Pop Culture References I Spotted/Imagined

...but it doesn't matter which, because, as they say, "All happenings are in the mind. Whatever happens in all minds, truly happens." - p. 352

"Most of the time they screamed abuse at him and threatened at every hesitation to deliver him over to the guards again; but sometimes they would suddenly change their tune, call him comrade, appeal to him in the name of Ingsoc and Big Brother, and ask him sorrowfully whether even now he had not enough loyalty to the Party left to make him wish to undo the evil he had done." - p. 318

This is the way my mind works, I'm afraid.

"Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?" - p. 324

Not anymore-- all the Time Turners got smashed in the Ministry of Magic in 1995.

"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?" -p. 325 (and approximately eighty-seven other times)

Apparently, that's a very deep question in literary circles.

"He knew in advance what O'Brien would say: ... That the Party was the eternal guardian of the weak, a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come, sacrificing its own happiness to that of others." - p. 337

I don't have a video clip for this yet because it'll be in Deathly Hallows: Part Two. *stifled excitement spasm* But Grindelwald, the dark wizard from the first Wizarding World War-- the one prior to Voldemort that coincided with World War II-- had a slogan, and it was "For the Greater Good." The point is that he was a very evil wizard, but he persuaded himself and those who loved him that what he was doing was morally acceptable. That's also the definition of the principle of double effect again.

"We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power." - p. 338

"There is no good and evil--only power and those too weak to seek it."

"We shall conquer [Eurasia and Eastasia] when it suits us. And if we did not, what difference would it make? We can shut them out of existence. Oceania is the world."

**Spoilers for The Hunger Games ahead**

The movie installment of The Hunger Games is still in the early stages, but in it, the world as we know it has essentially ended, and North America was divided into thirteen districts overseen but the infamous Capital. The thirteenth district was said to have rebelled and then promptly destroyed, and afterward, The Hunger Games were established as a punishment/entertainment for the remaining districts throughout the ages. However, somewhere down the line in the trilogy, Katniss realizes that District Thirteen does still sustain life, but it's being hushed up by the Capital because they don't want the other districts believing they can get away with rebellion.

"Do you understand that you are alone?" -p. 344

"Well if I were You-Know-Who, I'd want you to feel cut off from everyone else; because if it's just you alone, you're not as much of a threat." -Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Voldemort's plan is the same as O'Brien's, I think. Winston wasn't really alone.

"He was not bored; he had no desire for conversation or distraction. Merely to be alone, not to be beaten or questioned, to have enough to eat, and to be clean all over, was completely satisfying." - p. 349/350

That reminded me of Siddhartha, in which Siddhartha embarks on a quest for nirvana, which is the absence of desire, if I'm not mistaken. Winston sounds eerily as though he found it in that cell, which brings up an old quandary of mine. Is nirvana really a desirable state? I'm not questioning it with skepticism as my overriding feeling. In the state of nirvana, I'm given to believe that there is no real suffering and no real joy--just pure contentment. The reason we can feel joy is because we know that it's the opposite of suffering and vice versa.

On a similar note, what exactly is the difference between joy and suffering? It's nothing tangible. I'm just curious. I mean I know, in the vague sense that everyone can feel it, but... it baffles me a little that they can coexist, and we recognize the difference. I guess it's just a human thing. I don't know. If someone has an insight here, please share.

"They dono 'ow to treat a lady, do they?" She paused, patted her breast, and belched. "Pardon," she said, "I ain't meself, quite." - p. 305

She reminds me of this lady:

...from Wallace and Gromit.

"Inconceivable, inconceivable that one blow could cause such pain!" - p. 316