6th chapter 1984 by George Orwell '' Big Brother is watching you "

This week’s post is about a part of the 6th chapter of 1984 by George Orwell. It will mainly focus on the internal fight that Winston is going through, especially his ambiguous feelings and memories. The post will also discuss the impact of the situation of the country on the protagonist, and how it affected his life.

The whole fragment of the text is happening at the Chesnut Tree Cafe. Winston Smith is being tormented by his memories and feelings while drinking his usual Gin and playing chess. He is being interrupted numerous times by propaganda announcements on the television about the outcome of the war and will finally feel excited and accept the fact that he accepts the party. He concludes that he finished being confused and discovers that he loves Big Brother.

Winston is thinking about how he became an ally to the Party, and how he abandoned his revolutionary thoughts and decided to become like every other citizen. After being tortured for a certain period of time, he finally discovered that if he wants to be happy, he needs to become part of the masses and accept facts and decisions imposed by the Party.  We conclude that in this situation, the system is more powerful than liberty and won over critical thinking, and it’s illustrated when Winston wrote on the dust of the table: 2+2=5. The brainwash and torture were successful in changing who he was.

Although he is clearly determined and convinced of his new life, he is constantly having an internal fight in his mind, because of some memories that keeps haunting him. The gin that he keeps drinking may be involved in the apparition of these thoughts, because it shows the real personality of the character. A main thing that he remembers is an old meeting with Julia, his old love. He recalls how torture changed her physical appearance, by becoming thin, undesirable and totally undesirable. He discovers that their betrayal was mutual, when they were interrogated in the rooms of the ministry of love. The way their discussion is going shows that they both became indoctrinated by the system; especially when they repeated each other’s words just like robots.

One party ruling: When there is only one party that represents the authority in a country, this can lead to a absolute totalitarianism, as it enables this party to rule over the masses by channels that are available to the party . In the story the party was watching the citizens from their TVs, which we can relate to today governments as they use technology to control over their citizen "mind" . For instance , they can use social media to expose the people to certain kind of messages, so they can be mislead and directed towards what the government's wants . When one party rules, the individuality of each citizen can be effected by that, as the party wants everyone's to see with the eye of the party. In other words, there's no need for you think because we think for you . In the same sense, such way of limiting ones freedom will by time cause some rebellious acts, such as what Winston did ! Those who are willing to think for their selfs and see things different from the government's point of view, surely will face two options: either to learn to love big brother or die fighting against big brother.

The drama continues and memories keep showing up in Winston’s mind. One other thing that he remembers is an event of his childhood. The scene is describing how he was playing with his mother and sister at home and how he was truly overjoyed. But he quickly changes his mind and convinces himself that these are false memories and that he shouldn’t think about it. One main thing that influences the antagonist is the propaganda diffused on television about the Party and what’s happening in the war between Oceania and Eurasia. In the end, the ultimate news that impacts him is the announcement of victory. Winston feels excitement and joy, and thinks that he is now done being confused about his position: He now loves Big Brother once and for all.

 This text illustrates how mind control can have a strong effect over a person as we see the effect of the news on us, they can change our point of view and make us believe whatever we are told. The power of mind control and the ways a message can be delivered are unlimited, everyone’s judgment can be changed and played with, indeed a mind is a toy, if its weak it will break and will be easily malleable.

Alice in Wonderland Chapter V-III

Alice in Wonderland Chapter V-III

(Advice from a caterpillar - Looking glass insects ) 

The story of Alice in wonderland is this week post. The blogpost will discuss the following issues that the story raises: the identity crisis, the metamorphosis of oneself, the change around us that affects us but also the links between the story and culture and religion.

Alice in wonderland is a story about a girl who went to a different universe from hers, where creatures, labels, significance of words and also the power of language is different from the one we know. Alice during the story makes conversation with these creatures which made her abashed but also amazed, as she experienced changes physically and mentally.   

Alice in Wonderland, Advice from a Caterpillar, where Alice meets a caterpillar smoking hookah. The caterpillar questions Alice and she admits her present personality crisis, which is demonstrated by her powerlessness to remember the poem which is “Father William” (also known as “The Old Man’s Comforts”), by Robert Southey, which is a poem about the importance of living in moderation, and many Victorian children were required to memorize it. We can see that the character displayed as a caterpillar is well picked since its known for its transformation from a slow moving, fat and hideous animal to a beautifully colourful winged butterfly. In this respect the ‘Caterpillar’ character transmits the message to a reader to not to be afraid of a fundamental metamorphosis in his or her self. The Greek word ‘metamorphosis’ means ‘change in form’ and the Caterpillar himself is a proof of the transition of the self since he will change into a chrysalis and later into a butterfly. We also notice that this scene contains a few references to the oblivious. As we notice the Caterpillar smokes a water pipe, which is utilized in several cultures as a method for transcending conscious awareness. Additionally, the Caterpillar seems to have clairvoyant capacities, which appears from the accompanying section: One side will make you become taller, and the other side will make you become shorter.

In the Second part of the text Alice in Looking-glass. Alice and the Gnat talk about how one’s name should relate to one’s identity or physical characteristics. As they talk about the different names of various insects in their separate universes, the Gnat asks Alice about the purpose of names if the insects do not respond to the names when called by them. Alice explains that the names are not necessarily for animals and objects to identify themselves by and respond to, but rather, names help those with powers of language to label, classify, and organize what they experience. But in Looking-Glass World, people are not the only species with the power of speaking and language, which changes Alice's point of view about naming and the properties of names. Alice’s interactions with the Fawn are initially friendly, but then after discovering her human child identity he became hostile. And this fear of the Fawn towards Alice is similar to the Christian beliefs. As in Genesis, the forest is Eden, in which humans and animals coexisted. Then Alice and the Fawn exit the forest just as Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden after tasting from the Tree of Knowledge. Just like the story of the Fall of Eden, the Fawn becomes afraid once it remembers that Alice is a human and that she presents a threat to his safety.

Alice in wonderland is a story that describes the journey of every normal person, we tend to relate to it, due to the metaphors used in it, it shows our constant and infinite battle for finding and defining ourselves, but also our struggle to adapt when put in different environments. It is an amazing story but also a great lesson given by a wise Caterpillar and a fearful Fawn. 

The Dewa Ruci The Book of Cirebon

The Dewa Ruci ; The Book of Cirebon

The Dewa Ruci from The Book of Cirebon, is a wonderful mixture of Javanese syncretism with Sufism, Hinduism and Javanese philosophy, it is a story and a puppets play which contains advices about life delivered by Dewa ruci to Wrekudara.

It illustrates the efforts of Wrekudara and his struggling to find the fullness of life. In addition, this story also describes how Wrekudara get advices from Dewa Ruci.

 As the topic of this week’s blogbost, we will analyze the moral message that is actually contained in the story, as well as the mystical teachings contained in the Dewa Ruci story (the colors), which is built upon the interaction that occurs between the two main characters and figures, Bima or Wrekudara and the dwarf god Dewa Ruci itself.

Keywords: Wrekudara, Dewa Ruci, Life Perfection.

The power of mind is not only represented in learning but also is represented in the power of repressing ones ego and desires such as to dominate. Having such ego and self-interests desires can blind our eyes. However, through the power of our mind can overcome them and help us to see things clearly as written in the text "The power of mind, its function, is its ability to see, to discern that which is genuine.” Therefore, our mind has the power that allows us to master ourselves and free our soul from any sin and when we reach that state of mind which is called in Sufism (fanāʾ) which means the death of one’s self (ego) we become able to reach enlightenment and represent god. Dewa Ruci advised that, in every action there must be awareness, which is based on conscience. He explains how humans act on the control of their Lord, and act in awareness. In other words, the will to act on the basis of conscience, is the same as acting on the blessing or the will of God. The four colors present in the story, named, black, red, yellow, and white are the colors seen by Wrekudara when inside the body Dewaruci. Each color is a symbol of the basic properties found in human beings. The black color is a symbol of anger. The color red is a symbol of lust, which is often misleading people. The yellow color is a symbol for the confusion that often disorients humans, so it is often misleading and damaging. Finally, the white color symbolizing purity or clarity, contained in man. And they can be interpreted in the way that even when a person is away from God, away from what is in his heart, the color white, as a symbol of goodness, should be able to fight the three vices contained in the human body. But In a real fight between three people against one man, it is very difficult to imagine him winning against them. In life, perhaps, it’s also hard to find people that can beat anger, lust, and confusion, and attain their inner peace. If indeed they were able to defeat their evil qualities, well, undoubtedly they reached perfection.

Therefore, being aware of our acts is the key to a life of truth. Awareness is the beginning of the truth, what is done consciously; it will be done with full consideration of good and bad.

In addition mysticism, in this story there are some moral messages that can be learned by the reader. Mainly, the big and strong determination of the Wrekudara figure, who show a aware and vigilant attitude on what has happened, and will happen, as well, as the call of the Dewa Ruci, to always be humble in life. Arrogant attitude is an attitude that is not commendable, because man is never higher than the Almighty. And finally a reminder that we that we should remain alert to always be able to control our behavior and acts.

This paper is far from perfect, if there is a shortage or a mistake to rethink in the writing of this article, the authors apologizes. Feedback on this work are more than welcome for a future evaluation and a better learning.