Hutchings 1 Ezekiel Hutchings Mr. Waclawik AP Literature 25 September 2023 George Orwell’s 1984 Final Questions 1. Does the book inspire you? Repel you? Startle you? Help you to better understand your own feelings? Make you angry or convince you you’re right about something? How and why? I enjoyed 1984 because of its mix of emotions. The main character's persistence and curiosity to unveil the truth really inspired me. It showed me how people can overcome big challenges. How one person can make a big difference in the world. The book really made me think about how in other parts of the world this could be the reality they're living in. The mistreatment of the citizens by the government and how they could get away with it because of the brainwashing really opened my mind to how these things can be achieved. I also got angry at times when a lot of people would just give up on what they want because of fear of their regime, or how they give up on their beliefs and morals out of fear. I especially hated how their own families would give up on each other because they would betray the regime. In the end, the book convinced me how if there is wrongdoing in the world you have to stand up and fight against it. It made me believe even more in the power of caring about others and working together. Even though it showed a tough reality, it also showed that things can get better, and individuals can make a big difference. Hutchings 2 2. Does the story have a simple plot or a complicated one? As you read it, were you aware of how the sequence of events was developing, or could you detect the planned pattern of happenings only after you’d finished the book? Does the author foreshadow events or spring a surprise on you? How? The story is complicated but not extremely complicated. It weaves different characters, stories and what’s happening around them, making it complex but still interesting. Sometimes when the stories were overlapped it was hard to figure out what was really happening and when but as I read on further, I started to understand how everything fit together. The author gave little clues about what would happen next which increased my understanding of the story. This made the story feel connected, even when it didn't seem that way at first. But the author also knew how to throw in surprises, he would suddenly introduce unexpected twists which would make me wonder what would happen next. The story was somewhat obvious in how they would get caught but I never expected them to get caught by O’Brien and when they were caught, I didn’t expect them to be tortured and for Winston to betray Julia. The unexpected surprise when Winston returned to normal life was saddening. The author foreshadowed most of the book but was very clever in how he didn’t foreshadow how he would just go back to normal life after being caught.
