Although the class discussed multiple topics about George Orwell’s argument in 1984, I found the discussion about what motivates the people of Oceania to be the most insightful. Hope appears to be the greatest, evident motivator for the people of Oceania. Although this community is primarily governed by ignorance and fear, hope persists through love and the perceived existence of the Brotherhood. For instance, Winston overcomes his apprehension of expressing his love for Julia, which is an act warranting significant punishment by the Party. However, the love affair continues in secret, for Winston and Julia find that sexuality is the strongest form of rebellion against the Party and ‘a political act.’ Furthermore, since Julia has experience sexually corrupting inner-Party member, their small act of protest enables Winston to think beyond Oceania and hope …show more content…
The novel warns society about the devastating effects totalitarianism could have on individuals. Also, since my group discussion consisted of long discussions about the meaning of the novel, the class was not able to go into as much detail about the novel’s connection to current day society, as first detailed in the TED Talk by Zeynep Tufekci. Ultimately, I found this modern-day connection to be the most interesting and I had the most to say about it. However, the class ran out of time before I was able to share my interest in this topic. I believe that being able to relate a novel written in 1949 to modern day society is powerful and truly provides important insight to the universal nature of the story. For instance, one of my classmates mentioned the list of seven words banned from the CDC by President Trump: vulnerable, fetus, entitlement, diversity, transgender, evidence-based, and science-based. This recent action by the President resembles how the Party in Oceania was developing Newspeak to limit the free thought of its