because he is trying to make more money?

Native Son pg. 94-140 "And now that he had killed Mary he felt a lessening of tension in his muscles; he had shed an invisible burden he had long carried" (114)

I chose this quote because I think it shows how confused Bigger really is on the inside. I would think that Bigger would feel a little more tense than he already was before he killed Mary. It is still shocking to me that even though Bigger is a little insane, he feels the way he does about murdering Mary. I think that Bigger's invisible burden is his hate towards white people and how they are treated so much better than he is. When Bigger killed Mary, he was finally able to release all of the hate filled up inside of him after all of those years.

How can Bigger act so calmly even though he could be caught at any minute?

Native Son pg. 78-93 "She was dead and he had killed her. He was a murderer, a Negro murderer, a black murderer. He had killed a white woman" (87).

I chose this quote because I believe this shows how Bigger finally blew it. All his life Bigger had done some stupid things, but nothing compares to this. By killing a white woman, there was no way he would go unpunished. Bigger could have just brought Mary into her room and left right away and maybe could have gotten out undetected, but, of course, Bigger stuck around and got himself into moretrouble than ever before. I think it is especially important in this quote to notice how he calls himself a black murderer because if he had killed a black woman, he would still get in trouble, but there would not be as much importance as killing a white woman.

How will Bigger be able to get out of his difficult situation?

Native Son pg. 54-77 "At the moment he felt toward Mary and Jan a dumb, cold, and inarticulate hate" (67).

I chose this quote because I think it shows how Bigger is very insecure and is uncomfortable with white people. Here, Jan and Mary are being nice to Bigger, but Bigger has never had a white person act this way towards him before so he is unsure of how to respond. Bigger initially felt that they despised him because he was black and that they were somehow making fun of him by being nice to him. I think Bigger has a right to feel this way towards white people because he has seen white people acted poorly to black people and he must keep his guard up at all times when dealing with white people.

Why does it seem that Bigger does not trust Jan?

Native Son pg. 31-53 "This was not his world; he had been foolish to in thinking that he would have liked it." (44).

I chose this quote because I think it has a true meaning in almost everyone's life. In our lives, we face difficult challenges everyday that we do not want to deal with. Bigger's challenges are even more difficult than ours. Being in such a bad situation that he is in, it is hard for Bigger to be happy with his life and he obviously gets frustrated all the time and takes it out on his family, friends, and white people.

Why did Bigger abuse Gus in the poolroom?

Native Son pg. 3-30 "Bigger, sometimes I wonder why I birthed you" (8).

I chose this quote because I think it is an example of how much Bigger is discriminated against. In his own country, Bigger is treated poorly because he is black, but it is more shocking how his own mother and sister both yell at him a lot. It may be because he is rather rude to his family or because he is not eager to get a job. In spite of those reasons, I would think his family would show Bigger some compasion especially since they are in such a difficult situation with race. I think they should try to stick together instead of coming apart from one another.

Why does Bigger's family treat him poorly?
Why does Bigger try to coax Gus into robbing the shop if he does not want to in the first place?

Kevin McAdam
English 10 Honors/ Mr. George
3/19/09
1984 Paper


1984
The key aspect in determining if someone is a hero or a failure is determined predominantly in performance. If someone sets out to accomplish a set of goals, they are tagged with the term hero or failure simply based on whether or not they were able to realize those goals. In the case of Winston Smith, he had several lofty goals to destroy the party which he failed to complete. The vision of Winston as a failure comes from the reasons explaining that Winston was not an average man in Oceania, the reasons why Winston was not a hero, and how the party broke Winston physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
One of the objectives of the party is to create a society in which all the population consists of average citizens. In Oceania, an average citizen completely believes in all of the concepts of the party. Average citizens never revolt because they never have a reason to revolt against the party. Average citizens have no goals for success because they believe the party is perfect and have no will to promote themselves in life. Winston Smith was not one of these people. Winston believed taking down the party was what was right. Winston’s goals, which average people do not have, were to destroy the party so that everyone may be free from the everlasting chokehold it has on the city. In addition to that, Winston's job was to change events of the past to make it seem as though the party was always right, which was not average. Being so irregular in his lifestyle and beliefs, it is obvious that Winston wanted to be something other than an average citizen. Winston had such a strong desire to destroy the party that it is clear that he was trying to be the hero that would one day accomplish his goal of freedom. Winston made the wrong decision to be a hero and defeat the party because he ended up a complete failure. Winston’s failure came because Winston did not have the characteristics of a hero. A hero must be fearless and Winston showed many frights he had in the story, including rats. Also, Winston’s main goal was to defeat the party and he was unable to do that so he must be considered a failure. Another reason Winston is a failure is because he swore that he would never betray his secret girlfriend, Julia, and he eventually did which makes him seem very weak as well as a failure. In Oceania, the party decides who is a hero or a failure based on how it reflects upon them. Winston would not be considered a hero because he went against the party. Winston let himself be broken by the party and if he was a hero, he would have stood up to the party instead of backing down. Even if he had died, he could have been considered a martyr. Unfortunately, when he gave up what he believed in, he gave up his honor at the same time. Winston was basically just someone who could have easily settled in and been happy as an average citizen of Oceania with no problems at all, but he decided to be extraordinary and failed. Winston was just one man going up against what is seemingly an entire army with its job to break people like Winston and stop them from thinking against the party.
It was not only Winston’s fault as to why he became a failure. The party played just a big a role because they were the ones who broke him and made him believe in the party’s concepts. The party eventually broke Winston in almost every way imaginable: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The party was able to break Winston spiritually by breaking him physically. In order to make Winston believe in the major concepts of the party, they tortured him and starved him until he was ready to cooperate. It is very poor how easily Winston gave up all of his own beliefs so quickly to follow the party because if he really was a hero, he would have held out longer for something he truly believed in. The party had an easy time breaking almost anyone spiritually because those people that do not have a very serious belief in what they were doing would be broken quickly in order to stop the torturing. However, breaking Winston emotionally took a little more time than breaking him spiritually. Breaking Winston emotionally was harder because he held the things that meant most to him in his heart and he did not want to give them up so easily. Winston had realized that he would not be able to defeat the party, so he just bought into and eventually believed the concepts of the party, but giving up Julia was something he really did not want to do. Besides the fact that he loved her and she loved him, Winston had said he would never betray her if had gotten into such a situation. The party knew that it would be difficult to complete this final task, but they would eventually do it by turning back to breaking Winston physically to get what they wanted. When Winston faced the rat cage, we truly see that he is a failure. Winston sacrifices everything he had ever believed in or cared about in room 101. We see Winston’s true feelings in this quote: “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” (Orwell 286). In this one quote we see a huge reason as to why Winston is a failure. Winston is a failure because he let the thing he thought was the worst thing in the world drive him away from who he thought was the best person in the world. Any hero would undoubtedly stand up against their biggest fear in order to do the noble thing and Winston did not do that. Winston’s true beliefs were tested in that dreadful situation and he failed to answer the call in a big way.
The vision of Winston as a failure comes from the reasons explaining that Winston was not an average man in Oceania, the reasons why Winston was not a hero, and how the party broke Winston physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Winston’s actions in the story hardly compare to those of a hero in any book or movie, and Winston cannot be compared to an average citizen of Oceania. Winston is truly a unique character who failed to establish his goals against the party and in the end, was a failure because he gave up in his attempt to take down n the party.

1984 pg. 274-298 "It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it" (278).



I chose this quote because I think it finally shows Winston's true side. All throughout the book I never really thought Winston had totally bought into going against the Party and I thought he could have flip-flopped at any moment. Winston finally did here and I am not so surprised because he is supposed to be the example of a common man in Oceania. A common man naturally goes with the flow, and in this case the flow is going with the Party, so going against the Party would be rather difficult for an ordinary person. I think that here, Winston just stopped trying to be the hero that would help overthrow the Party.

torpid- having lost motion or the power of exertion or feeling
capitulate- to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms.

1984 pt. 3 ch.3 "The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the goods of others; we are interested solely in power" (263)

I chose this quote because I think it displays the motives of the Party and how they are only looking out for themselves. The Party is only interested in gaining power so they do not have to worry about other people's needs. If the Party has complete control over everything, they can choose who they help and everything that happens so gaining power is their primary concern. By enforcing their ways upon the people of Oceania, the Party gains more control and can enforce their ways even more creating a cycle of gaining power for the Party.

solipsism- the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
despotism- exercise of power

"He had the feeling that O'Brien was his protector, that the pain was something that came from outside, from some other source, and that it was O'Brien who would save him from it"(250)

I chose this quote because it shows how Winston is really a coward on the inside. I was not so surprised that Winston folded so quickly and agreed with everything O'Brien said because throughout the story he was hesitant to act against the party. Winston did whatever he could to survive no matter what he had to say or do, and that proves he did not care about going against the Party. Any martyr is willing to die for what they believe in and that is clearly not the case here. Winston is a liar because he said to O'Brien that he was willing to lose his life in order to overthrow the Party, but his actions say otherwise.

delude- to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive
ruffians- a tough, lawless person; roughneck; bully

1984 pg. 218- 239 "But that was merely an intellectual decision, taken because he knew that he ought to take it. He did not feel it" (238)

I chose this quote because I think it shows how Winston truly feels about Julia. The fact that deep down Winston would not want to save Julia says to me that he does not love Julia like he says he does. I find it strange that although Winston has acted for so long that he was in love with Julia, he would not stick up for her in such a difficult situation if he had the chance. I had though Winston was an honorable person, but I do not knoe what to think of him now.

perturbed- to disturb greatly

sanctimonious- making a hypocritical show of religious devotion

1984 pg. 201-218 "The key word here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary" (212).

I chose this quote because I think it is a great example of the Party. I immediately noticed that the Party is just like the negative meaning of blackwhite. The Party often says whatever they want regardless of the truth. Also, the Party will do whatever it takes to change the truth to what they say is the truth. On the other hand, I thnk the positive meaning may be positive in Oceania, but in the real world, it has a negative meaning. This meaning is only positive for someone because they must say black is white and follow the Party's orders or else they will be killed. However, in the real world, agreeing with whatever someone else says is not a good thing, and it is not a good thing anywhere. The people only follow it because it is their only way to survive.

Apex- the highest point

Expropriated- to take possession of

1984 pg. 185-201 "Meanwhile no Inner Party member wavers for an instant in his mystical belief that the war is real, and that it is bound to end victoriously, with Oceania the undisputed master of the entire world" (193).

I chose this quote because I think it relates to the conversation at O' Brien's flat where they said that the Party can do anything to them, but can never make them stop loving each other or believe what the Party says. I think this quote is an example of people who were brought into believing what the Party said no matter what. This quote displays the loyalty of those people to the Party, however, for most of them, it is false loyalty because they are only doing it in order to survive.

inimical- Adverse in tendency or effect
drudgery- dull, irksome, and fatiguing work

1984 ch. 6- pg. 184 "It appeared to Winston that a long time passed before he answered"(173).

I chose this quote because I think that it shows how Winston might not care about Julia so much. It was very obvious that Julia adores Winston when she immediately rejected being apart from him. Winston showed hesitation in his answer and seemed nervous to announce that he wanted to stay with Julia. I think that this insecurity may become a bigger issue later in the story.

intermittent- stopping or ceasing for a time
sordid- meanly selfish, self-seeking, or mercenary.