1984: Book 2 Chapters 3-6

Passage:

"A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three or four meters high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a submachine gun pointed from his hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun, magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you. The thing had been plastered on every blank space on every wall, even outnumbering the portraits of Big Brother. The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism. As though to harmonize with the general mood, the rocket bombs had been killing larger numbers of people than usual. One fell a on a crowded film theater in Stepney, burying several hundred victims among the ruins. The whole population of the neighborhood turned out for a long, trailing funeral which went on for hours and was in effect an indignation meeting. Another bomb fell on a piece of waste ground which was used as a playground, and several dozen children were blown to pieces. There were further angry demonstrations, Goldstein was burned in effigy, hundreds of copies of the poster of the Eurasian soldier were torn down and added to the flames, and a number of shops were looted in the turmoil; then a rumor flew round that spies were directing the rocket bombs by means of wireless waves, and an old couple who were suspected of being of foreign extraction had their house set on fire and perished of suffocation." (Book 2 Chapter 5 Page 149)

Response:
This quote was very unique and made me stop since it shows how the Party prepares for Hate Week. Hate Week in 1984 is the week in which it is an organized event to show and express the hatred of the Party's enemy. This quote was spectacular to me since I felt some connections to this quote with the personal lives of people living in our war periods. This quote is very similar to our own American life, and it is quite scary visualizing that a book that was published in 1949. This quote depicted, in great detail, the poster that was being hung around town depicted the Eurasian soldier. This Eurasian soldier in this quote in my opinion can be seen to be just like an Uncle Sam poster. Both were similar in the ways in which whatever angle you looked at the poster, some part was always looking towards you. In Uncle Sam's case, it was his finger, in this case, it was the muzzle of the gun that was always following anybody that was looking at the poster. Also, another aspect in which the poster was similar to an Uncle Sam poster is that the poster was hung up to increase patriotism towards its citizens. This poster was for citizens to show patriotism for the Party, and in Uncle Sam's poster, it was to show patriotism for the United States. Both for the patriotism in times of war. The ways in which Orwell described the poster, and the ways in which it was hung all around London seems to be almost identical to a description of the Uncle Sam poster. Also, the poster in this case and in Uncle Sam's case, the poster was used for war propaganda for people to join the war, and for people to go against the enemy of the Party. Below is pictures of the Eurasian soldier poster hung all around London next to the Uncle Sam poster hung all around the United States.

This quote also embodies the rocket bombs that were dropped in the Party's territory for a sort of encouragement in preparation to Hate Week. This preparation is not a usual thing many will suspect as war propaganda, but unfortunately this was the Party's way for their citizens to go even more against the Party's enemy. It seems as if that the Party was setting up their own bombs to make their citizens believe that the enemy is doing it so their hatred for the enemy continues to grow. It is unbelievable to think that the own government of Oceania will be the ones dropping the bombs in their own territory, but if we think about the situation it is true that it is reasonable for the government to do such an act since it makes it seem to the citizens that their territory may very soon diminish if they didn't have a strong hatred for the opposing enemy. This is an unusual way of propaganda, but itworks in my opinion. However, in our own modern life, I hope that this would never happen in our case since it is kind of crazy for innocent lives to be taken away. 

Questions:

Question to ask Winston/ all the citizens of Oceania:

1. Do you guys look forward in participating for Hate Week or are you forced to participate in it or else you would be arrested by the Thought Police?
2.  If you had the choice, would you not participate in Hate Week?
3. Did the picture of the Eurasian soldier have an effect on you to increase your hatred towards them? Did the rocket bomb attacks have an effect on you to increase your hatred towards them?
4. Are you aware that the government is the one setting off the bombs in their own territories?

Questions to ask INGSOC (the Party/government of Oceania in 1984):

1. Are you guys aware that you are killing innocent lives when you set out another rocket bomb?
2. Why exactly are you committing wrongful crimes against your own citizens for other citizens to increase their hatred towards your enemy?
3. Is there any citizen that knows that you are attacking your own territories for them to thing that it is your enemy doing all the acts?
4. Is “Big Brother” still watching the citizens since by Orwell it seems that the Eurasian soldier poster is taking over and outnumbering the posters of “Big Brother?”
5. Do you think that the acts that you are doing will certainly increase the citizens hatred towards your enemy in preparation for Hate Week?
6. What other wrongful acts do you have in store for the Hate Week preparation?

Questions for George Orwell (the author of the book):

1. Were your intentions while describing the Eurasian solider supposed to be related to Uncle Sam, a prominent figure in periods of the United States?
2. If not, did you ever realize the connection to Uncle Sam?
3. Did you ever realize that this quote has similar relation to modern times?
4. What else do you have in store for this war propaganda and Hate Week preparation?