Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Gospel in 1984

Three excerpts from 3 pages of George Orwell's book 1984: all of which struck me as poignant expressions of the gospel message in some way or other.

"He did not support, from what he could remember of her, that she had been an unusual woman, still less an intelligent one; and yet she had possessed a kind of nobility, a kind of purity, simply because the standards that she obeyed were private ones. Her feelings were her own, and could not be altered from outside. It would not have occured to her that an action which is ineffectual thereby becomes meaningless. If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave love. When the last of the [rationed] chocolate was gone, his mother had clasped the child in her arms. It was no use, it changed nothing, it did not produce more chocolate, it did not avert the child's death or her own; but it seemed natural to her to do it."
- remembering his mother, the main character reflects on what is important and what love truly is... p. 164
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"What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, an embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself."
- the main character figures our what really matters... p.165
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"Nothing that I can do or say, or stop myself from saying, will put off your death for as much as five minutes."
- the reality of the universality of the human condition: we are all closer to dying every day. The only one who can do anything for us is Christ Jesus! p.166

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hawley,

I loved this book when I read it in college. It was well before I became so much stronger in my faith and after reading these excerpts, it makes me want to go back and reread the book. Thanks for your amazing insight!

April