A Doll's House

The significance of this text to the world is that it was the first literary work to show a woman taking control of her life by leaving her family. This was an extremely radical idea because the family was a woman's pride and joy, and her biggest contribution to marital life. The idea that a woman could leave her husband and children was virtually unheard of before Ibsen's book. This is why the door slam when Nora leaves her family is referred to as "the slam heard round the world". Another interesting thing this play does is allow us to view the victimized protagonist negatively for gaining her end means. That is, to gain power and ultimately her freedom, she walks out on her family. For this, we can choose to view her negatively.

The last scene of this play is the most famous. In this scene, the relation to the title is shown. When Nora talks about her childhood, and about how she is unhappy in her marriage, she says that her papa "called [her] his doll child, and played with [her] just as [she] used to play with [her] dolls" (66). When Torvald asks her what that has to do with their marriage, she responds that she "was simply transferred from Papa's hands to" Torvald's (66). The actual title "A Doll's House" can be taken in two different ways. It can be taken as a house belonging to a doll, because Nora is a doll living in her own house. Alternatively, it can be taken as a doll's house, meaning that all houses are simply homes where dolls are placed, and manipulated. The title can either show an ownership, or complete lack of it thereof. 

Nora as a protagonist can also be viewed in two different ways. She can be viewed as an unaware, simple housewife who makes a snap judgement at the end of the story without truly understanding what she is doing. Or, she can be viewed as an intelligent woman who has finally found her desired way out of her dreadful marriage. Nora does successfully save the spending money Torvald gives her to pay off her secret loan for three entire years. It takes some mental agility to come up with such a scheme, and to keep it hidden from her husband who makes money his business. A Doll's House is a text that changed the way theatre of the times was viewed, and opened new thematic doors for playwrights to explore in later years.

Earnest blog post 3

In the beginning of this act, Wilde addresses the fact that, in Victorian speech, insults, or other pertinent information, are often veiled under vast verbal ornaments. For example, when Cecily comments on the eloquence of a statement made by Algernon, Gwendolen replies that "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing" (44). This property of proper Victorian speech can make conversations very circuitous, and in a seemingly long conversation, almost nothing may actually be said. This tendency for formalities and fluff in speech also plays into how Wilde emphasizes unimportant things, and throws away important topics as if they were comments on the weather. He is making fun of the Victorian need for unnecessary formalities in speech. To continue the dramatization of trivial things, Gwendolen and Cecily throw fits over Jack and Algernon's false names, and agree that they must undergo the "fearful ordeal" of simply changing their first names.

Earnest post 2

As I was reading, I couldn't help but notice the hilarious side story going on between Miss Prism and Chasuble. Their banter and masked flirtation regarding marriage gives rise to some hilarious quotes about the institution. Ms Prism states that "No married man is ever attractive except to his own wife", and that even this only depends on the "intellectual sympathies of the woman" (26). Based on this, and her later statement that men "who live entirely for pleasure usually are [single]" (27), We can begin to view Miss Prism as a sort of shrewish, bitter woman. She clearly loves Cecily, but she must have had a bad romantic encounter in her past to make such blatant snipes at single men and the institution of marriage.

Earnest post 1

Jack and Algernon seem like obvious parallels to Darcy and Bingley. Algernon is the smarter of the two, poking fun at Jack for flirting with Gwendolen, who, situation-wise, is the parallel to Jane. In turn, Jack makes fun of Algernon saying "How unromantic [he] is!" (3). Jack is the sighing lover type, smitten with Gwendolen, whom Algernon seems only slightly partial to. Algernon is the basic stereotype of a rich young man with nothing to do but eat cucumber sandwhiches and have tea. The institution of marriage is also mercilessly mocked in almost every other line. In the opening scene, when Algernon is talking to his butler, Lane, Lane remarks that his first marriage was "the consequence of a misunderstanding between [himself] and a young person (1). The last brilliant bit of classist humor in this first section comes with Lane's exit. Algernon comments on Lane's oppinion of marriage, saying that "if the lower orders don't set [a] good example, what on earth is the use of them?" (2). This type of candid humor appears very often throughout the play, and depicts the upper class as irresponsible and childlike.

Pride & Prejudice post 13

Pride & Prejudice can, in many ways, be considered the basis for all modern day romantic comedies. The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy sets a precedent for all posterity. The bulk of their relationship is built on their purported dislike for each other, until Darcy finally recognizes his implacable love for Elizabeth. Elizabeth then takes about a third of the story to overcome her own personal prejudices and barriers, finally accepting that she loves him too. However, some especially poignant comparisons between their story and the modern day books and movies we know so well come in the conversation after Elizabeth finally professes her love for Darcy. Darcy states that "If [Elizabeth's] feelings are still what they were last April, [that she] tell [him] at once, [but that] one word from [her would] silence [him] on the subject forever" (312). In modern day romantic comedies this can be translated as "I still love you, but if you still don't love me back just tell me right now and I'll never say another word about it". This line, or something like it, appears in almost every romcom ever made. Elizabeth and Darcy then go on to discuss when each of them fell in love with the other; another conversation present in every romance. This shows that Elizabeth and Darcy really are the basis for many modern stories.

Pride & Prejudice post 12

When Mr. Bennet learns of yet another impertinent and nosy letter from mr. Collins regarding the marital fate of one of his daughters, he responds with humor, as is expected of his character. When Elizabeth explains to her father the nature of the letter, he responds by saying that "Mr. Darcy never look[s] at any woman but to see a blemish, and probably never looked at [Elizabeth] in his life!" (309). Clearly, Elizabeth and Darcy's un-affair had a convincing non-romantic pretense. Either that, or Mr. Bennet is incredibly unobservant, which, from the outcome of Lydia's story, isn't a guess that seems too far off the mark. However, if taken in that direction, this can be taken as another iniquity on Mr. Bennet's parenting. It seems as though everyone in their area knows of Darcy and Elizabeth's unconvential relationship. With the amount of times Darcy has shown up to the Bennet household, often unannounced, it is astonishing that Mr. Bennet could have absolutely no knowledge of their encounters.

Pride & Prejudice post 11

 In this section of the reading Lydia and Wickham come home to visit the family before heading north. Lydia is completely unaware that her very presence affronts her family, particularly Mr. Bennet, who did not want her to visit in the first place. Lydia talks of her marriage as if it is of the most propitious circumstance. When Lydia moves to find all the sisters husbands, Elizabeth withholds any aprprobation or appreciation of the offer, stating instead that she "thank[s] [Lydia] for [her] share of the favour, but [does] not particularly like [Lydia's] way of getting husbands" (269).

Lydia is completely oblivious to the gigantic amount of trouble and embarrassment her marriage has caused the Bennet family. Lydia's character was always starry-eyed and slightly air-headed, but this turn of events sets her character as impetuous and naive. This is the first time we find a genuine mal-characteristic in a Bennet sister, and starts to give the reader a new perception of the family. This "inappropriate" marriage may also foreshadow another seemingly inappropriate one.

P&P post 9

The conversation between Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy on page 229, starting with "I remember when we first knew her in Hertfordshire"....to "for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance."

This conversation seems to close once and for all the prospect of Mr. Darcy marrying Miss Bingley. Miss Bingley is a fairly terrible human being, and this moment seems like Elizabeth's just triumph, even though she wouldn't have appreciated it at the time if she'd seen it. Miss Bingley clearly understands Darcy's feelings toward Elizabeth, but she will fight them until the last second. Prior to this quote, she spends a page tearing down any mark of Elizabeth's beauty. Here the narrator comments that "angry people are not always wise". This rings very true in Miss Bingley's case. In her attempts to raise herself in Darcy's eyes, she has, in actuality lowered herself even more, by insulting the object of his great affection. Miss Bingley know this too, and this is what makes her decision to continue her tirade unwise. Darcy finally offers the death blow with his comment on Elizabeth's beauty, showing Miss Bingley that she has long since fallen out of favor with him.

Pride & Prejudice status posts

-Just made everyone admire my quiet intelligence. Score.

-Still waters run deep. That’s something I would say, because I make occasional deep remarks while upholding my outer façade of childlike beauty.

-Lms if you like my piano playing!!!!

-Behind that book lie eyes that are watching you and ears that are listening. Beware.

-It’s totally not fair that Lizzy gets all the men. She’s not even that pretty. And I play the piano better than she does.

-I feel like the forgotten sister. My sisters all have moderately charming defining characteristics, but all I have are my books. And the piano.

-Learned a new song on the piano today!! I’ll play it for everyone at the ball tonight!

-No one liked my song. Why didn’t anyone like my song?

-I love my sister Jane SOOOOO much. Mr. Bingley is stupid and doesn’t deserve as wonderful a person as her!!!!! Oh, and Elizabeth’s love life sucks too, but maybe if she weren’t so picky she’d have someone to speak of.

-Elizabeth’s relationship Mr. Darcy is the DEFINITION of “it’s complicated”. Let it go Elizabeth, we all know you like him.

P&P post 6

Although this post does not subsist as any form of plot analysis, I thought it time to be adressed. Throughout this book, (and I've noticed it in Jane Eyre as well) dashes are used in mysterious places. In both pride and prejudice, there are mentions of a "---Shire". In tonight's reading, there was mention of "Lord---", the father of Colonel Fitzwilliam. At first I thought these words held a pretense of being specific to the english language at the time. However, I began to wonder if there was any more to these impertinent dashes that haunt my reading every few nights. So, in accordance with today's method of research, I set to googling. And I found nothing. Not even a Wikipedia page. I suppose the internet has failed to measure up to Jane Austen's classic. There's probably a metaphor here, somewhere.

Pride & Prejudice post 5

"So, Lizzy, your sister is crossed in love I find. I congratulate her. When is your turn to come? Here are officers enough at Meryton to disappoint all the young ladies in the country. Let Wickham be your man. He is a pleasant fellow, and would jilt you credibly" (118).

This quote provides the perfect description of Mr. Bennet's alacrity to play on his family's nerves. Although Mr. Bennet's character is, as a rule, rather laconic, the occasional statements and solutions he offers of the girls' problems carry their weight in gold. Here, Mr. Bennet makes light of Jane's bruised heart. The women of the family all have distinct personalities, but none of them offer the comic relief that Mr. Bennet provides. The women have a propensity for serious attitudes, and even Elizabeth's logical explanations of Jane's situation can't compare to the laugh Mr. Bennet provides by making fun of it. It's hilarious how gleefully Mr. Bennet unravels his wife's plans of marriage for their daughters. He put their happiness before their family's rank, and therefore their pride. That a father figure would put his female daughters' happiness before his family's pride was unheard of in this time period. This further proves Mr. Bennet as a very atypical father figure.

Post #2.5

So, the funny thing about writing blog posts at horrific hours is that it tends to incur a propensity for: a. Spelling,grammar, or general readability errors, b. Ending up sounding like a blog written at 2:55 in the morning, and most importantly, c. Making the writer forget to add in half of the actual assignment. And the really hilarious part is that this whole ordeal culminates in said writer suddenly remembering the missing part of the assignment and consequently spending inordinate amounts of time typing out a blog post on her iPod with the intention of using 6 vocab words to describe her predicament, only to realize that her vocab list, like her laptop, is having a nice quiet evening, 3 states away.

Pride & Prejudice post 2

"[Mr Darcy] was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion's justifying her coming so far alone." (Austen 27)

This quote is one of the first looks we get into Mr Darcy's mind. His status as a proud and haughty man is confirmed by his grudging compliment to Elizabeth which is soon voided by the critique of her judgement for making so long a trip when her sister would be fine. In this quote, we begin to see the inner struggle in Mr. Darcy not to fall for Elizabeth. Clearly, he will eventually lose. This will leave it up to Elizabeth to torment him for a while, before ultimately falling for him too. Mr. Darcy is a very interesting character because his inner thought genuinely reflect others' opinions of him. Often times when a character has such an unlikable personality, their inner thoughts are quite different. In Mr. Darcy's case, however, he's a genuine rotten tomato all the way through, at least for now.

Pride & Prejudice post 1

After reading Heart of Darkness, Jane Austen's writing style is SUCH a breath of fresh air. She uses vocabulary that is older, but I use a lot of the words she writes in my every day conversations. I connected to the characters immediately. Most people probably view this as a "girl" book, because (thus far) the story centers around the 5 Bennet girls. I know Elizabeth will end up being my favorite of the sisters, but my favorite character overall is the father. He's absolutely hilarious. He plays with his wife's nerves, and clearly has a reputation for joking around. This makes him very different than the other stereotypical father figures we see in this era. Another interesting thing is that the mother has such a large pull in the family. Although we are looking at the family through the social and homemaking eye, and not the professional one, I still think the mother has more leverage in the family than was typical for the time. She certainly has a better relationship with her husband than was typical.

Heart of darkness post 5

"'Do you call [the ivory trade] unsound method?' 'Without a doubt' he exclaimed. 'Don't you?' 'No method at all,' I murmured" (Conrad 143).

Throughout the book, Conrad eludes to the incompetence of the ivory trade and the imperialist regime. The communication between leaders is terrible, the workers blow up cliffs for railroads unnecessarily, and the regime doesn't provide the materials needed for the English imperialistic endeavors. When Marlow is aquianted with the "flabby red eyed devil", he is learning the devil of incompetence. By saying that the ivory trade has "no method at all" Marlow is relating this lack of structure and method to the entire imperialist movement.

In the book, Conrad uses this blatant lack of plan to mask the moral pitfalls of imperialism. He condemns Imperialism, not because it destroys native culture and kills innocent people, but because it is unorganized, wasteful, and thus futile. He mourns the loss of English lives, time, and materials. The loss of natural materials (such as ivory) are what Conrad emphasizes in his book as the most tragic casualty of Imperialism.

Heart of Darkness Post #4

"It takes a man and all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. [...] and these chaps, too, had no earthly reason for any kind of scruple" (HOD 116).

In this quotation Marlow is marveling at the fact that the starving natives haven't turned to eat him or his crew. He realizes they are starving by their quickness to respond how they will "dispose" of the enemies attempting to attack the ship, and the fact that the crew members have long since thrown overboard their only other source of food.

This quote is interesting because Marlow is simultaneously admitting to positive attributes of the natives, while maintaining the racist overview that they have no morals. He talks about how they must have huge amounts of strength to fight off their hunger and not eat the crew members, and is even more astonished because, as he says, they have no reason to possess morals against eating the other members of the party.

This is a good example of how Marlow's internal musings could have been taken as evidence that he is a progressive thinker, and therefore less racist. However, in our time, we still see the racist setting of his mind around his musings, and define him as conservative. It is in Marlow's existential digressive thoughts that all evidence of his supposed "ahead of his time" conclusions arise. However, soon after making one of these conclusions, Marlow soon says something that defines him as a legitimate product of his time.

Heart of darknness post 3

"And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth [waited] patiently for the passing away of its fantastic invasion" (HOD 91)

This quote is referring specifically to one of the stations, but serves to create a larger image for the whole idea of imperialism. The "invaders" are forming this small, tiny spot cleared of any native land or culture, but the impenetrable forests still surround it. Even though there are imperialistic camps and missions in the country, they are a minority to the country itself.

"going back up the river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world [...] when big trees were king" (HOD 105).

This quote refers to the surrounding forest written about in the last section. The book portrays this wilderness as "thick, sluggish, and deserted" "there was no joy in the brilliance of the sunshine" (HOD 105). This description advances the idea that imperialism is "necessary" to make the country better. By portraying even the wilderness in a negative light, the author defends imperialism.

Heart of Darkness Post #2

"We live, as we dream, alone" (Conrad 97)

In this book, Marlow is continually depicted as one white man among many natives. Because of his deep seeded racism, this creates the feeling that Marlow views himself as alone. He also travels alone, ready to leave at a moment's notice.

On another note, the changing of the narrators makes the story rather confusing. The fact that the narrative switches back and forth from Marlow's mind to the mind of the omnipotent narrator makes the action of the story very difficult to separate from the narrative. However, the switching viewpoints allow us to see inside the mind of Marlow, and understand him as a flawed character without his biases through the omnipotent narrator.

Heart of Darkness Post #1

"But Marlow was not typical [...] and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine" (Conrad 68).

I take this to mean that the process, or journey that Marlow takes in getting to the point or lesson of his story is more important to him than the lesson itself. This relates to the theory of teaching that involves coming to a conclusion with your student, rather than throwing information at him. Marlow takes his listeners on a journey that created a proverbial glow around the point of the story itself.

The book also implies that sailors are implicitly simple. Their stories have basic points, and the sailors stick to themselves, their crafts, and the sea. Marlow, however, is depicted as a teacher. He is the last one to still "follow the sea", and although this would seem to allude to Marlow being a genuine sailor (i.e. not a teacher), I believe that it has some sort of wisdom related significance. The book portrays Malow as a genius rambler. His fellow sailors are used to his ramblings, and tune out most of his stories and lessons, including the one he spins in the first chapter about the Romans coming to England and feeling terrified in the new area. He traces this story along to his experience when he traveled up the Congo river as a younger sailor.

As a reader, I'm guessing that Marlow's stories are what weaves this book together, and that the knowledge in it is to be grasped by the storytelling mechanism itself; not the end of the book.

1984 blog post #7

"'They can't get inside you,' she had said. But they could get inside you. 'What happens to you here is for ever,' O'Brien had said. That was a true word. There were things, your own acts, from which you could never recover. Something was killed in your breast: burnt out, cauterized out" (Orwell ch6).


The fact that Winston now acknowledges that Julia was wrong shows his change in attitude towards her. Before he was taken into the Ministry of love, he never would have discredited anything she said. He had a faith in her that took the ministry's worst punishment to break. That he is resigned to the fact that Julia is wrong and that the ministry can infiltrate the mind shows that he has indeed betrayed her.


Until he was threatened by the rats, Winston's one goal was to keep his heart's allegiance to Julia. He reconciled himself to giving up his mind and body, but he hoped that, secretly, his heart could remain his own. He knew in the back of his mind that O'Brien would eventually find out, and this is confirmed when O'Brien says that Winston's final task is to love Big Brother. This is the ultimate berayal and submission to the party, as Winston is surrendering the final piece of his humanity that is his own. After he surrenders this, he gains a new humanity, approved by the party.


O'Brien says that what happens to you in the ministry of love stays with you forever. It makes sense that Winston would never have the slightest hint of a negative thought towards the party ever again. However, one line in the passage suggest that something may remain in him. In response to hearing about the invasion of Africa, Winston thinks, "An extraordinary medley of feeling -- but it was not a medley, exactly; rather it was successive layers of feeling, in which one could not say which layer was undermost -- struggled inside him" (Orwell, ch6). Although Winston doesn't remember WHAT is struggling inside him, he can still feel that it is there. This shows that, perhaps, Winston did not lose absolutely every trace of his past self.

1984 blog post #6

"the old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love and justice. Ours is founded upon hatred" (Orwell 267).
This one statement could easily sum up every party platform we've read about thus far. The party is most certainly not founded on love or justice, indeed they make it their business to destroy it. The party is founded upon hatred for everything that is not the party. The party hates everything that potentially takes away its power.

The two minutes hate is another example of how the party is based around hate. This event is supposed to draw the people together, because they all hate the opposing countries. Thus the very nationalism that holds Oceania together is hatred.

This hate is ideally supposed to translate into every party member's subconscious. They are taught to hate their very human natures, the natures that lead them to question where the party's power stems from. They are taught to hate their own free thoughts, their own free will, and their own humanity.

The only thing they are taught to love is Big Brother. In the book this is exemplified when O'Brien tells Winston that his final step is to love Big Brother. At the end of this section, Winston says that he still hates Big Brother, and this is the tiny scrap of humanity that he has left, aside from never betraying Julia.

1984 blog #5

"It was my little daughter. She listened at the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day" (Orwell 233).
          Parsons is still proud of his children, even though one of them has most likely condemned him to death. The fact that children would willingly give over their parents to death is gruesome, but even more so is the fact that the parents are genuinely proud of them for doing so. In this twisted and dark society, the family bond is absolutely shattered. Parents SHOULD be afraid of their children if they raised them according to party standards. This does lead one to question, however, whether or not a parent would turn their child in. It's so hopelessly sad that the children are so brainwashed that they would gleefully destroy their families. The concept of love does not really exist in this world, and this includes the love of child to parent.
         
          Parsons allowed his children to become this way because he was also brainwashed by the party. He is the "ideal" party member in all he does. However, how can he be the ideal member if he ends up being committed to death? This provides yet another paradox of the story; That someone can do absolutely everything right, and still be hammered into a wall by the party.

Blog post #8

"Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia" (Orwell, 182).

This quote is interesting because of the action that surrounds it. We've been informed that history (especially war allies or enemies) are changed every so often in the world of 1984. But until now we haven't seen the actual process that occurs when one of these drastic historical changes is made. The change comes in a simple slip of paper, placed into a speaker's hand during Hate Week. This small slip of paper sets of a chain reaction in Winston's department. The workers have one week to completely erase any record implying a war with Eurasia. Because of this, Winston is forced to take 18 hour shifts, altering every last word. The idea that a small slip of paper delivered in such an unplanned fashion can lead to that large of a disruption is astonishing. It's similar to the idea that when a butterfly beats its wings, a hurricane appears on the other side of the world.

Blog post #7

"There is no possibility that any perceptible change will happen within our own lifetime. We are dead. Our only true life is in the future" (Orwell, 176).

The fact that the brotherhood is resigned to death before seeing any of their work take effect shows how hopeless the state of their world is. That a revolution could take so many deaths to make the most minuscule change exemplifies how committed the brotherhood is to their cause, and how slowly progressing their cause is. The function of the brotherhood is very interesting because their organization is the very opposite of a "brotherhood". They are united by an ideal, but not by any sense of "nationalism". Indeed, each member only knows four to five other members. This wish for a world from the past is strong enough to unite the brotherhood just as strongly as any other revolutionary group. They are willing to kill, destroy, commit suicide, or change their bodies for the brotherhood. They pledge their lives to a party they do not even know the size of. This shows how one small seed of a revolutionary idea can bring together people of the same cause, even under the worst conditions.

Blog post #6

"The Proles are human beings...We are not human" (Orwell 165).
Winston is considering the real difference between the comrades and the Proles; the Proles retain the freedom to be human, and to show normal human emotions. The Comrades can't show any emotion in the normal sense of the word. Emotional responses to events are truthful, and the comrades are constantly forced to lie about how they feel. They can only feel the emotions the party wants them to feel. Beyond that, they can only do anything the party wants them to do. They can't have desires, grudges, jealousy, anger, or dreams. The Proles, however, in being viewed as "non human" have actually retained the most human qualities of all. They are allowed to want, and to feel, two things that the Party constantly guards against. Winston finally realizes that the hope lies within the proles not because they are not under the control of the party, but because they are the only true humans left in the world.

1984 blog #4

"Until they have become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious" (Orwell 70).

This is similar to the chicken and the egg scenario. The people will not rebel until they gain some sort of power within themselves, and they will not gain that power within themselves until they have rebelled. One cannot happen without the other. This is another example of how the party has trapped the people into and endless cycle. They perform the same tasks every day, without risk of interruption because the Party controls and prevents every one possible. The party is blocking the fuel to the proles' fire. Without that initial spark, they can never become "conscious" of the potential power they hold as a majority. Perhaps the knowledge of just how many there are is being kept from them. Certainly any revolutionary literature is long gone, because you would have to be blind to not see that this is the perfect stage for a Victor Hugo novel.

1984 Blog post #3

"Don't you see that the whole aim of newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? ... Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined..." (Orwell, 52).

I think this is the most obvious and succinct proposal of the Party's goals. They have worked to control all other aspect of the comrades' lives, and now they wish to fully control all thoughts as well. There will not even be an element of "hiding" unwelcome thoughts from the party, because no one will have the capacity to think those thoughts because they will not exist. With Newspeak, the Party is not simply creating a new language; they are eradicating concepts and ideas which they do not like from the syntax. By creating new words which they define, and throwing out all the old words, they can control every thought and method of communication, because the only things that can be expressed will have already been approved by the Party.

Personally, I think this method is horrific, but brilliant. There is no way to have radicals and revolutionaries if the very seeds of rebellion planted in their heads simply do not exist. The Party has effectively eliminated all methods of conflict within their "kingdom". I believe that is what the Party fears the most. They put all of these restrictions and plans in place simply so that the governed will not wise up to the world around them, and try to change it. They recognize the power of a small group of people with an agenda who can strong arm others. They use this idea, in fact, in their creation of the thought police.

1984 blog #2

"Nothing was your own except for the few cubic centimeters inside your skull" (Orwell, 27).

This quote is referring to the universal presence of Big Brother and the thought police, but it relates to, and twists the larger theme that the only person you can truly trust is yourself. Winston has realized that he cannot trust anyone else not to betray him for his traitorous thoughts, and that, beyond this, he cannot even trust himself to correctly interpret the body language of others for fear of misinterpreting. In the book, everyone hides themselves behind a mask of mundane blandness, for fear of being punished by the thought police. This takes away any potential for "inappropriate" interpersonal communication, as they cannot speak of, motion of, or even think of topics detrimental to the "government". The thought police trap citizens within themselves, and then goes further to trap them into virtual nothingness. The idea that even your thoughts may not be your own is frightening to say the least, which is why this story goes beyond the idea of only being able to trust yourself. This story takes away the safe haven that we are taught to retreat to when we cannot voice our thoughts to the world. Winston cannot trust his comrades, the government, or his own perception and thoughts. This is the true mark of the oppressive government-  forcing people to trust their leaders above their own personal morals and thoughts.

Give me a couple blog entries to start thinking of poetic, thought provoking titles please?...It's been a long summer.

When first looked at, The Tempest does not seem to have a "normal" theme of justice. Although Trinculo and Stefano are greedy, treasonous, and abusive to Caliban, and Antonio is far from a good brother, none of them receive their ultimate comeuppances come the end of the play. The root of this phenomenon is Prospero, kind hearted to a fault, who gains his revenge by twisting around the inner workings of the seditionists' minds through his own spells and requests to his fairy slave, Ariel. Although Prospero does get his dukedom back at the end of the play, Alonso does not willingly give it to him. In fact, Prospero simply states "I do forgive thy rankest fault, all of them, and require, My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know, Thou must restore" (V.i.133-1135). No mention of Alsono ever actually agreeing to this appears, and neither Alonso nor Trinculo and Stefano are particularly repentant for their actions. Prospero allows them to foster this attitude, as once he makes this proclamation to Alonso, and pronounces Trinculo and Stefano as alcoholic failures, the play speeds to a hasty finish with Prospero weaving his life story in the ending monologue. This behavior seems overall to be uncharacteristic of Prospero, because he gave Ferdinand such a difficult time in trying to court Miranda.

The Mental Death Trap

The Combine is the mental ward. This plays into Bromden's idea that the whole institution is like one big machine. When the patients come in, they're broken down until they themselves become part of the machine too. They do the same things every day, just like a machine. They are also dehumanized, like they were just pieces of metal. The Combine literally cuts the patients down until they're only good for being part of the machine.

McMurphy is just as vulnerable as the other patients because he's a human too. I think that's a major point in this book; that they are ALL humans, and NOT parts of a machine. McMurphy shows the humanity (and its inconsistencies) that the other patients are lacking. The fact that McMurphy has all these basic human flaws that landed him in the mental ward in the first place show how human he really is. The others have all been told that they have something inhumanly wrong with their heads. But McMurphy's gambling problems and socially normal. McMurphy is "normal", and remains that way. That's how we know the combine hasn't gotten to him yet.

Imprisoned by the bell?

Come to think of it, mental wards and schools really aren't too far off from each other. The biggest thing they share in common is that they are scheduled down to the minute. As school, we have to stay in one specific place, until the clock tells us otherwise. We have a system of bells to tell us when we're allowed to leave that place, and another bell to tell us when we have to be in our next place. We can't leave the school during the day, and we have others responsible for us while we're there.

We get a small amount of allotted social time too. During lunch we get to socialize with each other, but only under the watch of several teachers to make sure we don;t jump around on the tables or set the ceiling on fire, or pull a fire alarm. Once that time is over, we're ushered back to our respective rooms by the bells.

Our school is by and large split into different academic groups during the majority of the day. The kids who are able to handle the tougher curriculum are in honors classes, and tend to only be in classes with the honors kids. In general, the kids who take cp2 courses are with all the other kids who take cp2 courses for most of the day, because most of the day consists of those academic classes. So our school is split up by class level just like the mental ward is split up between the different types of patients.

Mental vs. Physical Illness

The biggest, and only legitimate thing mental and physical illness share is that they both cause suffering to whoever they affect. Mental and Physical illness are not the same thing any more than a lemon is an apple. They are both fruit; that is all.

Physical illness is often times a lot harder to cure than physical illness. This is largely because the physical body is easier to diagnose and treat, and because we understand things we can see better than things we can't. We have hundreds of years of doctors to diagnose physical problems, but we are still in the midst of figuring out the mental ones.

If someone breaks their arm, they can go to the doctor who can put their arm in a cast, give them some painkillers, and say "come back in a month and it'll be healed". The body can be trusted to heal itself, except in rare circumstances.

The mind, however, once affected, cannot be trusted to heal itself. That is the very nature of mental illness; there is no safeguard with which it can just "go away". Sure, if someone goes through a bad break up, or suffers grief from the death of a family member, their emotions will run their course, and eventually the person will be mentally normal again. But if their is something wrong with the way that person's mind runs through and reacts to those emotions, there's no telling when, or if, they will get past them.

Mind illnesses can often express themselves in obsessions, or obsessively repetitious thoughts. Through therapy, one may learn to control those thoughts, but there is really no guarantee that any amount of psychology will work. That's just the nature of it. It's an inanimate science, and no matter how logical the break down of Freudian psychology, no two minds are the same. Bodies however, are all basically similar.

So, in their diagnosis, treatment, and healing, physical illness and mental illness are really not the same thing at all, and can't be treated as such.