1984 Help!

[shadman]

Hi all, I'm new here and i need some help writing my paper. My topic is "What is the author trying to say about the significance of the past?". My answer to this question is that he is simply warning his readers, that the past is significant, and we must always keep the memories stored to stop future mistakes from recurring.

I just need some help thinking of some events from the book that i could use to relate to the significance of the past. I also want some help on writing up some arguments for those.

Thank you!

[johann cruyff]

Well,I guess you could concentrate on the parts of the book where it's described how The Party erases history and creates its own...Actually,altering history is one of the main tools The Party uses in order to keep a sort of "mind-control" over the population,IIRC.

Our history creates our identity,and that's why it's so important.If our history stops existing as our own,and becomes a universal truth(and not even that is real and something you can trust),we lose every sense of individual existence,in a way,and become nothing more than mindless drones.I think that may be one of the ideas you could concentrate on,hope it helped.

[shadman]

That helped a lot, thanks! I think I'm gonna use that as my conclusion, just change it around a bit.

[shadman]

Need more help for another topic on how Orwell stated the past was significant.

I would also like some more evidence from the book.

[The Atheist]

The one Orwell used deliberately was the snowing ornament - it provided a physical link to a past Winston remebered.

Orwell was obsessed with manipulation of the masses and used the same tactic in both 1984 and Animal Farm, as well alluding to it in other novels.

The point is, memories can be false and implanting them through Party news briadcasts makes the past fluid. Clearly, there are no historians in 1984 as we know them. Orwell would have been fascinated by movements like Holocaust denial - where mountains of evidence are ignored and eyewitnesses become fewer. We know for a fact what happened, but people still try to change the truth. How much easier this is when one organisation has control of all information is what Orwell is conveying.

Without physical reference points - like the ornament - memories are just that, memories, with no value at all.

To preserve truth, we must be honest about what brought us to this point in time - the past.

[GrayFoxDown]

That's an excellent point you raise, Atheist...I missed it. I merely interpreted Orwell's use of the snow globe as a representation of the insignificant given significance (via Winston) by its scarcity and exotic appeal: a limited supply having a curious demand in Winston's isolation. However, I applaud your reading.:thumbs_up

[shadman]

Good points all.

One thing i really didn't understand was the "2+2=5" when he wrote it in the dust, and it drifted away. This was a big part of the story, since it was at the very end as well. I never really understood it.

[shadman]

Bump before the weekend finishes.

[The Atheist]

Good points all.

One thing i really didn't understand was the "2+2=5" when he wrote it in the dust, and it drifted away. This was a big part of the story, since it was at the very end as well. I never really understood it.

You've lost me. Where did the dust "drift away"? Winston got as far as 2+2= then his mind went off the subject.

[2and2make4]

on the significance of the past, if you're still even checking this thread for help on your paper (i'll probably end up messaging you about this) the song in the story, "the chestnut tree", lyrics go "under the spreading chestnut tree, i sold you and you sold me, there lie they and here lie we, under the spreading chestnut tree". well, that is actually (from what i've read) from a nursery rhyme kind of song from Orwell's time. the lines with sold in it actually were sang loved. it went something like "i loved him and he loved me" or something. anyway, no one knows or notices in the book that at one point, those lyrics were different. this subject can provide a lot of help for the significance of the past thought. just research that one part of the book, that one song, and you'll get a bunch of info. i'll copy this to the message, just in case.

[shadman]

Wow, i never noticed that.

TheAthiest, at the end of the book Winston writes "2+2=" and leaves it blank, i understand this is a significant part of the story, i just don't know why. Does he leave it blank because he starts to understand that "2+2=" whatever Big Brother wants it to be? Does this in anyway relate to the past?

[The Atheist]

Wow, i never noticed that.

TheAthiest, at the end of the book Winston writes "2+2=" and leaves it blank, i understand this is a significant part of the story, i just don't know why. Does he leave it blank because he starts to understand that "2+2=" whatever Big Brother wants it to be? Does this in anyway relate to the past?

I don't think there's any significance beyond the fact that Winston realises that whatever answer he comes up with, it will be right if the Party says it is. His thoughts just move on to Julia and the fact that both of them have no human feelings left. That carries on from, and emphasises that the Party has complete control over him.