Winston Becomes More Rebellious

Although this section of reading was slow for me (which might have been a result of attempting to simultaneously watch football) it revealed many stylistic elements applied by Orwell. Most revealing was the ironic statements. It was as if Adam Smith's "invisible hand", the counterpart to Big Brother's economic principles, arose from the page and smacked me.

One clear example was when the telescreen boasted of Big Brother's success in improving the lives of its citizens. At this point, we have come to know that the Party polishes its imperfections in order to provide a popular appearance. Syme confirms this blind opinion by stating,

        "'the Ministry of Plenty's certainly done a good job this year...by the way...I suppose you haven't got any razor blades you can let me have.'
        'Not one,' said Winston . 'I've been using the same blade for six weeks myself.'" (53)

Even though consumers frequently lack necessities such as razor blades and suitable food and housing, people such as Syme believe that they are better off just because Big Brother says so and doesn't base an opinion off actual experiences. Their circumstances do not match with what is claimed by the Party.

I believe this was implemented to be clearly observed by the reader.   This was the second time Syme brought up the topic of razor shortages yet he still believes the effectiveness of Big Brother's policies. This is a common occurrence as well. Through irony, the reader can clearly see that Big Brother is actually quite ineffective as a government and is only in power due to the manipulation of the populace.

Orwell additionally makes use of  symbolism. Winston's cigarette symbolizes Big Brother's failure to provide. Once again, we see that Big Brother is not able to meet the demand of tobacco which forces Winston to desperatley cling to the cigarette he is smoking. But eventually, "the remaining tobacco fell out" (55). This shows that even though Big Brother cannot provide and try as Winston might, Big Brother still seems to impose its will on him and destroys his way of life through the items he enjoys. 

Another aspect in this passage that was significant was the characterization of Winston. With every interaction he experiences with his fellow "comrades", he seems to become more rebellious. He either, identifies the individual as orthodox such as Syme, Parsons, Tillotson. Their idiocy makes the ridiculous nature of Big Brother even more apparent for the reader and Winston. But he seems to identify with O'Brien who resonates an idea of rebellion which he admires. He even thinks that "he was writing the diary for O'Brien" (69). Writing is forbidden, but with his idea that O'Brien is on his side motivates him to continue to write and increase the risk of being killed.

Just as Winston is able to identify who is orthodox, he is able to identify who will eventually be vaporized by the Party. He predicts that "Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent." (46). But because he knows this, it is certain to the reader that Winston will be vaporized too for being able to think that in the first place. Although Winston is not a particularly high class citizen, he thinks as if he were a Party member which is a dangerous threat. Winston continues to become more dangerous to the party.

Since he has already broken the law in the form of thoughtcrime, he already feels dead.  As he wrote, "Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death." (27) As a dead man, Winston is now willing to take more risks and we see that throughout this section of reading such as his writing.

Due to this danger and risk taking, Winston will only escalate this passion and I predict that sooner or later Winston will be forced to be displaced by fears of Thought Police, possibly forcing him into Eurasia.