As you all remember, Winston purchases a glass paperweight -- with a piece of coral in it -- from the antique shop...and sneaks it home. When he later rents the apartment to hide with Julia, he keeps it there, too. It becomes a symbol of something he is trying to understand/remember, even more than just being something beautiful.
For Winston, his glass paperweight represents a link to a 'missing history' he does not want to forget. It is also a link to an 'imaginary future' he dreams about. In some ways, it helps him keep sane when everything around him seems beyond understanding. Maybe this is what matters most to him.
Imagine this:
- Imagine you suddenly woke up to find yourself in an apartment like Winston, with a blue uniform on, listening to a telescreen in the background. In other words, you found yourself as a character in the book itself. And there is no escape.
- Imagine that you knew the 'truth' about Big Brother's world...but you also realized that you'd be a 'thought criminal' (and killed) if you told anyone what you knew. There would never be a way to change this. Again, there is no escape. Your only choice is to find some way to let your imagination continue to live.
- Imagine you could buy or find (1) object -- like Winston's glass paperweight -- that would help you remain 'sane' and maintain 'hope' for the future.
Challenge:
- Identify what the (1) object would be. Be creative. Anything is possible.
- Explain why this (1) object would help you keep sane and maintain hope.
- 5+ sentences.
If I had to come home everyday and lay in bed thinking about how torn my world was, it would be really difficult to stay sane at all. Winston struggles with right and wrong so far in the book. His instinct is to follow his mind and prove to all of Oceania that Big Brother is a liar and a fake. The other part of him knows that he will die if he even thinks about betraying the rules of BB. If I was in that two sided situation, I would of course need my friends and family but if I had to pick one thing, I would pick my Ipod. I know its not very original but sitting in my room in silence or doing homework in silence is like torture. I can't concentrate when it is quiet, and when it is quiet I think about everything bad and everything that is stressing me out. With the music, it lessens the stress and makes me focus on whats really important.
Posted by: Student #1 | May 15, 2008 at 09:37 PM
My paperweight would have a cardinal feather in it. I always love looking at cardinals in the winter and they make me think of happy things. Whenever I saw it I would think of those times and remember what my life was like. I think it would also remind me of the beauty of nature and that would reassure me. Finally, it would be pretty and I would enjoy looking at it because of that.
Posted by: Student #2 | May 17, 2008 at 03:52 PM
Since living in Winston's world would be nightmare for anybody who can think, one of my options would be escape. By escape, I don't mean to escape from Big Brother's world, but to escape from one's own conscience. I would buy a memory destruction pill so that I can be freed from my brain and live like any dull people in the book. Actually, these people who don't think at all are way happier than people like Winston. Thus, I would choose such a terrible resolution because there is no way to revolt against the Party. As we know, Winston's dreams of liberation can never become true, because unlike Madam Defarge in Tale of Two Cities, there is no real motivation to go against Big Brother. So, I think that instead of torturing one's conscience, the easy way would be to simply give it up. It might sound like suicide, but in such a constraint society, there is no other choices.
Posted by: Student #3 | May 17, 2008 at 10:22 PM
I'm not sure if this item would even be allowed in Big Brother's world but I would choose a guitar. The guitar is something that I really can't live without now that I've been playing for a little over a year. I dont think BB would approve though, because songs take thought. But maybe if I kept it hidden it would be alright.
Posted by: Student #4 | May 18, 2008 at 06:59 PM
I would buy ( if possible) a laser. But not the kind that hurts just the ones that are really fun to play with. (During a screening I probably would give into temptation and use it there.) It would give me hope because I could still maintain one of my favorite feelings. I know that I wouldn’t lose my sense of humor. I think that is why Winston lusts for love because he had such a deep absence of it. I would no problem with my sanity because I would be able to feel humor.
Posted by: Student #5 | May 18, 2008 at 09:58 PM
I would bring a pair of completely black tinted sunglasses that would not allow me to see anything when I wore them. For one, it would allow to obtain complete darkness, even with a telescreen in the room. While others may believe I am participating in the two minute hate, I am really staring aimlessly into a vast darkness, were I’d imagine a time before big brother. Without big brother knowing, I would be able to avoid his visual propaganda, the smirk on the big brothers face would be eradicated from my mind once I had the sunglass on. I could avoid staring into the ignorant blank stares of the proles, or the outer party. Better yet, I could avoid having my eye’s tell tale signs exploited by the Thoughtpolice or Spies. I could block off my eyes, which are in a sense windows to one’s soul, from the world.
Posted by: Student #6 | May 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
My object would be a snow globe. It would be a traditional one with a winter landscape and happy people stuck in the same position. I think that this would be an object that would provoke thought in someone living in this world. It would give me insight to an outside place that could be better than my own. It would also let me focus and let me pay attention to something other than my bad conditions.
Posted by: Student #7 | May 19, 2008 at 12:04 AM
If it existed in the 1984 world, I would choose a history textbook of our time. It is filled with the accumulation of truth that has happened. Because it is filled with truth it would give me security, evidence, and proof that what I knew was real. The textbook would allow me to keep my sanity by giving myself proof that I am right in my beliefs and not going crazy. It would also show proof that the government and BB is wrongly covering up history with lies and I could exploit this fact using the book.
Posted by: Student #8 | May 19, 2008 at 12:05 AM
I would buy an old radio, even though nothing may come through, I could still turn it on and hear the static. The radio, is used to link one to the outside world. Having the radio would provide a sense of differentiation from the controlling world in which I lived in, because I could listen to music through cd's that no one else could hear.
Posted by: Student #9 | May 19, 2008 at 08:50 AM