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1984 Dialectical Journal 3

“To the confusion of the thought police? To the death of Big Brother? To Humanity? To the future?”
“To the past,” said Winston.

The quote represents Winston’s dedication in preserving the past, the past that he desires to preserve the past. It represents that in the previous quote “Those who control the present control the past,” the fact that the overthrowing of Big Brother would allow Winston to reveal the past.

“We are the dead,” he said.
“We are the dead,” echoed Julia dutifully.
“You are the dead,” said an iron voice behind them.

It indicates that their generation is unable to overthrow the iron rule of the party. The cause seems hopeless, except, for to Winston, the human spirit that will live on forever. The plot turns spiraling down as the events unfold against the main characters. This is the one point, when Winston basically “jinxed” his words by uttering that sentence. They are now at the mercy of the Party, the dead, no more alive for the sake of the Brotherhood.

Freedom in the Context of 1984

Freedom is an important theme in the novel 1984. The majority of the people of Oceania have been denied as much freedom as possible by the government, and they have taken about everything away, and try to enforce it. The freedom of the mind is what keeps Winston to break the rules set by Big Brother. Freedom is all a mental condition; to be able to act according to one’s own will without being oppressed by another person’s own will. The government in the book sets the freedom of the people so low that they can’t distinguish what is being kept from them, so in their minds, they are unaware that they have no freedom. Freedom cannot be definitely measured; it is measured by one’s awareness and will, information and desires. The slogan used by Big Brother, “Freedom is Slavery”, is a translation of the fact that there is always someone who will try to use his own freedom to deny others from their own freedom. Freedom is a psychological word. There is always a fight for fair and just freedom. Achievements are results of freedom, may it be from one person or multiple people, achieving more is linked to freedom.

Dear Jin Jingzhi,

Did you view Mao as a man with good ideas and morals?
Were any members of the Red Guard people you knew?
How was the land and people around you around you changed by the Great Leap Forward?

I found interesting that your life could related to the lives of us so perfectly, even though you were citizens of this period in a completely different society. The Chinese citizens' lives and interests were similar to ours as human beings living in a comfortable society, as well as their thoughts and motives. It seemed so alien because of all the things that Mao did that would have been strange in our society. You also were always in a positive and hopeful mood, you believed that everything would turn for the better.

Legacy of Columbus

I think that Columbus doesn't deserve our reconition for being a heroic explorer. We should have the day off for all great explorers, instead of just this selfish scoundrel.

We learn in elementry school that Columbus was a great, vivid, and brave explorer, that braved the seas to find America, bringing wealth to his country, and begining the new age. We belived he was the first to discover America, and that without him, we wouldn't be able to enjoy this great country. We learned about his great navigational skills, and how he thought the Earth was round, instead of flat. Later, we learned the truth.

Columbus wasn''t the first to discover America, we have evidence that other explorers from different countries found it first, furthermore, Columbus landed on a few islands away from America, and belived until he died that he landed on India. Many scholars of that time also knew the Earth was round. The only thing that stands was, yes, he could navigate like no other. Now, the real facts about Columbus. He was the captian of a team of a genocidal crew, that commited attrocities that started the third largest genocide in the history of the planet. They killed millions of the friendly natives, for reasons unimaginable in the present day. He did unimaginable things for his entertainment, such as killing a native to feed a hungry dog, to lazy to walk to the surplus of food, countless rapes, and pranks that resulted in mass murder. He wiped out almost the entire population, and sent the rest to work in mines that didn't have anything. He was a ruthless, selfish, greedy explorer. Hopefully, people teach otherwise to later help us not take things for granted.

Siddhartha Response Part II

"Have you too, learned that secret from the river: that there is no such thing as time?"

I find this quote as a very interesting quote. It seems like an interesting philosophy. That time is merely something like shadows or another part of one's soul. He means that time doesn't exist, all it is is a thought or a memory that one would think of. There is no proof of time, but we are convinced it exists, due to the fact that it can be described in words, if not difficult. I find the symbolism to the river true, a river is exactly like the flow of time. However, I find this a bit odd that the book would introduce it as the river speaking to him. Even though time is just a memory or destiny, it doesn't seem like a part of your soul, in that sense, or that it doesn't exist, time is real, I do believe.

I think that we could incorporate this into our lives by not dwelling on the past or future in a negative sense, but that doesn't mean that we can't learn from our mistakes, or pay attention to the past.

"Of course I was taking a pleasure trip. Why else should I travel? I got to know people and places, I enjoyed friendliness and trust, I found friendship."

Siddhartha is telling him that not everything is about money, that joy and friendship is much more essential. I couldn't agree more, that the whole point of greed and selfishness is to be happy, is it not? But isn't it true that is is better to be seen from the other perspective, that joy and friendship will lead to money and wealth? That Joy is the reason for money, and Joy can lead to money, while money might lead to joy, but not directly? I find that a really true way to see things.

I think that this is a great way to see things, from doing something like this, and looking on the bright side, it isn't a waste of time, that the benefits far outweigh the losses.

"Perhaps that you are doing too much seeking? That your seeking prevents you from finding?"

Well, this happens to be absurdly true in Govinda's case. Be it This is true, that when one has a obsession with a goal, they rarely pay attention to what is going around them. Blind obsession with something ultimately leads to it turning back on you because you didn't see what was actually very important. That life is not just about one thing, but many different things, bad and good, interwoven together.

This is a good concept to keep in real life, when surrounded by many valuable or important things, it really is never the best thing to "keep your eyes on the prize".

"Words do no good to the secret meaning; everything always immediately becomes a little different when you express it, a little falsified, a little foolish"

Siddhartha is stating to Govinda that him telling him about enlightenment isn't going to enlighten him, or even make him see sense in the words. That is true, in my opinion, that is why there is more than one language, that no human language is able to convey exactly what one is feeling. If that was true, there would only be one language in the world. The brain converts feelings into words into language, which converts it into sound, which is heard by the other person as language, which is converted into words, into feelings, every conversion is different for every person, it becomes like a strange game of telephone.

I see this as another good philosophy, that you shouldn't take words or actions for granted, or as a way you view it. For the person who made it would have viewed it in a different way.

Siddhartha Response Part I

“The doctrine of the enlightened Buddha contains a great deal, it teaches many how to live righteously, to shun evil. But one thing this doctrine, so clear, so venerable, does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands.”

Siddhartha is saying that no matter how much he learns or hears through teaching about how to live like the Buddha, he never actually has the experience. No matter how much you teach somebody about an experience, you do not actually attain it. It is like saying that as much as you tell somebody about a party, they haven’t actually experienced the party. (Unless they were there too.) He is saying that even that is true; the Buddha has shown him the path to awakening.

It reminds me of the High Tech style of teaching things in projects, instead of reading and listening to stuff about whatever we are studying, we actually experience it using hands on activities ( or as close as we can get ) I think that this rule applies to learning in general, you do math homework instead of just learning how to do it. It is a bit more pronounced in things where you have a spiritual or philosophical experience, such as enlightenment.

“When someone reads a piece of writing and wants to find out what it means, he does not feel contempt for the written signs and letters, calling them illusion, chance, and a valueless husk, but he reads them, he studies and loves them, letter by letter. But I, who wanted to read the book of the world and the book of my own nature, I have held the signs and letters in contempt, for the sake of a presumed interpretation; I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue an accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over, I have awakened, I have really awakened and I have just been born today.”

Siddhartha finds the truth for what he was seeking, he realized that the samanas’ way of teaching was wrong; he was hiding and trying to escape from himself, “I” to find out about his soul, instead of trying to understand himself. He relates it to a piece of writing, but it could be related to any sensory input in general, to try to understand the deep meaning or purpose of any music, artwork, action, or basically anything, one does not shun or escape from it, obviously. He realizes that it applies to the soul as well, ridding yourself of yourself or “I” is equivalent to trashing the music or artwork, or forgetting the action.

It is a good philosophy and attitude to have, a simple and effective way to describe it is to have an open mind, and learn from your mistakes.

(Took me forever to write this, but it was a really enlightening and helpful activity which I did a lot of contemplation and reflection. )