Blog Post #14: 1984 Food Extra Credit

In 1984 George Orwell creates a totalitarian Party known as "Big Brother" which controls all aspects of human life. Not only aspects of their lives, however, but even what they're thinking. Basically, Big Brother is watching the citizens of Oceania twenty-four seven through telescreens all over the place. This essence is reflected in the food I brought in for my presentation, because I brought cupcakes with candy eyes to emphasize the fact that Big Brother watches everything, from working to sleeping, to eating. This can be seen in the novel when Orwell writes, “. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment,” (Orwell 6).
 The color of icing, flavor of batter, and size of the cupcakes were all significant as well. The icing was blue, representing the blue overalls members of the outer Party--such as the Protagonist, Winston-- wore in the novel. This is portrayed in the novel when Orwell writes, "The meagerness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the Party," (Orwell 6). The flavor was chocolate, because in 1984, things like chocolate were delicacies that were rationed by the Party. In the novel, Winston is aware of the reduction of chocolate (since he "bends the truth" for a living rewriting facts) when Orwell Writes, "Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grams to twenty at the end of the present week," (Orwell 18).  I also decided to make some small cupcakes and some larger ones. This choice was purposeful in the aspect that the Party manipulated the citizens of Oceania into thinking the government was always in the right. In reality, the Party actually decreased the food rations of the people, but the people were tricked into thinking they were actually receiving more. So, the large cupcakes represent what the people think they had, while the small ones represent the rations the people actually had. Another food aspect I implemented from the book into my presentation was the idea of Victory Gin which the Party also tricked its citizens into drinking by making them believe it was good quality Gin when in reality, it was oily and cheap. This was reflected in my presentation because I brought "Victory Ginger-ale" which was a cheap off brand versus something like Canada Dry.

Recipe: 

Cupcakes:

1 cup of water

3 large eggs 

1/3 cup of vegetable oil 

1 Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix

Candy eyes

Vanilla Frosting 

Blue food coloring

Directions: 

Follow steps on Duncan Hines box to bake cupcakes, then mix blue food coloring with the vanilla icing. Ice cupcakes when cooled and place two candy eyes per cupcake. 

Final Product: