A Revelation: 1984 and The Giver

So today I just watched "The Giver" (movie).  It has been a while since I last read the book, but I still remember the book having a profound impact on me.  Come to think of it, The Giver was my first dystopian book, the first book to get me hooked onto the genre.  Anyways, before I go on, I want to make this clear: this is not a movie review (though I will admit I thought the movie was excellent.) No, this is is just a rambling post about a connection I made shortly after watching "The Giver."

Before I go on, have you read 1984 by George Orwell? 

Alright, I know that was a rather random question, but it will all make sense in a second, I promise.

Jumping back to "The Giver."  So I was thinking about the meaning of the movie/book, and came upon the conclusion that the message is "you most know one extreme to know the other." Okay, so that wasn't very well phrased.  Let me elaborate: in order to feel joy, you must know sadness.  In order to feel love, you most know loss.  In order to feel peace, you must know war/conflict.  Basically, The Giver conveys the message of "you can't miss what you never had." 

Alright, and here is my big epiphany.  Over the summer, I read 1984 and this famous quote really stuck out to me:

At first, I didn't understand it.  How could war be peace? Freedom be slavery and ignorance be strength?  But after watching "The Giver," I realized that it does make sense in its own convoluted way.  You see, without war, people wouldn't know what peace really meant because there is nothing to compare it to.  Nobody would appreciate the concept of freedom if slavery didn't exist. I still haven't quite figured out how ignorance is strength yet...I'm getting there (have any ideas? let me know down in the comments!)

In other words, "you never know a good thing 'till it's gone."  So like how there can be no joy without pain, there can be no peace without war and so forth.  

Alright, I think that is enough thinking for tonight...going to call it a day!  

Book Review: 1984

Title: 1984

Author: George Orwell

Genre: Negative Utopian

Book Blurb: 

While 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia", that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world — so powerful that it's completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions — a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time

Review:

So I've done it.  I've finally read the book which answers my question: "Where does the Big Brother reference stem from?" (Not that I was forced to read this book or anything *wink wink nudge nudge cough cough school*  But all silliness aside, this book honestly wasn't exactly wasn't what I expected--it wasn't bad (surprisingly easy to read), the plot and characters just wasn't what I was expecting.

Set in a "negative utopia" (clearly this book was written before the whole "dystopian" phase of 2012-13--not that I have anything against the genre--in fact, it's one of my favorites,) Orwell paints a very grim and futuristic America (well, not futuristic any more consider 1984 passed 30 years ago.)

And here's the thing: I found the setting quite interesting and terrifying and I liked how the main character was an outlier compared to the rest of the people. There were a lot of quotable quotes as well.  But that ending. That ending.  Utter disappointment.

Let me backtrack a bit.

I was rooting for Winston, the protagonist, from the beginning to fight the system.  I was so happy when he met 2 other people who were also against the system, one who happens to induct him into the Brotherhood, the underground movement against the Party (aka the bad guys.)  But then he gets betrayed and gets thrown into prison. And this is where everything goes downhill. 

***Spoiler Alert***

Winston gets brainwashed into loving Big Brother and the Party. Quite literally the last sentence--"He loved big brother" (Orwell, last page of the 1984).  How depressing is that? (By the way, be sure to check out my Why Are High School Reading Books Depressing? discussion.)  I mean, you spend the past 200+ pages cheering along the character to stay strong and not breakdown--but he gets defeated by the Party anyways and even betrays the love of his life.

If there was a sequel to this book, I might have been okay with that because there is hope for Winston to redeem himself--but there is no sequel (unless somebody wants to write one? Any takers?) and I closed the book with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Guess I am a happily-ever-after person.

I would recommend this book if you want something that discusses a serious/grim topic (definitely do not read this if you want a light hearted read!)  It's still an interesting book and I'm glad I've read it.

Rating: