Here are four more poems inspired by a reading of Things Fall Apart:

It’s not like it used to be

 

This isn’t how I remember it

 

Everything has changed

 

I don’t understand

 

It has only been seven years

 

Nobody is as strong

 

Nobody follows the traditions any more

 

Everybody wants to convert

 

Everybody has converted already

 

I liked the old Umuofia

 

When everyone was fearless and strong

 

Why has this happened to the Ibo

 

I don’t understand why

 

things fall apart

 

 

Kelly F.

 

We’ve come across

This foreign land

Where everyone is darker

We study them

We observe them

And they’re different

From us

They have more than

One wife

More than

One God

They can’t live this way

Live in ignorance

Live in impossibilities

Live in sin

So we must reshape

Them

Renew

Them

It’s for their

Well-being

We have their best

Interests at heart

They are uncivilized

They are wrong

We must show them

The way

This is

The

White’s Man’s

Burden

 

Jahir H. – Grade 8

 

 

Everyone falls at one point

But Okonkwo was different

He fell for his people

And they fell on him.

 

He lost everything because of a misinterpretation

And then he lost himself and his family

Abomination and beliefs caused them to fall

Everything is opinion and not truth or fact

 

Nwoye changed because of opinion

He was being forced to do what he didn’t like

And that was opinion

 

And Okonkwo tried to stay strong

But the Christians were getting converters

Overpowered him, his family and his tribe

But, thinking that he lost, he lost himself

 

Amit L. – Grade 8

 

 

White man’s Burden

The question of faith

Spread by the Europeans

Justified the Crusades

Should it have been spread

Could it help

Or does it bring to others dread

Destroys knowledge about the past

But could enlighten us on our end

Could it just help conquer

It makes me feel indignant

It is not fair to the recipient

The White man’s burden

Is wrong

James S. – Grade 8

1984 and Fahrenheit 451

            In both the novels 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonists live in a negative utopian society where the government attempts to control the people. In both societies, the government tries to limit its people from thinking on their own. In 1984, Winston Smith has been living in a society where the public is brainwashed into worshipping Big Brother, the face of the Party. Whatever the government says is correct, and if people think badly of it, they may be vaporized. There is no love or emotions shared among the citizens of this society. Love is only for Big Brother. In Fahrenheit, Guy Montag lives in a society where people do not read books, but watch extensive amounts of television. One of the most important themes that occurs in both novels is that of isolation and alienation, which is best shown through Winston and Montag. They come to realize they are different than their societies and don’t share the same values.

In 1984, the main character Winston does not fit in with the rest of his society. He has an ongoing feeling in the back of his mind that the society he lives in is not the way it is supposed to be. He decides to break the rules by buying a diary in a shop outside his community and starting a journal. He would write down his thoughts in this journal, which is strictly illegal. One day he found that he wrote, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” From then on he knew he was against the government. Montag is in a similar situation as Winston. He is a fireman, but instead of putting out fires, he burns books. He has always felt very empty inside, for a reason he does not know. He tries talking to his wife about it, but she has a blank reaction and is only interested in the T.V. (her family). One day, after talking to a woman named Clarisse, who is a book lover, Montag has the desire to read books, an illegal activity in his society. He realizes that he is alone in his world, because everyone else is brainwashed and mindless, having no individual thoughts.

Although Montag and Winston both live in societies where they don’t believe in the values of the government, Montag has always lived in his society, while Winston lived life for about ten years before the revolution. Before the revolution, there were no telescreens, no “two minutes hate” and no Big Brother. He lived in a peaceful society, where he felt his mother truly loved him. Winston has a memory of this time, although the past gets altered by the government. On the other hand, Montag doesn’t have a memory of life before the government he lives under. He was always taught that books were valueless nonsense that should be burned. He has always lived with talking televisions and with unintelligent people all around him. He comes to realize on his own that the government is not everything he thought it was.

Winston and Montag are both very brave by rebelling against their government –Winston by having sexual encounters, and Montag by reading books. Unfortunately, Winston is not successful. He is caught by the government and is tortured until he changes — he learns to love Big Brother. Montag is successful and becomes one of the “Book People.”  He memorizes his favorite book to preserve it for future generations. The power of the government in these two stories is incredible, and it brings up the question of whether these societies could really take shape. Fortunately, the United States has a democracy, so that people have a say in the government. They have equal rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.  Individualism and knowledge are benefits that everyone can attain. But, if there were a communist revolution, it is possible that the government could have complete control over the people. In these two stories, this fact is clearly shown.

Jillian A.

A Common Theme Between 1984 and Fahrenheit 451

 When the general population is under the influence of their government, they are not allowed to have individual thoughts. By “brainwashing” everyone, the government will have complete control over everyone’s beliefs. By not allowing the citizens to have individuality, the rights to think for themselves and to rebel are also taken away. Without rebellion, the government cannot be questioned or overthrown. Whether it is through the Two Minutes of Hate or by the use of pills, keeping the people at bay keeps the government safe.

In George Orwell’s 1984, the purpose of the Two Minutes of Hate is to let everyone release their emotions in a controlled environment. The Two Minutes of Hate steers real emotions away from rebellion and directs all of the citizens’ hatred toward Emmanuel Goldstein and the Brotherhood. The rebellion consists of people who feel discontent for the way Big Brother operates, such as constantly changing the past and endlessly monitoring everyone for suspicious behavior. People who have been brainwashed can’t think for themselves, so they do not understand that their “past” is a lie, created to make the past, present, and future blend into an endless war with no outcome. The Party seems to think that if the people believe one lie, they will believe another, until all of Big Brother’s lies will be accepted as the truth.

In the movie Fahrenheit 451, the fire department starts fires instead of putting them out. One of the society’s laws states that books are prohibited, which eliminates acquiring knowledge through reading. Without any other sources of information, the citizens are forced to believe what they hear on their two-way televisions, much like the telescreens of 1984. But instead of the Two Minutes of Hate, the citizens are kept content and subdued by taking pills similar to methylenedioxymethamphetamine, more commonly known as ecstasy. If they have to take pills to keep themselves happy, then they probably wouldn’t like their world much without the pills. Guy Montag’s wife, Linda, is completely orthodox; she believes that books should be burned — not read. When Linda realizes that her husband has been reading the books that he is supposed to be incinerating, she tries desperately to convince him to burn the books. Eventually, she turns him in to the fire department he works for.

 

George Orwell and Ray Bradbury both wrote about a dystopian world in which people are too easily convinced what the “truth” is. These days, peoples’ beliefs are significantly based on mass stereotypes and publicized ideas. If a well-known public figure says something, people automatically accept it as the truth, no questions asked. This closely resembles the ignorance of the citizens of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. Montag is instructed to burn books and does so without asking questions, because that is his job. Now, the media simply reports what they hear from their sources because it is their job. Guy Montag is easily likened to the modern-day media — simply the instrument of destruction, so to speak.

Kristine C.