(1984) - Reading Journal 1

1984, a book by George Orwell, opens up with an explanation of who Winston Smith is. He works for the totalitarian party in charge except for he's a pretty low rank. His work is to write history to make Big Brother and the Party look good. The Party is in complete control of what people are doing and what they see and hear. The only thing the Party does not have absolute control over is people's thoughts. Winston is the character who begins to interpret what he is seeing and feels a rebellion. He hates the Party. Orwell opens the book like any other hero book. Times are bad and no one likes it except the people in charge. Orwell's times are a little more cynical because the people don't even have the ability to think that the government is bad. But our hero, Winston, has this ability. He realizes the Party's lies and it looks as if he may succeed. We are also introduced to another character, O'Brien. O'Brien is an inner Party member meaning that he is the top of the food chain. For whatever reason Winston thinks he can trust O'Brien because O'Brien has a look like he would hate the Party. This again continues to follow this hero story where theres an inside man helping the protagonist out. On top of O'Brien there is a women he is interested in. He wants her yet can't have her because of the Party's rules and for this reason wants to rebel anymore. The hero's story just continues to sink in as there is lady he has to fight for which makes it all the more intriguing. It'll be interesting seeing how the story plays out.