Excellent Storytelling

   Over this past summer I read 1984 by George Orwell for AP English class.  Although, at first, I was simply reading this novel in order to fulfill a school requirement, as I turned each page, I found myself truly enamored by this classic novel. One of my favorite passages is as follows:

   The young, strong body, now helpless in sleep, awoke in him a pitying, protecting feeling. But the mindless tenderness that he had felt under the hazel tree, while the thrush was singing, had not quite come back. He pulled the overalls aside and studies her smooth white flank. In the old days, he though, a man looked at a girl's body and saw that it was desirable, and that was the end of the story. But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act. (126)

    I chose this example because it describes a character, Winston Smith,  and an idea, rebellion, that are both relatable. This passage explains the character's belief in the frequent (in Winston's case, the permanent) mixture of emotion and the desire for rebellion. I believe this is an instance of good storytelling as the author writes of a scene that encompasses emotions and desires that the reader is capable of relating to. The description of the feelings that run through the character are so accurately portrayed in this scene that it is impossible for the emotions to feel anything other than realistic. I believe that good stories and novels always require characters, ideas, and/or plots that are at least semi-relatable to those who read it. In 1984, I believe that Orwell did an incredible job making the characters and ideas quite believable. With his descriptions, Orwell is able to make his characters come to life, which, to me, makes for the best story telling.