Reading Logs
Text 1: 1984 – Novel by George Orwell

This novel is set in a dystopia of London in the year 1984 in which a totalitarian government lead by a man named “Big Brother” closely surveil it citizens through telescreens. In this alternate reality the thought police prosecute anyone who thinks for themselves or does things such as owning a diary. The story follows Winston Smith, a man working at the ministry of truth, as he falls in love with a girl named Julia and they begin to conspire against the state.

Emmanuel Goldstein is an interesting character to me in that he may not even exist. Goldstein is said to be the leader of the Brotherhood (a secret organization which aims to overthrow the Party), the biggest enemy to the Party and the most dangerous man in Oceania. It is rumoured that he was once a high ranking member of the party and colleague of Big Brother, but that he rebelled against the Party by creating the Brotherhood. Despite these rumours, there is no definitive evidence of his existence. It could be that neither him nor the brotherhood exist, both being fabrications of the Party created purely to justify taking personal freedoms away from the public and also to direct the anger of the population away from the government and onto a fictitious enemy. When Winston asks O’Brien (a member of the Inner Party) if Goldstein exists he is told:
“That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to set you free when we have finished with you, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn whether the answer to that question is Yes or No. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.”
Goldstein is also interesting to me because of his similarities to Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was once a close friend of Joseph Stalin but later opposed Stalin and so was denounced as a traitor. In my opinion, this resemblance being intentional would make sense as 1984 was created as a satire of Russia during Stalin’s rule.

A message I took from this text was to be careful when valuing safety over your personal liberties and right to privacy. This is shown in the novel where telescreens are recording everything, including inside everyone’s houses. The justification for this by The Party was that it is to keep everyone safe and protect them from Goldstein, but this justification allowed them to use these things for malevolent reasons. If the Party disliked you or thought that you posed a threat to their existence then they could search through everything you had ever done until they find some crime you have committed, and then have you executed. Many things were illegal for no logical reason other than that it gave them a reason to arrest you. This message is increasingly important in today’s times as many cities are setting up security cameras on every street to reduce crime and people have devices with built in cameras and microphone sitting throughout their home. By letting the government or companies monitor us to protect us, we are giving them the ability to use these things to our detriment such as by selling our personal information to companies or arrest us over trivial things.

“Not a word of it could ever be proved or disproved. The Party claimed, for example, that today 40 per cent of adult proles were literate: before the Revolution, it was said, the number had only been 15 per cent.” – This quote shows a challenge that the characters had to deal with was not having reliable information to base their opinions off. This is because the Party fabricated facts so that it made them and their allies look good, meanwhile spread lies about their enemies to make them look bad. They also made it illegal to keep a diary as this would allow people to record events that showed the Party in a negative light. I relate a lot to this because most sources of news nowadays choose to selectively report on things that promote their agenda and ignore things that disagree with their ideas, or even lie about things to make their political side or their interests look good. Put simply, they use propaganda to protect their interests just as how Big Brother in the novel uses propaganda to protect theirs.

I think titling the novel “1984” was appropriate because George Orwell wrote it as a warning of what the future could become. When Orwell first wrote the book back in 1947, totalitarianism and dictatorships were on the rise so the book was written to warn everyone of what the world may be like if these things became more widespread. The year 1984 was chosen because this would have given some time for totalitarianism to grow, as well as for the fictional atomic war that is mentioned in the novel to have happened.

I would recommend this story to anyone capable of reading. This is because this book has aged incredibly well and is continually getting more relevant as many of the things expressed in this book have become, or are becoming, a reality. For example, just as telescreens in the novel watch the public’s every move and brainwash them with propaganda, we have phones, cameras and voice assistants watching and listening to us at all times and we have news on television spreading propaganda and telling us how to live or what to believe.
Text 2: Tower of Dawn – Novel by Sarah J. Maas
This text is set in a medieval fantasy world about a warrior who has been paralysed from the waist down. He wishes to aid his allies in the war against a lord of dark magic, but is unable to due to the injury he has sustained. He travels to the kingdom of Antica in the Southern Continent to ask for their army to ally with his, also hoping to be healed by the healer of the Torre Cesme once he arrives.

One character I found interesting was Chaol Westfall. He once served as the captain of the royal guard of a king who has ordered him to commit atrocities. However, he has shown regret for what he has once done and even fought against the king in a rebellion, the events of which caused him to be partially paralysed. He is now an important figure in the war against the dark lord Erawan. What is interesting to me about this character is that he is not shown as a wholly bad person nor perfectly good person. As mentioned earlier he has done bad things and killed innocent people under the orders of a bad king, but has been redeeming himself by rebelling against the king and also now by wishing to fight for the greater good against the dark lord. I thought this makes the character interesting because it shows how people are capable of change and being better than they once were, and how despite most novels showing the protagonists as being only good, and the antagonists as only bad, this character is more realistic because they have not always acted morally.

One message I took from this text is that everybody of capable of being better than they once were. This message relates to me because I try to behave morally and learn from mistakes. Chaol Westfall admits he hasn’t always been morally in the right shown by this quote which shows his response to being asked why he allowed the king to commit wrongdoing: ““I knew,” He said quietly. “That he was doing unspeakable things.”.”

One challenge that a character faces is that of Yrene Towers. She is the only healer of the Torre Cesme gifted enough to heal Chaol Westfall of his injury, and has sworn an oath to assist those in need. Despite this, she has an internal conflict of whether or not she should assist him after learning about his dark past. Shown by the excerpt: “To decide, Chaol realized. She wanted to decide whether to help him”. I thought this was a very captivating plot point as it shows how one’s own personal beliefs can conflict with each other and everyone has to make difficult decisions at times.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy stories about fantasy in medieval settings, such as those who enjoy books like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. I recommend it because it has a very interesting and creative, well laid out world and story and it is part of a large series so there is a lot of entertainment that can be had from reading this book.
Text 3: Animal Farm – Novella by George Orwell
This novella by George Orwell tells the story of farm animals who revolt against their farmer, forcing him off the farm. They rename the farm to “Animal Farm” and create the Seven Commandments of Animalism, rules to which all the animals of the farm should follow; the most important commandment being that all animals are equal. As the story progresses the pigs take over the farm and begin to behave like their previous owners. The seven commandments are butchered until the only one that remains is that all animals are equal. However, this commandment is changed to “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”. This text serves as an allegory for the formation of the Soviet Union. This is because Russian Revolution was to overthrow corrupt, immoral leaders which led to Stalin, a corrupt and immoral leader being put in power just as the animals overthrowing Mr. Jones put Napoleon in power.

One character I found interesting was Snowball. Snowball is another pig who lives in the Animal Farm and is interesting because just like Goldstein in Orwell’s novel 1984, Snowball is based on Stalin’s opposer, Leon Trotsky. Snowball is a morally flawed character, believing that pigs are superior to the other animals but is also a lot more logical and compassionate than Napoleon. Snowball aims to keep the ideals of the revolution forever and make the farm better than it previously was. This is shown by the quote “Now, comrades, to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honour to get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men could do.”

Another character I found interesting was Napoleon. Napoleon is a pig who becomes the leader of the Animal Farm after the rebellion. The reason why Napoleon is interesting to me is because he is based on Joseph Stalin. One example of his similarity to Joseph Stalin is him kicking Snowball off the farm before ordering the construction of the windmill, which was designed by Snowball. This is like how Stalin opposed Trotsky’s desire for industrialization, yet then adopts it after Trotsky was exiled from the Soviet Union. Napoleon has his army of 9 dogs chase Snowball off the farm to ensure there is no competition to his leadership. As leader Napoleon turns the farm into a dictatorship and becomes more cruel than Mr. Jones even was. This is shown in the quote “…out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of pigs, all walking on their hind legs…out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, and with his dogs gambolling round him. He carried a whip in his trotter.” Napoleon becomes the very things the animals rid themselves of.

I Recommend this to people interested in politics and/or history because it is an allegory for the Russian Revolution movement.
Text 4: Of Mice and Men – Novella by John Steinbeck
This story follows two fieldworkers, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is intelligent but lacks a formal education. Lennie is a large and incredibly strong man but mentally challenged. Because of his mental handicap he is often unable to contain his strength and this means he accidentally hurt or even at some point kills people and animals.

Lennie is an interesting character to me. He is kind-hearted and means well but often kills pet mice that he keeps by patting them too hard because he struggles with controlling his brute strength. Later in the novel he accidentally kills a puppy and tries to hide its body before shortly after accidentally killing a lady when he was trying to comfort her. This danger that he poses to people leads to George shooting him in the back of the head. Lennie interests me because he portrays one of the messages of the film; even though some people mean well their actions can cause harm. Lennie adores animals and is a good person but ultimately hurts and kills them when trying to pet them. Him being considerate is shown when him and George are sharing a limited supply of water, George drinks some and Lennie responds “Tha’s good, you drink some, George. You take a good big drink.” Even though this means he himself will have less water.

This message that people can cause harm while intending good is very relevant in society. Sometimes someone can try to do good but ultimately cause more harm than good. As Lennie once said “I can still tend the rabbits, George? I didn’t mean no harm, George.” He doesn’t intend to hurt animals but can’t control himself. I found this to be a powerful message about how good intentions can cause bad outcomes but don’t relate much to it as I can’t think of when it has personally happened to me.

I recommend this novella to anyone who enjoys stories with sad endings because Lennie dies at the end. I think people should read this novella for to understand how our best intentions can cause more harm than good at times.
Text 5: Birdman – Movie directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
This movie follows a washed up actor known as Riggan Thomson who is famous for once playing the superhero “Birdman”. He has written, directed, and is starring in a Broadway production called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. The film goes over his struggles from casting issues to working with a man notoriously difficult to work with as well as his personal mental health issues and inability to separate himself from his former Birdman superhero persona. The movie is shown from his perspective through its entirety which allows the audience to be tricked into believing Riggan has powers until the final sequences which indicate he doesn’t.

The most interesting character to me in this film would easily be the main character, Riggan Thomson. Riggan wishes to create a deep and meaningful broadway production to become relevant as an actor again yet receives a lot less appreciation for this than he does of his role as Birdman in a cheesy, decades old superhero movie franchise. Mark Shiner is also interesting to me. He is a famous, well known actor who is used to getting what he wants and acts entitled because of his fame. A quote that highlights this is when he tells Riggan “…don’t tell me how to do my job. Cause, this is my town.”

A message I took from this is that celebrities and actors can still be dealing with issues even if they are famous or wealthy. It shows the mental health issues many actors go through such as playing a role for so long that they view their fictional persona as an actual part of themself. This is very important in this world where the issues many celebrities may deal with internally are ignored by society because the general population tends to think that because they are wealthy and famous they all live easy lives.

A struggle he faces is that due to playing the role of Birdman for so long in this movie franchise he struggles with separating himself from this persona to the point that he believes he has actual supernatural powers. He also struggles with dealing with the fact that he is losing relevance as a celebrity. This is confirmed many times, one of which being when he says “I don’t exist. I’m not even here. I don’t exist. None of this matters.”

I think that anyone who enjoys films like Fight Club where the audience is put in the perspective of someone and intentionally misled should watch this film. I recommend this film because it shows the mental health issues many actors and celebrities go through.

Text 6: Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse – Movie directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman
This film is about Miles Morales, a teenager bitten by a radioactive spider who gains superpowers, becoming spider-man and also the other spider-men from other universes who help him fight against the Kingpin.

One character I found interesting was Kingpin. He kills people and uses a machine that could destroy the world, which are bad things to do but he does to try to get his wife and son back that died in a car accident. He also uses a lot of the money raised by his crime operations to build infrastructure in poor areas. This makes him interesting to me as he is a very bad man but has many redeeming qualities and some of the bad things he does are for good reasons. Personally, I could understand the rationale behind his actions but believe that the means did not justify the ends.
Miles’ Uncle Aaron is also an interesting character to me. He tries to make Miles think he is a good person and wants Miles to look up to him but eventually Miles figures out that he is a supervillain. It is interesting because it shows how when we care about people we want them to think positively of us. This is captured by his quote where he says “No, Miles. I’m sorry. I wanted you to look up to me. I let you down, man, I let you down.”

A message I learnt from this film was that it is never too late for a second chance. The Peter Parker from the alternate universe has broken up with his wife and has become unfit, unhealthy and likely depressed. At the end of the film he decides to try and change, however, and dresses up in a fancy suit to rekindle his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. This is important in society because some people accept things for how they are rather than try and change them once their life falls apart.

A challenge faced by a character was Miles Morales dealing with the death of his uncle. It is also an important message that no matter how hard we try things won’t always go perfectly. This is captured by the quote from the film “Miles, the hardest thing about this job is you can’t always save everybody.”

I would recommend this film to people who enjoy Superhero movies because it plays off the cliches of most superhero movies except with some twists and has good messages behind it.