Shigeto’s Comments (group member since Sep 11, 2010)

Shigeto’s comments from the Ling AP Lit. and Comp. 2010-11 group.

I dont think Gertrude is to be blamed. As a woman in charge, there definitely was some critisizm for a "woman in charge". Therefore, she needed a man in command or her power would have in in jeopardy. I do sympathize with Hamlet, but he is only fuled with sorrow. He only accuses her by twisting every action she made. He is just being immature.

Question 1:
I think it is very tense because we learn that Hamlet's homnelend is threatened and King Claudius is sending people to cause Forbinas' brother to curb the agression to avenge Old Forbinas' death.

Cronon said that there are two arguements to history. One is that relative truth has blinded people, and that many peices of history are innacurate due to these stories. He says that "we force our stories on a world that doesn't fit them".
On the other hand, relative truth is "fundamental to the way we humans organise our experiences". It doesn't matter if O'Brien got shot. His experience with the war, which is equivalent to getting shot, should be enough. Finally, he states that the experiences are much more important than what really happened.
I agree with Randie, and also am convinced by these two sources. Relative truth makes humans unique from robots or computers. It shows how beautiful the mind works, whereas an robot can only respond unbiasedly. In addition, since relative truth can only be attained in this world, why not exploit its advantages?

Befor the war, his life was perfect. He was at Harvard Unviersity, and was almost done with college. His life would have been very smooth, but as he got drafted to the army, the fear of losing everything he built up: Harvard College, family, friends and girls, was tremendous. He didn't want to die that intensly because there was too muchb potential waiting at home

I agree with Ada. It seems as if O'Brien makes a background story to make himself feel better. As he progressively makes the story bigger, O'Brien begins to feel more human rather than a machine massacreing its own race without any emotions. By making a fake background, he sees the cruelty of killing and understands, despite the mission of war, that killing makes one lose humanity.

I agree with Rachel. Mary Anne didn't crack from pressure because women were already on pressure in america. She liked Vietnam because, for the first time in her life, she had control over something. In fact, she had the ultimate control over others: their life. She joined the Green Berets because she probably wanted that kind of control. She turned into a zombie because after a while, she became so consumed with power that she couldn't bear to lose it. Ultimately, her greed, though partially justified, made her into an extremist.

I agree with Alon. O'Brien uses the Vietnam War as a trantition to tell the overall "moral" to the story. O'Brien uses that technique when he stretches the truth for the girl so that she would understand that its not a war story, but rather a true love story. It sounds ironic: to lie more to make it more true. However, this contradiction it like sacrificing a small in in return for a greater good. Perheps, this concept is also used in war also.

I think, despite his making up the character of the story, he makes the story more "true". As O'Brien says in the short story "How to Tell a True War Story", war story may sometimes be made up so that there is more truth in what War really is. I think this is why O'Brien makes up this potential strech.

In addition, in the short story "The Dentist", Curt Lemon is so ashamed when he faints in the dentist's office that, in the night, he asks the dentist to pull his teeth out because it "hurts".
Soldier's like Lemon are scared of becoming ashamed because they want to be regarded as heroic when they die in combat. Without that, their death will only be forgotten sooner and without any impact to both their army mates and family.

In the little biography of Orwell, it says that he was actually a socialist at one point. So, despite the horrors of this "distopia", one can actually look at it as a beneficial society. Despite the torture, lack of words, and fake propaganda, there is relative peace among the proles and the inner party. In logical terms, the means do equal the end product, but getting there is questionable.

In addition, the Proles aren't allowed to converse with any Party members so that there are no conspiracies made. The Party understands that the Proles have the power of majority and the potential to overthrow the party, so, in order to supress the chances of that happening, they dont allow party members to tell them secrets that might uspet the Proles. This further shows the control the party has.

I think a mob resistance is the most effective to the Party. Organized resistance can be destroyed, as the book suggests. O'Brian actually sided with the Party, and destroyed any aspect of resistance. Since organization needs to be secret, there will be little people involved because very little people have courage to ask others if they also hate big brother. With that said, organized resistance can be completely supressed if a couple of people turn their backs or confess in pressure of physical pain.
Mob resistance, on the other hand, is impossible to supress. Sincd it involves so many people, the Party can not distinguish who is in charge, because no one really is. This however, can only be achieved when the Party makes a slip up, as Catie says.

I think, since his acquaintance with Julia, his courage to find others that are awakened like him grew. He even took it a step further and sucessfully joined the brotherhood by confessing his disloyalty to bib brother to an inner party member. I also think, after a couple of months living in this condition, he became too relaxed with it, and ultimately got caught.

I think instead of the proles being the hope, the outer party is the hope. Despite their numbers, the proles are too vast to organize by themselves,, and even if they do, unless it is a majority, the revolution can be destroyed both physically and mentally by the other proles. on the other hand, the outer party are the ones responsible for the cleanup. This means that, witht the help of some inner party members, if a majority, or even a couple of only one department decided to rebel and post an anti Big Brother propaanda, the proles will be able to grow doubts onto the community, and the doubt will hopefully propagate.

I agree with Alon. Winston is constantly contemplating about the inevitable death, but I think he is more inviting of it. Because he think about it so much, Winston accepts it whereas Julia doesn't even think about it, or rather avoids the conversation. This is shown as she sleeps whenever Winston discusses about death and the thought police. She only desires the present and lets the future flow.

Thouout Part one, he doubts the power of an individual to change Big Brother's regime and states that "If there is hope it lies in the proles" (60). But as he encounters the real Julia, a rebellious young woman, he refers their sex as "...a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow against the Party. It was a political act." (105) This quote seems like Winston believes that the Outer Party can beat the system. Did he change his mind by meeting another person who is against Big Brother?
I think he feels more comfortable now that he realizes he not alone because Julia did this "scores of times" (104). Winston is now more hopeful of the outer party and its secret corruption.

I think that since "proper" white english was so instilled in the Black students mind that when they read The Color Purple, they were surprised at how colloquial the passage was. Despite talking similarly to Celie, these students seem to concentrate on the formality of Celie's language rather than comparing it to their way of speaking. Once they found out that Celie and they talked akin, they realised that Black English is an important dialect and should be recognised at rather a formal dialect.