Comrades, Let Us Praise Big Brother!

Comrades, let me ask, why am I here today? What do I represent to do with your goodthinking? Are the principles of good and ungood in the Dec of Ind to all comrades? And am I to speak our good to the comrades, and to plusspeak our plusgood, and doubleplusspeak our doubleplusgood given by Big Brother?

Would to Big Brother, for comrade’s sakes and ours, that the unblackwhite could answer questions. Then the bellyfeel would be easy. For what comrade does not duckspeak? For what comrade is so ungood that one would not see the good in Big Brother? For what comrade is so duckspeakwise ungood that one would not give his voice to speak doubleplusgood of Big Brother? I am not that comrade. In a case like that, the ungood comrade should free their facecrime and thoughtcrime.

But this is not the report. I say it with a ungood sense of a gap between comrades. I will not duckspeak against our glorious Big Brother! Your high ind only demonstrates the doubleplusbig gap between us. The crimethink in which you crimethinkers act upon are not good to other comrades. The full praise of ungood, plusungood, doubleplusungood, and ind passwise down by your fathers is shared by you, not by me other comrades. This Fort of Ju is yours, doubleplusungood comrade, not mine. You may show unbellyfeel, I must show bellyfeel. To drag a comrade into the doubleplusungood act of crimethink, and call upon him to join you in doubleplusungood acts, were incomrade ungood and doubleplusungood. Do you mean, comrades, to crimethink, by asking me to speak today? If so, there is more doubleplusungood to your acts than once thought. And let me say to you, that it is ungood to copy the example of a nation (Eurasia) whose crimethinks, building up tall, were shut down by the act of the Big Brother, burying that nation in doubleplusungood ruin.

 Original Speech: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm

•• The Prized Drawing ••

"The Lottery", written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story that offers much insight on the role of tradition and it's impact on our lives.

"The Lottery" tells of a place where villagers gather together to draw a slip of paper from a wooden box. On just one slip of paper there is a black dot. The black dot has chosen whom to claim its victim - Mrs. Hutchinson. As she begs for the villagers understanding little kids and adults all around grip on to their stones and begin to throw them with all of their power towards her. It is instantly forgotten that she is a mother, a friend, and a wife, and as soon as that black dot claimed it's prize it was each man for himself. The story closes with the villagers attacking Mrs. Hutchinson.

The story demonstrates the immense power that time has over human beings. It is never made clear exactly why this is a tradition for the village to continue, but for some reason as the people gather around they immediately grab their stones and manually get ready to stone the chosen one. This is a great example of how over time, traditions change and people forget the true meaning behind the tradition. It becomes something of a habit, rather than something of purpose.

"The Lottery" presents the idea that perspectives of right and wrong can be skewed by our individual experiences. Each society is different. The rituals one place has could be polar opposites of another place. It is easily forgotten that our surroundings influence us in a multitude of ways. As an outsider reading this short story, I was in shock. I questioned how parents could encourage their children to search for the biggest stone possible to throw at another human being. That is exactly the beauty of this story, though. Jackson forces readers to recognize the difference between the readers ideals and the villagers (in the story) ideals. To each individual in the story, the lottery means something different. We are each a pair of eyes and one brain. Our beliefs have been skewed by the environment around us just as much as the next persons.

Several different characters are presented throughout the short story and each has a different perspective on the tradition. Old Man Warner, for example, encourages the tradition. At first it is easy to think of this man in negative way. We wonder how one man can encourage a tradition that forces an innocent mother being stoned to death based off of a drawing of a slip of paper? After searching farther than beyond the words on th
e paper, however, it becomes clear that Old Man Warner is simply afraid of change.  For many people taking chances and searching the unknown is a frightening task. perhaps Old Man Warner does like the lottery tradition, but by questioning the lottery one is questioning who he is and what he has known all of his life. This circles back around to the idea that our experiences make us who we are. Without the lottery, who is Old Man Warner?

While reading "The Lottery" I was questioning the value of tradition. For each individual it is different. For some, the purpose of tradition is only to be fair. If a man died last year from being stoned to death then a man should die this year, right? For others, the purpose of tradition is to live with the comfort of something familiar. "The Lottery" emphasizes the idea of what an individual places values on and what a society places values on. Are you questioning what you believe yet?

Strolling Through Impressionism

An exhale leaves a thick cloud consisting of droplets of water and the cold air that surrounds it. Grays and yellows mixed together pondering their ability to light up the sidewalks and benches for man to take a stroll. Perhaps a calming stride to gather thoughts and ideas about the blurry attitudes of mankind still asleep in their houses and tucked in their beds. Serenity passes through the shady green blobs of grass, of trees, and of bushes. Surrounded by crossed lines between nature and mankind. The soft breeze chilly enough to make muscles tense and jaws clench. Man can't help but tighten his grip on the hard leash seemingly frozen to his hand. The dog so absorbed in his daily routine that he doesn't seem to feel the same shiver that man feels. The chill passing by seems much more contagious to the human race than to canine. The dog sways side to side deciding which strand of dead grass to sniff a part. Which strand shall be the chosen one for the dogs triumphant act of passing water. The sounds muffled by the cloth covering the mans ears for protection against the cold air passing by. The chirping of the birds, the barking of the dogs, the conversations of the people all deadened by the lack of energy gained through a full night's sleep. Early in the morning, the sun not quite awake yet, the man strolls deciphering his thoughts, the dog sways deciphering his grass, as the grays and yellows brighten deciphering the sidewalk from the benches.

My Colonial Experience

I recently took a voyage across the sea. I landed on a territory where I was instructed to bring back a profit of resources. My team mates and I made it. We survived the erratic weather conditions, and the hostility from the natives. We were able to get in, get the job done, and get out. Not only did we survive, but we made it home with a surplus of resource- meaning profit for all.

When we first landed, we were obligated to pick how we would approach the natives. When we first stepped off the ship we had to decide w
hether we wanted to build our relationship based off of love, or aggression. After a long debate, we unanimously decided to use force. If we wanted to gain respect from the natives, we needed to first receive all the resources we possibly could. From then on, we decided to also show them we care about them, and that we weren't total monsters.
I recently took a voyage across the sea. I landed on an island where I was instructed to bring back a profit of resources. My team mates and I made it. We survived the erratic weather conditions, and the hostility from the natives. We were able to get in, get the job done, and get out. Not only did we survive, but we made it home with a surplus of resource- meaning profit for all.

When we first landed, we were obligated to pick how we would approach the natives. When we first stepped off the ship we had to decide whether we wanted to build our relationship based off of love, or aggression. After a long debate, we unanimously decided to use force. If we wanted to gain respect from the natives, we needed to first receive all the resources we possibly could. From then on, we decided to also show them we care about them, and that we weren't total monsters.

Many factors influenced my groups decision to switch back and forth between being peaceful (and not taking action against the natives to gain resources) and using force to gain resources rather than continuously using force against the natives. Our first decision to use force to begin with a surplus of recourses affected our next decision. We decided to be kind and show our gentle side. From then on we switched back and forth from being aggressive and being kind. Violence was necessary to make a profit, but gentleness was also necessary for survival. We couldn't have natives trying to kill us or sabotage our resources could we?

The most important question we kept in the back of our minds was "do we have a profit at this point in time?" If the answer was no, then that would be the reason we would use force. If the answer to our question was yes, then there would not be a reason to be forceful, and we would present our peaceful side to the natives. We kept a surplus so that environmental conditions would not put us in debt. If we were ever running low on resources we would choose to be a bit violent.

I feel confident we made all of the right moves and choices.


So now back to reality. Was the game a realistic reflection of colonialism? Certain aspects of the game we played in lit class were realistic, but not all. Having to decide when to use violence was one of the more realistic aspects of the game. When living a colonial experience violence is necessary whether we like it or not. Another realistic aspect was having to deal with environmental conditions. The spontaneous card picking accurately represented the random and unpredictable weather changes.

I am hesitant on whether the goodwill or hostility card picking was a realistic representation, however. It does not seem likely that after using the amount of force on the natives that we used, they would still be relatively happy with us.

This game forced me to understand that even though I despise violence, it is necessary for colonization. No matter how much I hoped for a peaceful game, I was forced to use violence in order to survive, but mainly to gain profit.

Many factors influenced my groups decision to switch back and forth between being peaceful (and not taking action against the natives to gain resources) and using force to gain resources rather than continuously using force against the natives. Our first decision to use force to begin with a surplus of recourses affected our next decision. We decided to be kind and show our gentle side. From then on we switched back and forth from being aggressive and being kind. Violence was necessary to make a profit, but gentleness was also necessary for survival. We couldn't have natives trying to kill us or sabotage our resources could we?

The most important question we kept in the back of our minds was "do we have a profit at this point in time?" If the answer was no, then that would be the reason we would use force. If the answer to our question was yes, then there would not be a reason to be forceful, and we would present our peaceful side to the natives. We kept a surplus so that environmental conditions would not put us in debt. If we were ever running low on resources we would choose to be a bit violent.

I feel confident we made all of the right moves and choices.

So now back to reality. Was the game a realistic reflection of colonialism? Certain aspects of the game we played in lit class were realistic, but not all. Having to decide when to use violence was one of the more realistic aspects of the game. When living a colonial experience violence is necessary whether we like it or not. Another realistic aspect was having to deal with environmental conditions. The spontaneous card picking accurately represented the random and unpredictable weather changes.

I am hesitant on whether the goodwill or hostility card picking was a realistic representation, however. It does not seem likely that after using the amount of force on the natives that we used, they would still be relatively happy with us.

This game forced me to understand that even though I despise violence, it is necessary for colonization. No matter how much I hoped for a peaceful game, I was forced to use violence in order to survive, but mainly to gain profit.