A Meeting With Anna's Mom

"Have you ever read 1984?"

"1984?"

"George Orwell's book?" I see the blank look in Ms. Lin's eye and correct course. "Never mind. It's a book me and Anna had to read for English class."

"I didn't study in America."

"Your accent is so faint I forgot you immigrated from China. How old were you when you came?"

"Nineteen," Ms. Lin thinks for a moment. "I came sixteen years ago."

"So 1984- the book takes place in a dystopian version of the UK where a totalitarian government is in control. They use technology to constantly monitor the population and if they think anyone is being disloyal, they take them to the Ministry of Love- all the ministries in the book are named ironically, by the way. The Ministry of Truth is in charge of propaganda, the Ministry of Peace is in charge of the Army, and so forth. What do you think the Ministry of Love does?"

"What's the opposite of love?"

"They're in charge of torturing dissidents."

Ms. Lin winces. "And you read this for school?"

I haven't even told her about the sex scenes. "It's to teach us about the dangers of authoritarianism. Anyway, Winston and his girlfriend, Julia, are captured by the Ministry of Love and taken to be tortured. The idea is to break their minds until they love Big Brother- the guy in charge of their state. The Ministry of Love knows the prisoners are broken when they start screaming for their loved one- in Winson's case, that's Julia- to be tortured instead of them. Winston breaks when his head is placed in a cage with rabid rats and the torturer tells him his face is going to be eaten."

"Good God, why are they making you read this?"

"Authoritarianism?"

"I think there are better ways to teach kids about dictatorships than this drivel. I'm going to talk to the school board. This is completely inappropriate."

"They only assign this to seniors. We're all over eighteen," I say.

Lin grimaces. "Don't remind me. My baby is going to move away for college soon."

"You know how you were saying a mom is willing to do anything for her kids?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's what got me thinking about 1984. I think Winston would have said he was willing to do anything for Julia before the Ministry got to him."

"Winston is a fictional character," Ms. Lin disagrees. "And everyone's different. At the least, I think moms should be willing to do anything and everything to protect their babies."

"There's an MLK quote- tell me if it sounds familiar: 'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.'"

"Like Winston said he was willing to do anything for Julia until he was captured. Then, at a moment of challenge, he betrayed her."

I nod.

"I can't prove I'd be willing to do anything for Anna, but I can say I am willing to do anything for her now, at a time of comfort."

"Do you mind if I ask you a quick question?"

"You're not going to me, are you?"

"Not unless asking questions is the equivalent of having your head stuck in a cage filled with ravenous rats. No, it's just a few questions. I'm curious at what point- in which scenario- you're going to ask me to do it to Anna instead of you."

"That's not going to happen. Especially not over a few questions."

"We'll see. Are you ready for the first question?"

"Shoot."