Assignment 2
Question 1
In “Brideshead Revisited”, the character Rex Mottram is for the larger part of the story in a relationship with Julia. Rex appears to very deeply in love with Julia and is also a great friend to other characters including Sebastian, Boy and Charles, who he, for example, helps with their jail situation. He plans to marry Julia and in fact does so, but he maintains an illicit affair with Brenda. Julia confronts him, but he cannot understand why she is so upset. Julia is a devout Christian and tries to put a stop to Rex antics including fooling around, but Rex does not stop and whatever he cannot get from Julia, he ends up getting it from Brenda. Julia however wants to put an end to the Rex unfaithfulness and renounces her Catholicism so that she cannot continue her fooling around with Rex. When it appears that their engagement will become a public issue, Rex converts to Catholicism but he does not follow it doctrines devoutly. It is later revealed that he was married previously and got divorced which is against Catholicism and he and Julia end up getting married in Protestant Church. In a conversation with Charles, Julia admits that she and Rex once tried to have a baby who was born dead. Although Julia was devastated, Rex was not because the baby was a girl in the first place. It is here that Julia first remarks that Rex is “not a real person at all”. She states “Rex has never been unkind to me intentionallyIt’s just that isn’t a real person at all” He’s just a few faculties of a man highly developed; the rest simply isn’t there” (Waugh 79).
Julia also makes another comment about Rex in-completeness as a man and as a human being. She states “He wasn’t a complete human being at all. He was a tiny bit of one, unnaturally developed: something in a bottle, an organ kept alive in a laboratorya tiny bit of a man pretending to be whole” (Waugh 81)
Rex indeed appears to be missing something, and this is human emotions and feeling. Rex is obviously devoid of human feeling and emotions, and this is why he is seen “living in the moment” without any care or regard for other human beings. This aspect is for instance, revealed when he so easily agrees to convert to Catholicism, a religion he barely knows anything about so that he can simply marry Julia. Converting to Catholicism was the only way that Julia’s family would recognize the marriage. However, when it appears that converting to Catholicism will not enable him to have a life with Julia, he drops the idea completely. This once again shows just how his human emotions are frail. The other thing that exhibits Rex in-completeness as a human being and his lack of human emotions is when he continues his affair with Brenda even after he has married Julia. The even more surprising occurrence is when he is confronted by Julia but cannot understand why she is so frustrated and upset. At this point, it is quite unimaginable how a human being could be this devoid of feeling. It exemplifies his lack of a human soul meaning that he is not complete as a human being.
This aspect is important in the thematic development of the novel. It exhibits the imbalance of the world and how in spite of all the efforts of some individuals to please and expend good to others, there are some who will never recognize the goodness being expended to them simply because they lack the human soul. Julia is extremely dedicated to Rex but because of his lack of human feeling and soul, he does not recognize this.
Question 2
The quote exhibits one distinctive area of life that the ruling Part party in George Orwell’s dystopian novel”1984” sought to kill, and this is sexual instinct. Sex is the ultimate act of intimacy, and it lead to the formation of a union or loyalty between a man and a woman that is unbreakable. This is exactly what the party was trying to avoid.
The Party clearly knew the great and enormous power that sexual pleasure had. The power was particular enormous in the middle class and the upper-class people in the society who had the ability to form loyalties that could ultimately lead to the downfall of the party and its rule. This is why the main focus on removing the element of sexual pleasure was concentrated on the middle-class and upper-class.
Much focus was not given, for example, to the women of the despised and the submerged class because the Party did not believe that they had the ability to form strong loyalties and even if they did, there was not much that these members of the society could do with their diminished and limited resources. Winston Smith did not quite understand why the Party was trying so hard to kill the sex instinct but just like the rest of the citizens, it appears that he had been brainwashed to think that it was right. This was the Party’s intention all along.
Human beings are very funny beings. Humans may be exposed to certain customs and systems of belief, and they may completely abide by the systems without conducting any further investigation to determine and establish the authenticity of these beliefs. By creating a negative aurora about sex, the party wanted the people to become brainwashed and believe that sex was a dirty act, and they would, therefore, refrain from it and only engage in it for child making purposes. Winston Smith seems to have fallen prey and was indeed one of the victims of this brainwashing mechanism by the government. He did not understand by the party was attempting to kill, distort and dirtify the sex instinct but in his mind, he believed that it was right.
However, the answer why the party was trying to kill the sex instinct is very clear. The party simply wanted to repress any act that could bring people together, and that could, therefore, act as a threat to the continued dominance of the party. Just like autocratic regimes are very fast to crush any informal organizations, the party viewed sexual union as an informal organization that was a threat to its basic existence.
Question 3
Social scientists and philosophers have often used concepts of relativism to show that truth is relative. This means that the truth varies from personal to another and from one context to another. What may be viewed as the truth by one person may not be necessarily viewed as the truth by another individual. In addition, an understanding of truth may change from one context to another from one setting to another.
The concept that “truth is relative” is explored by Orwell in 1984. In the novel, Orwell explores the destructive effects of a totalitarian regime. He creates a world where truth is essentially relative. The ruling Party passes to the people messages that it wants them to perceive as the truth. Unfortunately, the people seem to have been brainwashed, and they, therefore, believe that the messages that the party passes on to them. For instance, the Party tries to make the act of sex look dirty and in spite of the fact that many do not understand why the government, they start believing that sex is indeed not a righteous act. Unknown to them, this is just another means of government control. Unfortunately, the people are not aware of this, and they, therefore, take it as the truth. Here truth is seen as relative.
Orwell creates a world where several individuals can manipulate the truth for their own benefit and also shows how some people essentially accept some messages as truth without to any to prove the authenticity if these so called ‘truths”. In simple terms, truth and fact have little meaning in the world created by Orwell. The truth is what the regime construes it to be and by through this; truth is depicted as relative.
Therefore, the two authors of ‘1984” and ‘Brideshead Revisited” seem to be of the opinion that truth is not universal but is rather relative, they also show that sometimes truth can be enshrined into people by others. This is what happens in “1984’ whereby people adopt what they perceive to be the truth simply because their regime has postulated that this is the truth. They do not make any attempt to distinguish the authenticity of this truth. This the same case in “Brideshead Revisited” whereby the Catholic Church is used or is depicted as source of relative truth from which most of the characters in the novel ascribe to.
Question 4
Education is said to transform people or to take people from the world of darkness to the world of light. Education enlightens people and allows them to see the world for what it really is. It enables people to make smart decisions not only about themselves but also those decisions that relate to others. An educated person cannot be trusted to make decisions that are smart and in fact, all their actions are treated as suspect. Education is even more important for a leader. As leader, one is supposed to make decisions that benefit the entire community. If the leader is not educated, he or she can make unwise decisions that may ultimately lead to the destruction of his community. Therefore, it is crucial that every leader possess adequate education and knowledge that will allow him or her to lead the people wisely.
In “The Once and Future King”, Merlyn makes known of his intention to educate Wart very early on. Throughout the novel, he engages Wart in various educative activities. It is, in fact, this education that Merlyn gives Wart that makes him such as successful king. Merlyn had engaged him in various activities that were supposed to make him a wiser and better king.
Although the education that Wart received from Merlyn was informal, it nevertheless contributed to the enormous success that he had as king. The point that comes across, therefore, is that education is key to success. This informal education includes Melvyn transforming Wart into various animals. Such adventures are meant to make Wart have the ability to view the world from different perspectives and not just from one perspective. Education enables one view the world from different perspectives. One is, therefore, able to tolerate various occurrence and make smart and wise decisions. Merlyn clearly knew this, and this is why he engaged Wart in a series of education adventures that involved transforming him into various animals. By being transformed. He was able to observe those around him and that he would later come to lead from various perspective and not just from a singular perspective.
Another thing that illustrates the great education from Merlyn and that this contributed to making him a successful king is shown through the influence that Merlyn has on Wart. Merlyn is seen as having a great influence on many of the decisions that Wart makes. Merlyn, in fact, comes across as great advisor to Wart. A good education enables one to see that he or she needs the advice of others occasionally in order to make the wisest and most sound decisions.
Therefore, Wart is keen to involve Merlyn in many of his decisions because he respects him as a tutor. For instance, in the Bedegraine battle, Wart recalls some suggestions previously made by Merlyn about how he could win by ambushing the enemy using secret help from abroad.
Merlyn’s education of Wart can also be considered to be quite superb because as mentioned earlier, he does not stick strictly to formal education concepts. He taught Wart even some aspects of religion. For example, he tells Wart about the story of Prophet Elijah and Rabbi Jachanan (White 94). These stories have various moral lessons that Wart is supposed to derive from them.
Therefore, it is quite clear that Merlyn’s informal and non-conventional education of Wart played a huge role in helping him to become not only a good person but also a good and successful king.
Works Cited
White, Terence Hanbury. The once and future king. Dream Letters, 2014.
Orwell, George. Nineteen eighty-four. Random House LLC, 2009.
Waugh, Evelyn. "Brideshead Revisited. 1945." (1962).
