Commentary by Houda Bakkali COU-A - Drawing by Ismail Yousfi

Don’t be afraid! No, I am not going to talk about the controversial television programme, I’ll just say a few words about the fictional character “Great Brother” in the novel “1984” by the English writer George Orwell, from which the programme has taken its name.

"1984" is one of the most characteristic novels by George Orwell. It was written in 1949, when 1984 seemed a long time ahead. The action takes place in a totalitarian state, where power is absolute and despotic, and whatever means are used to achieve it are valid. The will of each person, says Orwell, must be orientated towards keeping this power.

In this cruel and mathematically organized world, there is a key character who stands out above all the others, GREAT BROTHER, the omniscient boss who watches everything and knows all about those who surround him.

The splendid analysis of power and the interdependence that arises betwen the characters of this society are the “leitmotif” of the novel.

"1984" is undoubtedly one of the best novels in World Literature, as it reflects one of the most difficult problems of modern societies, the border between the state and the individual.

I hope I have aroused your interest in this novel, so now go to the library and borrow it, you won’t be disappointed, and if you watch the programme, now you know where its name comes from.

If you enjoy the book, read “Animal Farm” by the same author and write about it in “Babel”.

Goodbye for now! I’ll keep in touch with Babel from Spain, where I will be studying next year.

By Lamia Karmoun and Sara Aouni Bey COU

Last May, a small group of us (COU) and our two English teachers went out for a short visit to St. Andrew’s church in Tangier. It isn’t very far from the school, so we decided to walk. It was a hot day. We sweated and got a bit tired.

The church is situated in the “medina”. From the outside one cannot tell whether it is a church or a small palace, as there is a flag waving at the top of a tower.

The actual building is surrounded by a beautiful garden with a graveyard where you can see many tombs and on their gravestones you can read loving inscriptions. One of them struck me and I copied it:

We walked along a path among the trees that led us to the church. It wasn’t very big and it looked old. We asked why there weren’t any images and Pedro, our teacher, told us that it was a protestant church and protestants don’t display images, the same as Muslims. I also asked where the confessional (confession booth) was, and we were told that protestants, unlike catholics, confess themselves directly with God. Another thing that struck me was the inscription on the arch that leads to the chapel, it was the Lord’s Prayer written in Arabic.

We stayed there a few minutes longer and Isidro, the other teacher, gave us some more information about the church. It was built in 1890 on land which was a personal gift from Sultan Moulay Hassan, being consecrated in 1905. The church was designed by Alexander Cameron and craftsmen in wood and marbel came from Fez to do the decoration. It opened for the first time on November 30^th 1894. It is an Anglican church and is opened to all denominations (people from all religions). Its amired architecture is a combination of Moorish and classical English style, but unluckily there are a lot of things that need repairing and money must be raised urgently. There aren’t many regular Anglican churchgoers, so they depend greatly on the help of visitors.

Finally, we went out of the church and stayed for a few minutes in the garden reflecting on the different ways in which man tries to reach God. We were filled with peace and tranquillity. The visit was worthwhile.

Los bonitos e ingeniosos dibujos de Insaf Laroud ilustran ell uso del present perfect.

El dibujo del puente que une la ciudad vieja (past) con la nueva (present) nos presenta gráficamente el uso del present perfect para unir el presente con el pasado. Lo utilizamos siempre que una acción que ocurrió en el pasado tenga todavía relación, efectos o consecuencias en el presente.

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Utilizamos el present perfect para hablar de acciones que comenzaron en el pasado y se han continuado haciendo hasta el presente. En el ejemplo del dibujo, el corredor empezó hace tres horas y ha seguido corriendo hasta el momento en que habla “I’ve been running for three hours” “She has been running since nine o’clock”.