Orwell spends a great deal of time discussing Winston’s dreams. Discuss and analyze the dream sequence in Chapter 8. What does this dream suggest about Winston’s psychological state? Why might this dream be important to an understanding of Winston’s character? To the book as a whole?
Winston's dreams are important because as we go through the book we find that for the most part they come true. In chapter 8 he has the dream about his mother... now obviously this is a dream about what has already happened, he's not going to meet up with his mother in the end, but this dream does help Winston to realize something about human nature. That it is in fact human nature to feel and to love. That the proles are the only real people in Oceiania. That the party members have lost all feeling and therefore are no longer human. The book is essentially about Winston coming to a realization, he realized that he hates the party, he realizes that its all lies, he realizes his greatest fear and what was on the other side of the wall of darkness, and in his dream he realizes human nature and that he didn't actually kill his mother. This also tells us about Winston's character. There is a lot he knows but does not realize he knows because he to like so many others has supressed all his old memories. Earlier in the book he was frustrated when he couldn't get the answers he wanted out of the old man. The fact of the matter seems that Winston could answer his questions himself except for the fact that his conscious mind no longer knows the answers because they have been suppressed so far below the surface of conscious thought thus they really only come about in his dreams. Thus all the memories with his mother are in his dreams.
2 comments:
Nicely said Darlene. Winston's mind is just so complex that he couldn't find his own answers because he has way to much going on up there. Very good post!
I compeletly agree with what you are saying here. I also wrote about the fact that Winston realizes that the party has made them inhuman. The proles really are the only ones that are still human. I like what you said about this making him realize how much he hates the party. I also really like what you said about his memories of his mother being all dreams because of his conscious mind being surpressed, I hadn't thought of it like that before. Good job!
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