Hi guys!
And so we begin one of the most compelling, politically-charged, multidimensional novels of the ages - George Orwell's classic, 1984.
Over the course of the next three school weeks, we will read the novel and analyze a series of questions relating to the novel, themes, context, and characterization within it. Please post your answers as a blogspot response, ensuring that you complete each question with a significant amount of care. Remember to answer in full sentences, restating the question in your answer, and include quotes to support your responses where appropriate.
Also, and perhaps most importantly...I am not related to any characters in the novel. ;)
BOOK I QUESTIONS
1. Read the biography of George Orwell at the following link: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html
Once you have done so, read the semi-biographical Orwell short story "Shooting an Elephant" at the following link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/
When you have completed these two readings, you will begin to understand the political backdrop for Orwell's writing.
Write a 300+ word response to the two readings linking them to your first impressions of 1984.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
1. Describe the opening setting.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
4. What does his room look like?
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
7. Who is Big Brother?
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
b. Parson Family
c. dark-haired girl
d. Comrade Withers
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think
b. Newspeak
c. Duck Speak
d. Thought Crime
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
15. What are the slogans of the party?
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
20. This doesn't require any work...but is kinda interesting, and connected to the text. Go to the following link: http://www.uriahcarpenter.info/1984.html
Watch the video on the site.
Played only once, during the Super Bowl in 1984, this video introduced the world to Apple Macintosh - the precursor to the computer that you are viewing this text on. Filmed by iconic director Ridley Scott, the commercial was and is considered a masterpiece of advertising.
50 comments:
Hey guys!
I know this is a lot of work, but I appreciate your efforts. Hopefully, you are enjoying the book. Don't forget - posts should be up by the time you walk in the door on Monday morning.
Thanks,
B. Parsons
Allison Rowe
Advanced English II
Mr. Parsons
November 11, 2008
1.) George Orwell lived a very short life and I feel that in his short life he accomplished much success. I was really astounded by his ability to write during the harsh times of war. During which he never fell scared or nervous to write of the truth and what he really spoke. Honesty is bravery and I think that George Orwell was a man who withheld a lot of courage by writing what he thought would come in the future and his views on politics.
Orwell’s story of “Shooting An Elephant” is a very well described story. The detail told was amazing and really made you want to read more, especially the way he talked about the prisoners. He also describes the elephant’s terrorism very well and makes his character sound brave as well. His character wants to kill the elephant and stop it’s destruction. This relates to the book “1984” a little because Winston was a courageous man, too. When he went to his neighbors’ apartment with the demon children and the horrific smell. Also when Winston almost committed though crime beyond the public’s very eyes.
The elephant killed a man with it’s trunk and by stepping on him, but the character rush on; still trying to seek and kill the elephant. He showed no fear, which is strange because I am pretty sure I would not go chasing after an elephant that had caused so much damage. When the character was viewing the elephant and giving him one last chance to do no destruction, it was kind of like preparing for the two minutes of hatred in the novel 1984. This is because it would take about two minutes for the elephant to be shot and killed and the crowd would be the audience egging the character on telling him how much they hate the elephant and it’s terror. This is my response on George Orwell’s biography, his story Shooting An Elephant, and they are related to his novel 1984.
2.) The name of Winston’s apartment building is Victory Mansions. This is an ironic name because with the government making so many things illegal victory is not easily found. Victory is a term that means to win or gain something. In this story Winston the rest of the citizens have no freedom or victory. If they cannot do the things they desire they can never have a victory. With the government being so powerful Mr. Smith could never have victory over them either, so Victory Mansions is a ironic name for his apartment building.
1.) In the beginning of the novel I viewed the setting as a place of business. A boring business where all that the workers do is drink coffee and sit around talking about nothing; like how the weather was that day. The doors he walked through were glass and fancy of that of a mansion; which was what this was. The narrator wrote about hoe Winston saw the very large picture of the boring man that looked as if he had been using rough razors and soap. They called this man Big Brother as the picture was labeled. The place smelt awful and I believe it was from one too many meals cooked there, from workers who had belated their jobs. This building of the scene was very large too, holding at least seven stories with all different ministries. There was also a slogan everywhere, “Big Brother is Watching You.” I think that this was posted to scare all into doing what they are supposed to do and never do anything against the government, even thought crime. That is the opening setting.
2.) Privacy is a very important thing to the existence of humans. I believe this because everyone born onto Earth should have freedom and people don’t want other people knowing there every move. Humans like to be alone sometimes and want to keep some things secret. If everything was public, everyone would no everything about everyone else and each human would be missing that part of them that makes them fell secure and pride; meaning they can be proud of knowing something someone else doesn’t or happy that somebody doesn’t know of any of their embarrassing moments.
In my life I do have privacy. Not private everything, but I have as much as I need to live a good life. Privacy is a very important thing to me. If I didn’t have privacy and everything I did or said was public, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have said some things I ever did, causing me to maybe have different friends or people involved in my life. Also if everyone were to know of everything I did, I never would of though of doing those things, because of what other people would think of me. I would be afraid that they would hate me or make fun. So, yes privacy is important to the human existence and to me.
3.) Winston commits few thought crimes and never gets caught, but the thing he did that was mostly illegal happened in writing. He neither thought about it before he wrote it or knew he was going to, his hand just moved down the page writing ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.’ Big Brother is the head of the government and saying anything bad or insulting to the government is illegal. So for this crime Winston could of went to prison.
4.) Winston’s room was too ordinary and plain. It was like any other apartment would be. His telescreen was oddly cattycornered and across from it was the kitchen. I viewed his kitchen as a large one, but a bare one. I believed that all he had was the victory gin, victory cigarettes, and the hunk of dark-colored bread. Besides the telescreen in the living room there was also a table, chair, and drawers. The telescreen commanded the entire room. That is what his room appeared to me as.
5.) First Winston writes about the theater with the war films. He writes in great detail of the audience’s emotions, and actions. Winston wrote how the children in the movie when they were below a helicopter. He wrote about the women with a screaming baby in her arms. Then once he stopped to walk through his day once more and finished the vision, he found that he had written ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER,’ over and over again. This is problematic because he was thinking of Big Brother, and the two minutes of hatred, and most importantly how much he hated Big Brother. This was a problem because writing, down with big brother, was saying down with the government. Saying this is a crime, for that matter, thinking this is a crime of thought. Being against the government and its people is illegal, thus, making this problematic.
6.) The party controls the people in several ways. One would be through the large police force and their crime and punishment. Presence of the thought police in party members lives. It helps to scare the people into being obedient and having loyalty towards the party. Another way the party controls the people is by the installment of telescreens. These telescreens are placed in all buildings of the party. They make citizens and workers fell inferior and like they are always being watched. This keeps them from doing things that are illegal or things that they are not supposed to be doing. People know that these telescreens are everywhere and they wouldn’t dare speak out or do bad things against the government or the party because they know that they will get caught and either put into prison or executed.
7.) Big Brother is not specifically one person. He is a figure to represent the government. Big Brother represents the entire government and what they stand for. He is someone to put fear into citizens and to hate. That is who Big Brother is.
8.) During the two minutes of hate, one does quite a bit. This event happens everyday, so the workers are much use to it. They all assemble into a room with a large screen. A movie comes upon the screen Mr. Goldstein and of the war and the government, showing how awful the government is. Also how awful that Big Brother is, so this is total disrespect of the government. While watching this film the viewers show their hatred for the government. This is basically a huge rebellion against the government and propaganda.
9.) Vaporized has a few meanings. In this novel I think that vaporized means the act of being executed by the state, and having all records of your existence erases. Meaning that the accused would become like an un-person.
10.) a. O’Brien is a large man. He is very husky and a member of the Inner Party.. He has great importance through his post, so important that Winston doesn’t even know what his position is. He has a thick neck and a crude and funny face, which glasses lay upon. He also has very similar thoughts to Winston.
b. The Parsons Family is the family that lives across the hall from Winston. They live in a pigsty as a wife, husband, and a few demonized children. Mrs. Parsons has no control over her children shown by when one shoots a BB and hits Winston in the back of the head. Mr. Parsons works in the Ministry of Truth with Winston. He is a very large man and he sweats a lot making his apartment have a horrible stench. Mr. Parsons is a dedicated follower of the party and he manages Hate Week.
c. The dark-haired girl works in the Ministry of Truth also with Winston and Mr. Parsons. She is thought to work in the Fiction Department writing novels and etcetera. Winston has deep hatred for her because she will not have sex with him because of her membership to the Junior Anti-Sex League. She is beautiful and young. Winston again desires to have sex with her because her vowel of chastity to the Party.
d. Comrade Withers is a former Inner Party member. He received the Order of Conspicuous Merit, second class. He is also the inspiration of Winston’s creation of the imaginary figure called Comrade Ogilvy.
11.) Katherine use to be Winston’s wife. They got divorced because she didn’t like sex. Winston is obsessed with sex and he could not stay with her because she wouldn’t do so. Katherine I do not believe that they ever became officially divorced. Katherine just simply left Winston and didn’t return.
12.) a. The term Double Think in this story is kind of a tough definition to find. Doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. It is related to the novel because it is one of ‘1984’s’ integral concepts.
b. Newspeak is a very important definition to know when reading George Orwell’s 1984. Newspeak is a language that is ambiguous and designed to conceal the truth. It is the official language of Oceania and used mostly by bureaucrats and propagandists.
c. There are many words in Newspeak. One of those is Duck Speak. It simply means what you think it would mean, to quack like a duck.
d. Thought Crime is a crime of thinking. If someone thinks anything that is against the government or Big Brother, it is considered against the law or illegal and the culprit could go to prison. Thought Crime can be pursued if a government officer or anyone that may tattle upon you hears you say bad things about the government or threats to them, and even if they see you making strange faces body language and think you are thinking bad of Big Brother.
13.) Winston Smith has a job in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite the archives of the London Times. This is so that they are consistent with current Ingsoc policy. Ingsoc changes it’s political alliance with another superpower and begins waging war on a former opponent. Winston’s job is to rewrite the prior information to show that old alliances never really existed.
14.) The Chestnut Tree Café is many things. I consider it as a place of freedom and a place victory. It seems as if they can do whatever they please here, compared to everywhere else where the government is always nearby. Here everyone can just hang out no matter what type of person you may be. It doesn’t matter if you are a musician or a teacher or a gangster or anything else. You are welcome at the Chestnut Tree Café. It is a place where everyone can come and compare and contrast ideas and thoughts.
15.) The party’s had three slogans that all conjoined together. The first and second were War is Peace, and Freedom is Slavery. The last one is Ignorance is strength. There is also another one that is always posted everywhere, ‘Big Brother Is Watching.’
16.) The antique shop was a place that Winston stopped at when he was taking a stroll. When he was about to leave he saw the dark-haired girl and he becomes sure that she is following him. The shop has a telescreen and the owner is Mr. Charrington. Winston buys the diary at this antique shop, that he writes the illegal in, ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.’ There he also purchased a cobblestone and a paperweight. This is where he remembers the dream he had previously. The dream about O’Brien saying, “We shall meet in a place where there is no darkness.”
17.) Winston’s encounter with the prostitute was strange. I believe it was relevant to how much Winston really loves sex and if the government takes that away, than he shall surely die or be executed for doing it anyway. He takes her to his apartment and hasn’t seen her face yet. When he turns on a light he sees that she is an elderly lady with white streaks through her hair and wrinkles beyond imaginations, but then it says “I gave it to her the same.” I think that this part is disgusting, but the book is saying that Winston’s passion is sex and that he loves it so much that he would pursue with anyone.
18.) Proles is a definition used in several well-known fiction books referring to the working class. The Proles are basically classes of people. The poor are considered the outer party. The inner party is the rich class.
19.) My reaction to the novel after reading the first boom is quite different than what I thought it would be. I thought that the novel ‘1984’ would be a very boring book that I would read a million times, but still have no idea what I had read. When I started on the first book, I found this true, but my mind quickly changed. When I began to read about the different ministries, the thought police, and the slogan that was repeated over and over again, I wanted to keep reading. I found it mysterious and I wanted to found out what all these things meant. I wanted to know where he was and who Big Brother was. After I found out I wanted to read more to try to find out who the dark-haired girl was and what kind of people the Parsons’ really were. SO my reaction to the first book is that i can’t say I absolutely love it and it’s one of the best books I have ever read, just that it wasn’t horribly boring, but kind of exciting. It made me feel as if the book was a crime and I was the detective trying to figure everything out.
20.) I viewed the video and thought I would conclude a response. The video reminded my of the movie ‘OH Brother Where Art Thou’ when the prisoners go into the movie theater and ‘Star Trek’ when they walk on the space shuttle. It was a very strange video and the girl in the orange and white reminded me of a woman that would work at Hooters because that is their attire. I do not necessarily get the video though, but I did find it pretty radical.
. In both the biography George Orwell made and the story ‘shooting an elephant’, the connections between the life he lived and the life he saw shows through the novel ‘1984’. The short story ‘shooting an elephant’ showed the sort of power the government they had was faulty and gave them n weapons to defend themselves, no police force that could protect them that was within a hundred miles. ‘Shooting an elephant’ was a sad short story that held a meaning of showing sorrow to the dying, and the tortured. In the novel ‘1984’, the citizens are given what the government thinks is protection, but is actually torture to them. Some citizens agreed with the government, but they had the same rules as the rest, and they were o.k.
My first impression of the book was that Winston was living a life of slavery, and in a way was, and then I realized that he was right about his writings in his diary about Big Brother. George Orwell lived a life of hard ship, him having only a mother and two sisters. In his biography, he did see his father, but then he left and it was almost like having no father at all. In ‘1984’, the citizens are classed either as proles, the inner party, and outer party. These each stands for the class in which we make money. When reading the book, and comparing it to his biography, he lived about the same life style, the ‘outer party’, or middle class as it is called in the U.S.
The life styles of the people in ‘shooting an elephant’ had had the similar life as the proles had in ‘1984’. This shows up in the novel a few times.
2. How is the name of Winston’s apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of the building is Victory Mansions, but the actual building itself is a run down apartment building in the lower slums of Oceania. The indication of the name made it sound as though the building was the best, and it may have been at one time but at the time of Winston living in it, the building was a piece of junk that was barely livable.
1. Describe the opening setting.
Winston the main character is on his way to his “boiled cabbage and old rag mats smelling” (page 1) home at the lower slums of town. As he goes to his apartment, he sees “a colored poster, too large for indoor display” (page 1) and continues to his apartment.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
The humans need time alone, away from the world; otherwise, we wouldn’t need many homes, just one big house. I have some privacy.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
He first buys a marble colored book with a red back cover at a shop that Party members shouldn’t go in, then takes it home, and starts writing in this book about a movie he saw with a ship that gets bombed, lots of people dying, and then stops after he wrote about a half a page.
4. What does his room look like?
A small kitchen, stocked with air and dust, with a black piece of bread for his morning breakfast. A telescreen that faced the room, but was moved out of place, located in small living room, and his desk that sat in front of the telescreen.
5. What does Winston write about in his diary? Why is this problematic?
A movie that he watched about a ship that had been bombed, showing that face of many killed, watching many more die in front of the viewers eyes. This is a problem because he could be ridiculed for the reason for writing this “stream of rubbish”(page 9).
The reason is because of the “Two Minutes of Hate” that took place that afternoon before he went to his apartment.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
Having many cameras around every street, creating the Thought Police as a way to get into their heads, taking away many freedoms they once had.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother isn’t an actual person, just the government. The dictatorship of the city isn’t known, but Big Brother wasn’t a person. You don’t get a description of him, but is said that he is the creator of the government in the book.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
Listen to ‘public enemy #1’ speak on the telescreen, about many different views about the government and about the views of his opinion.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
Vaporized means that a person is sent to jail for doing something illegal, the thought police enter their home that night and abduct them. They don’t get a trial, their identification is erased from the world and they are never seen again. The thought police erase them form the world.
10. Who were the following? Describe in detail.
O’Brien-
He is a man that is in the Inner party and works with in the Ministry of Truth, that worked as something Winston had only a little idea about.
Parson Family-
A family of four consisting of two children, an older brother and little sister, who live with their parents, the mother who stays at home with the children, and their father who works at the ministry of truth with Winston.
Dark-haired girl-
A girl that worked in the Fiction Section, she was twenty-seven and a freckled and a Junior Anti-Sex league emblem. Winston thinks later in book two that she is a thought police officer but then finds out that she isn’t.
Comrade Withers-
A member of the Inner Party, a man that had been disgraced b unknown means to Winston, but was given the second class. An award given to him by somebody.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was Winston’s ex-wife that hated sex. When they both found out they weren’t going to have children, they separated from each other.
12. Define the following.
Double Think-
To think that something is right, then to think it is wrong, at the same time.
Newspeak-
A way the citizens get their news in Oceania, which has been approved by the Government.
Duck Speak-
Duck speak is a language that is only abbreviations and shortened words that are read throughout Oceania.
Thought Crime-
A crime to think on his or her own intuition
13. What is Winston Smith’s job? What exactly does he do?
Working at the Ministry of Truth in the records department.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Café mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is an idea place, where people come, share ideas, and hang out. Winston remembers it while talking, and mentions it but they don’t ever enter the place.
15. What are the slogans of the Party?
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16. What is an antique shop and why is it unique?
A shop that sells things that you can’t get in an average store or shop. An antique shop sells things that you can’t get without looking really hard, or being ordered from somewhere else, like the book Winston bought, it was almost impossible to find one, and it still be in the good condition that it was in.
17. Describe Winston Smith’s encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
He hires he so that he can have sex with her, the Party is against sex and the pleasure of having sex. This is relevant to the story because it is a major act of rebellion against the Party.
18. What are proles? Inner party? Outer party?
They are each the classes of the citizens of the city. The proles are the lower class, the Inner party is the high upper class, and the Outer party is the middle class; if it were like the U.S. is now anyway.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first book.
It was interesting at some parts, boring in others. I’m glad that I am not in a country that is governed by a dictator. Makes me feel good about the country I live in.
1.) George Orwell went through a lot of tough, harsh times during his life. He overcame several things that would be difficult for one person to come through. He was a very courageous man and did a lot for not only himself, but for other people. He was very brave. In his story “Shooting an Elephant”, his character was also very brave. He was courageous for continuing on with his hunt to kill the elephant. I believe that George Orwell was very honest with the way he wrote, and always gave his truthful opinion when it came to politics. George Orwell when through many hard things, yes, but he still wrote. He had such a desire to write that no matter what the circumstances were, he wrote, and he wrote the truth. I think he expresses this in many of his stories as well. Just like his honesty and bravery in his “Shooting an Elephant” story, I believe that the character Winston was very courageous as well. For Winston to go against the party in some ways, including “thought crime”, he would have to be brave in some way. He knows that there is a chance in getting caught and suffering, but at the same time he speaks the truth and does what he feels is right. It was as though George Orwell put himself in as the character for Winston, in “1984”. I think with the life that he lived and things that he went through and experienced, George Orwell contributed all these things to his writings. In his novel “1984” George Orwell shows and reveals the power that the government had over the country. I think that George Orwell, with being so politically involved, has probably seen or been through some of the same experiences and that has been a great influence on the way he wrote the novel.
2.) Victory Mansions in the name of Winston’s apartment building. This is ironic because of the way things are ran by the government at this particular time. In this country freedom has pretty much been taken away from all people and they are forced to obey “Big Brother”. The meaning of victory is something won, or gained. In this particular situation, in Oceania, there is nothing ever gained or won.
1.) The opening setting is when the main character is introduced, Winston Smith. Winston is walking into Victory Mansions (his apartment) on a bright, cold day in April. It started by describing Winston as being 39 years old, and kind of slow due to a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. Winston went for the stairs and eventually made it up to his room. On the way up it described the posters of Big Brother everywhere, and the four ministries you could see out the windows. This gave the reader a sort of idea of how the government controlled the country, and how things were done with this type of government.
2.) Privacy is something that everyone needs to have in their life. In the United States of America we all have the right to freedom. It is very important to have privacy because everyone needs their own space, their own place to go to escape everything else in the world. I do have privacy at home. When I want to escape everything else I go to my bedroom.
3.) Winston Smith commits an act that is illegal. He has this diary that he writes in, which is against policies anyways. In this diary he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” over and over again. He also thinks bad things about Big Brother, which is the leader in which he is supposed to obey and pretty much worship. This is considered thought crime. Winston purchasing the diary is something that is illegal also, as well as going to the antique shop.
4.) Winston’s room was smaller than the Parsons’ room. It has a small kitchen and living room. In the living room the telescreen is put in an odd position. Winston can stand right beside it against the wall and not be seen, this is where he commits the thought crime.
5.) In the diary Winston wrote, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, repeatedly. This is very problematic because it goes against everything they are “supposed” to do in that country. The leader, or dictator in the government who is taking control and removing privacy from everywhere, is Big Brother. When Winston writes this he is going against the government, which in turn could get him in very much trouble later on, for thought crime.
6.) One way that the party controls the people is by placing cameras and telescreen everywhere to see everything that goes on. People have lost their privacy everywhere they go, due to this government and all the changes that have happened. Another way the party controls the people is how you can see that the people are forced to obey Big Brother. They have to abide by all of the governments strict rules or something seriously bad could happen. The people know that they could be killed if they go against the government or if they disobey. So, they are all threatened.
7.) Big Brother is a leader in the government who is taking control of everybody and everything. He is changing everything in the country. Big Brother is this party in which everyone is forced to go along with. There may be one person who started this dictatorship, but it turned into a group of people known as Big Brother.
8.) During 2 minutes of hate, the enemy, or Goldstein, comes up on this screen. All the people there are yelling and screaming at this enemy. For two minutes they go crazy and yell at Goldstein on the screen. Also on the screen appears the face of Erasion soldiers marching by, which angers and frightens the people.
9.) It was always at night; the arrests invariably happened at night. The sudden jerk out of sleep, the rough hand shaking your shoulder, the lights glaring in your eyes, the ring of hard faces round the bed. In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of arrest. People simply disappeared. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, and your one time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated. Vaporized was the usual word.
10.) Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
-O’Brien: He is a very mysterious character. During the two minutes of hate Winston glances at O’Brien and catches him doing something in which indicated thought crime. O’Brien is a powerful member in the Party.
-Parsons’ family: The Parsons’ live as the neighbor to Winston. The Parsons family is very disorganized and messy. Their apartment had a bad smell to it. There were also the kids there that were making a lot of noise. To me I think the Parsons’ family is very laid back, and lets whatever go on in their house.
-Dark-haired girl: She works at the Fiction Department Presumably. She has dark hair, a freckled face, and swift athletic movements. Winston does not like this girl, because Winston thinks that she is a party agent, but no one really knows. Winston sees her everywhere he goes.
-Comrade Withers: He was Big Brothers formal officials, and he was now seen as an enemy to the party.
11.) Katherine is Winston’s ex-wife. When they were married, Katherine hated sex. When they both realized that they would never have children, they separated.
12.) Define the following:
-Double Think: the acceptance of or mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time. Its like when you realize two things at once, but they are contrary to one another.
-Newspeak: the artificial language that they used.
-Duck Speak: to speak without thinking first.
-Thought Crime: when someone goes against the Party, and does something that is considered disobeying Big Brother, but not making an obvious action. It is like a crime that you do out of gesture.
13.) Winston is a propaganda officer at the Ministry of Truth. He alters historical records to make them match the Party’s official version of past events. The Ministry of Truth is described as being an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, three hundred meters into the air.
14.) The Chestnut Tree Café is described in the context as a place where people go with different ideas, opinions, and anti-Party thoughts, to conflict and talk about their views. This may be a place where Winston can get away, and have the little bit of freedom there is possible.
15.) Some of the slogans of the party are:
•Who controls the past, controls the future: Who controls the present controls the past.
•Big Brother is watching.
•War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.
16.) The antique shop is where Winston bought the diary that he writes in all of the time. This antique shop has several different items in it, and is very special because there are items that are from real history, items which haven’t been changed by the party. That is why the antique shop is fairly unique.
17.) Winston comes in contact with a prostitute within the story, and describes her very well. He said she had a young face, but was “painted”. He said that he liked that part of her, the red lips and the white face. He had a desire to have sex with this woman, even though it was against the party. Winston wanted to have sex also, because the party has a hatred for sex. It would be considered an act of rebellion on Winston’s part.
18.) Proles are not really considered party members, but they are citizens of Oceania. They are the poorer, lower class of Oceania. The inner party is considered the upper class, and the outer party is the middle.
19.) After reading the first book of 1984, I had a different perspective on life all together. Before reading, I never really thought about what I would do if I didn’t have freedom and/or privacy. By reading this book, I have realized that life without these precious things (freedom, privacy) would be very hard and wouldn’t be so good. The book was hard for me to understand at first, but by analyzing different symbols and events that happened in the first book, I have come to realize that this book might be a good book after all.
20.) *****WATCH VIDEO ON INTERNET*****
2. Winston’s apartment in the novel is called Victory Mansions. This is Ironic because it gives a false since of security, prosperity, and accomplishment for those who live there, and then immediately after describes the halls as dust ridden and reeking of boiled cabbage. Because it’s covered with words like “victory” and “mansions”, it may yet just be another indicator that things are not always how they first seem in Oceania.
1. In the city of Ocenia 1984. A dismal place, controlled by totalitarian style dictatorship, where no one has any freedom or self expression Winston Smith,
our main character, is found walking into his rugged and dirty apartment complex “Victory Mansions”
2. Privacy is something that is important to every human on earth. Some privacy is needed for anyone to develop properly in society. Our Constitution promises us the right to privacy, and that that is a strong indicator that even the founders of our country understood the need for privacy in ones life. I believe that it’s when people’s privacy begins to be stripped away that the true problems begin to start.
3. Winston Smith does many things in the story that are illegal, but the most prominent must be "thoughtcrime". This "thoughtcrime" is committed whenever you think about anything the government does not want you to. In the Novel, Winston thinks about freedom, the true past, and ill things about Big Brother, all of these things are considered thoughtcrime.
4. Winston's room in the novel is rather dreary. It's described as small, having a tiny kitchen with hardly anything in it and having a shallow alcove where he can sit in his chair and hide from he telescreen placed on a long wall opposite to a window. There is also a table and chair that he uses later in the book.
5. Winston Writes in his diary which he purchased at a nearby antique shoppe, which is an illegal act within itself. He goes further by thinking and writing, "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" repeatedly. This seals his fate if someone were to find the diary. He places a speck of dust on the binding, so that if anyone were to find it would fall off and he would know.
6. In the story the party controls its people in many ways. First of all, in every room of every building there is what is known as the “telescreen” this device not only transmits information the party wants to be released but also has a camera and microphone so that the party can spy on its people, and therefore decide whether or not each person is committing thoughtcrime. The “thoughtcrime” is another way the party controls its people. thoughtcrime is when a person thinks I’ll of BB or the party or even anything the party has ever done. To find out if one is committing thought crime the party looks for body language that might hint of insurgent thoughts. If they suspect one is think these thoughts the party will “vaporize” them, and to always remind them there are posters that read: “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” posted everywhere.
7. Big Brother is a name the party uses to imply that they always know what you’re up to. It’s been coined as sort of a nickname for the dreaded party, and is found on posters posted in the novel that say “big brother is watching”.
8. In the novel Orwell describes something known as the "two minutes of hate". The two minutes of hate is a daily program watched by everyone in Oceania. The program is run by the party, just like everything else displayed on the telescreens, and consists entirely of two full minutes of the party "bashing" a rebel leader who controls the central rouge assembly in Oceania.
9. As mentioned earlier, if one is accused of committing thoughtcrime or any other form of crime against the party they are vaporized. Exactly what being vaporized consists of is not clearly displayed in the novel, but rather the narrator describes that anyone at anytime can be there one day and completely gone the next, unable to be found ever again.
10.
a. O'brien: Is in the Inner party and works with in the Ministry of Truth. Winston believes that O’brian is secretly opposing the party.
b. Parson Family: Also residents of victory mansions, they represent the standard outer party family of Oceania. Mr. Parson was at work when Mrs. Parson and her children were introduced in the novel. The children taunted him and the family is completely devoted to the party and would not hesitate to report him to the thought police if provoked.
c. Dark-haired girl: works also at the Ministry of truth with Winston. She works in the Fiction Department. She has dark hair and freckles, and Winston finds something mysterious about her.
d. Comrade Withers: A member of the inner party, Withers was vaporized after disgracing Big Brother.
11. Katherine is Winston’s ex-wife whom was divorced not long after marriage over sex issues. Winston has not seen her since but believes she is still alive.
12.
a. Doublethink: A mental discipline that is an exact contradiction to the basic principles of scientific inquiry.
b. Newspeak: a language the party is in the process of creating. This language will one day replace all other language. It's passed of as a easier and more simple and cohesive way to speak, but is really a ploy the party is using to get rid of ideas like freedom and justice.
c. Duck Speak: A Newspeak term meaning to speak without actually thinking
d. Thoughtcrime: anything that a citizen of Oceania thinks that is against BB or the party, or anything that the party does not want you to know, remember or think about.
13. Winston Smith works at what is known as one of the four ministries in Oceania. His ministry is known as the ministry of truth. The ministry of truth was created as the only form of media output for Oceania, all newspapers, magazines, telescreen broadcasts and information is released from there. Winston Smith's job at the ministry of truth is to rewrite old or outdated articles that say anything about what BB has said or done that later turned to be wrong. These rewritten articles are then sent o to every facility where any information was ever stored and the old articles are destroyed so it never appears that Big Brother is ever wrong.
14. The Chestnut café is described in the novel as a place were ideas, even anti- party ones, are shared and talked about. Winton mentions it when speaking.
15. The slogans of the party in the novel are:
WAR IS PEACE,
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
16. The antique shop is where Winston bought his diary. It is special in the novel because it’s a place that sells true history and hasn’t been changed by the party.
17. Winston hires a prostitute, so that he can have sex with her. This kind of sex, along with any other than for the purpose of providing new children for the party, is hated by the party. The relevancy to the novel is shown when the reader understands Winston’s addiction to sex and his rebellion against the party.
18. In Oceania there are three classes of people, the inner party, the outer party and the proles. The inner and outer parties are the two halves that make the party that controls Oceania and accounts for 15% of the population, the rest of the population is known as the proles.
19. My views on the novel after reading the first book have altered slightly. Having had a hard time following the storey in the begging I am know getting a clearer image of life in Oceania 1984. It helps me to understand all of the smaller things that come along with freedom and privacy. I’m now able to respect this book not only as a piece of literature but a excellent look into what the future may hold. It may not have been right for 1984, but with some of the controversy today, it just may hold true for 2084.
Sam Furst -5th
1. George Orwell was a man of extraordinary writing ability. His life was centered a lot around politics, and he got to see the influence government had on the people. Looking at “1984” he sort of expresses the life he lived and the things he saw, but exaggerated. I believe this influenced him to write a story such as 1984, to show people how much the government controls things and how easily people can be brain washed. In the story “Shooting An Elephant” Orwell illiterates the things people do to not look like a fool, the things they do to not be different and to not stand out. When Orwell shot the elephant he did not do it necessarily because it was right, but so he didn’t look like a fool and so he did not stand out. In the book “1984” the character Winston Smith exhibits the same sort of behavior. Even know he does not agree with the government of Oceania, in public he acts the same as everyone else, he follows the principles set by Big Brother, and during the 2 minute hate he bashes Goldstein and worships Big Brother just the same as everyone else, because he doesn’t want to appear different, and because he doesn't want to look like a fool. All these stories are connected through political means and the feelings people have against being different. They all really show you how much you don’t notice things, and how so many things can be happening that you are not aware of. People don’t want to stand out, so it causes everyone to follow the same beliefs.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
-The name of Winston’s apartment was Victory Mansions. The name made the place sound quite inviting, however, it’s appearance failed to do it justice. Victory Mansions was a run down, it smelled of cabbage and the elevators would hardly ever working.
In Oceania things were quite similar. Things in Oceania were hardly what they seemed. The government sculpted the thought that things were better now then before Big Brother. The government persuaded the people that they were very well off: better than ever. But the knowledge of the people was limited and in all reality the government that appeared so perfect, was really take slowly, their freedom away. The situation here and the name of Winston’s apartment, Victory Mansions, tie perfectly in together. The name of the apartment is ironic because the same thing if happening with the government of Oceania, what you see, isn’t always what you get.
1. Describe the opening setting.
-It’s a cold, windy day on April; the book opens with a man named Winston Smith. In the opening set the book, it describes Winston as being a 39-year-old man, and the varicose ulcer above his right ankle keeps him moving slowly. He is walking up the steps to his apartment in Victory Manson’s. As he’s making his way up to his apartment he sees lots and lots of posters with a man staring straight at you on them. This man is Big Brother. The posters read “Big Brother Is Watching You” and that sort of painted a picture in the minds of the reader the way the government system worked.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
-In the book, privacy is limited; actually privacy is, in some cases, not given at all. Someone is always watching you, some one is always on your back, and in the real world this would drive people to extremities. In America we are so use to our freedom and privacy, that without it we would go crazy. It’s nice to have some people with you, but if someone was ALWAYS watching you, you’d never get time alone to think, and get to be a person, not some kind of machine that's under the supervision of some observer. It is important that we are not observed our whole life, people need space, and people need to live their lives. In my life I have plenty of privacy, I live in America and most Americans have the right to their privacy and that's exactly what we need, to stay sane.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
-First, he goes into an antique shop, which is not illegal, but would be very suspicious for a Party member to enter. What he bought there was a diary of some sort. Winston had not entirely planned on writing in this diary, but he sat down with is in his apartment and his hand just started to move, and these were the words that escaped his pen, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” And so on. This act was illegal. Anything against the government or anything the government suspected as suspicious was illegal. Winston wrote down exactly what he thought of the government and, if caught, he would be vaporized.
4. What does his room look like?
-Winston’s apartment is small, normal and grubby, just like the whole building. Nothing about it is quite fascinating. On the right hand wall, there is a telescreen, that can view the whole room, however, by the way that the telescrene was positioned, if Winston stood right beside it against the wall, he could not be seen. On one of the walls there is a couch, in front of the telescrene a deck, and off to the corner, where Winston writes in his diary, a small little chair and table.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
“DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.”
That is very illegal phrase Winston jots down in his diary. THIS is problematic because, anything against, the government (Big Brother) is illegal and a person who commits such crime, or thinks about it, is granted certainty of death.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
-The people are treated as slave, in some ways of thinking. The government controls their lives, their language, what they do and what they say; the government practically controls their whole brain in some sort of brainwash. In newspeak the gernment was limiting the words in the peoples vocabulary, trying to make the proles unintelegent. In this quote, Syme displays this quite clearly, “Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we're not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there's no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It's merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won't be any need even for that. The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect. Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is Newspeak,' he added with a sort of mystical satisfaction. 'Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?'
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the root of the Party. He is considered the leader of all Oceania. However, the Party works as him, watching everyone, destroying history, and keeping everyone in line.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
-The 2 minutes hate is all centered around Goldstein and the war. The hate the people of Oceania have for Goldstein and the war is almost unbelievable. During the 2 minutes hate people are yelling, and going crazy, Goldstein and images of war are displayed on the telescreen and everyone goes haywire. The 2 minutes hate is designed to keep the people believing the ideas of the government and hating their enemy.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
Being vaporized did not exactly mean death, or murder. People that were vaporized were forgotten, as though they never existed. Ever trace of them was eliminated and every evidence to their existence was erased. No one herd of them again, sometimes people would show up a year later to the gallows, to confess their crimes and then be hung. People that were vaporized were always taken at night, and no one EVER escaped.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
-O’Brien is a man that is an Inner Party member, but Winston is unaware exactly what his job entails. O’Brien is a thick man, with a course, brutal face, who wears glasses. Winston feels some sort of connection with him; one reason is because a dream Winston once had. Winston dreamt he was walking through a pitch-dark room, and someone sitting to one said of him had said has he passed: “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.” And that someone was O’Brien. Winston was almost certain he was on his side, but he could not be for sure. Also, at the two minutes hate O’Brien sent Winston a glance that made Winston feel they were thinking the exact same way, that they both hated Big Brother.
b. Parson Family
The Parsons family was the family that lived in the same apartment building as Winston. Mr. Parsons works at the Ministry of Truth, but not in the same department as Winston. Mrs. Parsons was a woman of about 30 but looked much older, it appeared that there was dust in the creases of her face. The Parsons family also consisted of two children that pretend to be spies, and at any minute could give their parents to the thoughtpolice.
c. Dark-haired girl
-Was a member that worked in the Fiction Department at the ministry of truth. She looked about twenty-seven, with thick dark hair, and a freckled face. Winston disliked her almost from the very moment he saw her. He had a feeling she was a member of the Thought police and he thought that she was always following him.
d. Comrade Withers
-Comrade Whither was a former Inner Party member. He received the Order of Conspicuous Merit, second class. He also, disgraced Big Brother and all tracks of him were being erased.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was Winston’s wife; they had only been together for about 15 months, when she departed. “She had a bold, aquiline face, a face that one might have called noble until one discovered that there was as nearly nothing behind it.” -Winston
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think
-“Is a vast system of mental cheating” –George Orwell In other words, double think is thinking something, but doing the complete opposite.
b. Newspeak
-Newspeak is the language pf Oceania, it’s some kind of dictionary where every ever the word amount gets smaller.
c. Duck Speak
Duck speak is to speak without thinking. (Quaking like a duck)
d. Thought Crime
Thought Crime it to even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime. "Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime is death.... The essential crime that contains all others in itself."
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston is s propaganda officer at the Ministry of Truth. He changes records so that they match the Party’s different versions of events. He changed history, and destroys any record of the past.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is considered a place where people go to share different ideas and opinions, It’s somewhere people can go escape the government, but cannot completely get away.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
-The antique shop is a little store in the down part of town. It is filled with useless items of history and is also the place where Winston bought his diary, that's why it’s so unique. Winston can find things there that he normal wouldn't have bought but that he thinks are beautiful.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
-Winston crosses paths with a prostitute that appears young and pretty. When Winston takes her home, he discovers her face is just “Painted” on. The women is really, really old. In his diary though he writes “I gave it to her the same.” So it didn’t matter what she looked like, he wanted sex, so he did t anyway. In a way it sort of makes me think of the way Winston doesn't care if he dies or commits thoughtcrime, he does it anyway; even know he could be killed because of it.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the common people, and are not considered Party members. The inner party is the upper class and the outer-party is the middle.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
After reading the first book, I’ve falling in love with it. This book is amazing because it displays just how much the government can do, and how much that their in control the people. It makes me appreciate how lucky I am to live in a country like the United States. It also gets me thinking about our government, you never know exactly what’s true. Although our government is nothing like the government tin Oceania I still believe some media, and news is controlled by the government in probley every country.
1.) George Orwell was raised during a hard time to live, with the wars going on and the government was strict on how people could live because food, jobs, and houses was scarce. In his biography is said he was born in 1903 and died in 1950 as you know he didn’t live a very long life but, with his short lived life he written some great novels example are1984, animal farm, and shooting an elephant.
The novel 1984 and the written piece of shooting an elephant have some similarities the main is they are both every well written with great description. Both the novel and the story are alike because in the book 1984 the character was told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, with out a fight because he knew he would be in trouble. The story shooting an elephant the main character was in the army and he was told to go to this town and try to capture the elephant or kill it he didn’t fight or say no because he knew that he would be in a lot of trouble as well. Another way they are alike is in the book he writes in a journal and that is very bad because if he was caught he could have been killed. The story he has to get really close to the elephant and he only had 1 shot to shoot it or he could be killed, both in the book and the story they have a great amount of courage to do both events.
The novel 1984 and the story shooting an elephant are story not even close but they both have the same meaning, the meaning is George Orwell wrote them both because that is how he felt. He felt like he wanted to break out like he wanted to in 1984 and it take much courage like it does to shoot an elephant.
2.) The name of his apartment was Victory Mansions that’s very ironic because the government made everything so hard to do without breaking the law so no matter what you do you don’t come out on top a winner you come out a loser.
1.)When I first started reading the book it bored me because I just thought it was just another ordinary book talking bout how he hated work. It talks about the poster out side and I just thought it was the governor of the city.
2.)Freedom is very important to humans because us as humans need privacy or we would not be like we are today we all would be scared to do simple things as much as sleeping. Yes I have some privacy but not every much though.
3.) Winston wrote down thought crimes and that’s illegal if he would have been caught he would have been killed
4.) His room had a small window in it looking into the city streets and you could see the image of a big poster blaring the words big brother is watching you, and in his living room there was a telescreen showing every move and every sound that came from him or someone else in that apartment.
5.) He writes in his diary about the war movies and he talks about the woman with the crying baby in her hand and he describes then, he also describes the kids under the helicopter. This is problematic part is when he wrote down “down with big brother” over and over again that was a problem because big brother runs a dictatorship and when he said down with big brother he is saying down with the government, and he would be killed for saying such things that he wrote down.
6.) They party controls the people by having the police in the streets where the telescreen can not see, and the telescreen is another way they control the people. The party knew that the telescreen would put fear in the people because they wount try to do anything illegal because they would have been seen.
7.) Big brother is not a real person is more then 1 person running a dictatorship it’s a small party of people telling other people how to live there life.
8.) 2 minutes of hate is a rebellion against the government, it works like this everyday a man pops up on a screen and he talks about how bad the government is ran and it fires up the people to try to rebel against big brother
9.) Vaporized means to be killed and to have all of your birth records burned or destroyed and having no existence of you ever living.
10.) O’Brien is a heavy man with a wide neck and wears glasses to see and apart of the inner party and he thinks like Winston about the party
Parsons family lives in the same apartment as Winston, the dad Mr. Parsons works at the same place as Winston. Mr. Parsons is also a very big man and he put a bad smell in the apartment, he also has a wife and 2 kids.
The dark haired girl works with Winston and he thinks that she is apart of fiction department. He don’t like her because she will not have sex with him because she is a member of the anti sex league.
Comrade Withers is Winston’s dreaming creation of Comrade Ogilvy
11.) She was Winston’s wife be they got divorced because all Winston wanted to do was to have sex and she didn’t want to so she left him.
12.) Doublethink- is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs.
Newspeak-it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year
Duck speak-attempts to influence thought by influencing the expressiveness of the English language.
Thoughtcrime-attempts to control not only the speech and actions, but also the thoughts of its subjects, labeling disapproved thoughts with the term thoughtcrime or, in Newspeak, "crimethink”
13.) His job at the ministry of truth is to remake all the archives of the London times he has to rewrite the part where the all alliances did not exist.
14.) That place is free they can do as they please unlike everywhere else where the government has complete control on what goes on and how everything is ran.
15.) The slogans are “big brother is watching you” and the other is “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength”
16.) Its unique because this is place where he had the dream about O’Brien and he bought the book at this spot to write down is diary, and now the dark haired girl is there and he thinks that she is following him
17.) Winston’s encounter with the prostitute was really weird, but it shows that Winston’s true passion was sex and he didn’t care if it was a prostitute and he didn’t want the government to take sex away from him but he knew he would do it if it was illegal because it was his true passion.
18.) Proles are the poor citizens of the city, the inner party is the rich citizens of the city and the outer party is the middle class citizens of the city.
19.) In some parts of the book I liked a lot and in others I wanted to throw is threw the window and burn it
1.George Orwell’s biography and auto-biographical pieces relate to my first impression of 1984 and how it was written in a couple of ways. These readings are linked to my first impressions of 1984 because they are very political. By having to live through both World Wars and The Great Depression, George Orwell developed his own personal views of the government and their motives. His work Shooting an Elephant, to me is about his journey with the military in Burma, and how the government was treating the Burmese people, along with how the governments of other countries were treating their people as well. In this work Orwell shows how he feels like he is forced to shoot the elephant because it is what the people expect him to do, this ties in with 1984 because Winston must act the way he does because it is what is expected by The Party, and if he doesn’t follow the rules the consequences of his actions could be dire. Everything that George Orwell experienced in his short life helped him to place the setting for his dystopian novel, 1984. In the book 1984 he is also showing what he believes are the motives of totalitarianism and how it works. Like in this book, the government is doing everything in its power to make the people believe that they are doing what is best for the people as a whole, when they are actually taking away their freedom and making them live how The Party thinks is best, and in the end it’s only helping the government and not the people. This is a lot like in Shooting an Elephant because he doesn’t want to shoot the elephant because that wasn’t what was best for the animal since it had calmed down and wasn’t bothering anyone unless they were bothering it, but it was what was best from himself because he would have had to take the blame for not killing the beast. This is how the works are linked to my first impressions of 1984.
2. His apartment is called Victory Mansions. This is ironic because Winston’s apartment is nothing like a mansion; it’s rundown and decayed. This may indicate that things aren’t always what they seem in Oceania because his building and the entire country could have once been beautiful, like a mansion, but when Big Brother took over all of that changed.
1. The opening setting is a gloomy day and Winston Smith is returning from work, and going into his run-down apartment.
2. Privacy is important to the human existence for a couple of reasons. One being that when you have privacy you can do the things you want to do without being judged. Also, you don’t have to worry about someone scrutinizing your every move when you don’t want them to. In my life I have an extreme amount of privacy.
3. He commits thought crime. Which is thinking badly against Bug Brother. He also writes in the diary.
4. In Winston’s apartment there is a small living room and kitchen. In the living room there is a telescreen in a strange position, he can stand in a certain place and not be seen. So that is where he writes in the diary.
5. In the diary Winston wrote about Big Brother and some events that had happened the night before. This could be problematic for a couple of reasons. One being the thought police could come and seize him and they would know what he had wrote about because they would take the diary from him and read it.
6. The party controls the people by what they are allowed to read. Because there are people, such as Winston, who’s job is to rewrite history, and by controlling what people can read they party is somewhat controlling what people think. The party can also control people because of the telescreen. Not only does the telescreen allow the party to see what people are doing, but they can also convey messages by talking through it.
7. Big Brother is the government. It controls what people do and what they think. Thinking badly against Big Brother is called thoughtcrime, and can result in the thought police coming to vaporize or lock you up.
8. During the two minute hate you watch the telescreen and the same man appears on it everyday named Goldstein. While he’s on the telescreen people become outraged and do things such as yelling and shouting rude things about Goldstein.
9. When someone is vaporized they disappear during the night. Then your name is removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one time existence was denied and then forgotten, You were abolished, annihilated.
10. A.) O’Brien- a member on the Inner Party, he had a job so important and remote that Winston only had a dim idea of its nature. He was a large, burly man with a thick neck and a coarse, humorous, brutal face. In spite of his formidable appearance he had a certain charm. He also had a trick of resettling his spectacles on his nose, which was curiously disarming.
B.) Parson Family- the family who neighbored Winston on the same floor. Mrs. Parsons was a woman of about thirty, who had a habit of breaking off her sentences in the middle. Mr. Parsons was Winston’s fellow employee at the Ministry of Truth. He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms. They had a handsome but tough-looking boy of nine, and a girl who was two years younger.
C.) Dark-Haired Girl- a girl who works for The Party. She works in the Fiction Department, and Winston doesn’t like her immediately. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, she is about twenty-seven, she also has dark hair and freckles.
D.) Comrade Withers- a man who was vaporized and Winston had to rewrite him out of an article so it would seem like he never existed.
11. Katherine was Winston’s wife. Katherine didn’t like sex, however Winston did. After realizing they weren’t going to have kids, they separated.
12. A.) Double Think- Double think is when you hold two mutually contradictory beliefs
B.) Newspeak- The language they speak in Oceania, it limits what words mean and has less words than Oldspeak, which is what was spoken before Big Brother took over.
C.) Duck Speak- It’s when you quack like a duck. Whether it is good or bad depends on the opinions that are being “quacked”.
D.) Thought Crime- Thought crime is when you think against Big Brother and The Party. This can result in the thought police coming in the night, and you ultimately being vaporized.
13.) Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to basically help rewrite history. He does this by rewriting articles from the past so they will say what The Party wants them too, so The Party will be in control of what people know and think.
14.) The Chestnut Tree Café is a place of ideas and freedom. Here you can do whatever you please. Unlike the places that The Party runs, where you have to obey all of the rules that they have laid down.
15.) The Slogans of The Party are Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, and Ignorance is Strength.
16.) The Antique Shop is a place that Winston stopped while taking a walk. It’s unique because this is where he bought the diary, cobblestone, and paperweight, which are all things from the past. Although they aren’t really useful, they are unique because The Party usually gets rid of things from the past such as this.
17.) Winston hired a prostitute to have sex with him because his wife didn’t like sex, however he did. The party wanted to take away the pleasure of having sex. So this is relevant to the story because it shows how The Party controls everything and also because it’s kind of like rebellion against The Party.
18.) A prole is someone of the working class. Proles can also be separated into classes of their own. The outer party of proles would be the poor, while the inner party of proles would be the wealthy or the rich.
19.) When I began the book I thought it was going to be boring and I would have to trudge my way through page by page. I also thought I would be confused throughout the entirety of the book, and no matter how many times I went and read back through it I would still be lost without any hope. However, to my satisfaction, I had a well understanding of what was happening early on in the book. Now, though, I realize that it is promising to be more interesting than I originally anticipated.
1. George Orwell’s biography and his short story “Shooting an Elephant” are very descriptive. In the biography you really had a chance to see what Eric Blair (George Orwell) was really like. It gives you sections of his life. It basically tells you all the details of his life and what he went through. It has a total of six sections about his life, education, and career and also after the war world ended. My first impression of his biography was, I thought it was going to be like any other biography, boring but it wasn’t at all. It’s similar to the many impressions I had of 1984, I thought it was going to be boring, by looking at the book cover but that changed after reading the first few pages. It wasn’t boring as I thought but intriguing.
In his short story “Shooting an Elephant” you had a chance to see his writing techniques and his abilities. When I first read it, it didn’t make any since at first but after reading the first few lines it makes perfect since. Like my first impression of 1984 it was confusing but at the same time interesting. It made me want to read more until it made since and I had complete understanding of what was going on in the book. I had a different impression on all three of the writings, some quite similar other’s totally different. Altogether the pieces are highly intriguing but yet at first seemed boring and complicated to understand, to me at least that’s one of the many first impressions I had on 1984.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. It make’s the place sound comforting and inviting but its not the people living there are being controlled by a fictional character.
1. Describe the opening setting.
The opening setting is being described as a bright and cold day in April. Winston walked into the Victory Mansions, he describes it has “the hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.”
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is missing from the beginning of the novel because, when Winston is writing in the book he purchased at a junk shop, he wrote a lot of things in it but one thing in particular could get into a lot of trouble for, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” Party members aren’t supposed to go into shops. They called it “dealing on the free market.”
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
He goes in a junk shop and buys a book. Party members are not allowed to go into open shops .He purchases a book and writes in it.
4. What does his room look like?
His room has a telescreen in so they can see everything that he or any other people are doing. It also has a small window looking out into the streets. There is a big picture of big brother and at the bottom it say’s big brother is watching you.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
He writes down with big brother and that’s illegal because he was committing what they call “Thoughtcrime.” The thought police would get him either way because even though he didn’t actually commit the crime he still thought it.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
Some ways the party control the people are by keeping them from being able to think what they want regardless if it’s the most unrealistic thing ever. By cutting down their vocabulary so they’re wont being thought crime.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big brother is a fictional person. The party made big brother up so they can have a role model that no one will try to disobey.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
This program varies from day to day. Where Winston works (Records Department) they drag out their chairs from their cubicles and grouped them in the center of the hall. Opposite from the telescreen and a person is on the screen trying to get the people to go against the party.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
Vaporized means to be executed by the state. Then every record of your existence destroyed. It usually happens at night.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
O’Brien is a heavy set man that shares the same opinion as Winston’s about the party. O’Brien wears glasses and has a wide neck.
b. Parson Family
The Parsons family are Mr. and Mrs. Parsons and the two kids one a boy and the other a girl. Mr. Parsons is about 35 and good with fixing things around the house. He is a middle sized man but he is active as well Parsons was also Winston’s employee at the ministry of Truth. Mrs. Parsons was about 30 but she looked much older. She had dust in the creases of her face and she’d break off in mid sentence. The young boy was 9 years old and tough looking. The young girl about 7 yrs of age, There both dressed in the uniform of the spies.
c. dark-haired girl
The dark haired girl worked in the fiction department. She has oily hands and freckles. She also carries a spanner. She’s about 27 and bold looking with thick dark hair.
d. Comrade Withers
Comrade Withers is Winston’s dream girl. Comrade Withers is based upon Comrade Ogilvy.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine is Winston’s wife. She is a member of the party. Her and Winston separated a few years earlier.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think
Double think is holding more than one thought in your head and to except both of them. Its also like reality control.
b. Newspeak
Newspeak is a newer form of Old speak. it’s a language and it’s vocabulary gets smaller every year. It helps narrow thoughts.
c. Duck Speak
Duck Speak means to quack like a duck. It has two meanings. It can be used as a praise or an abuse.
d. Thought Crime
Thought Crime is basically a crime of a person thinking of something like “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” Its just a thought but the thought police can arrest you for it during the night.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston works as a clerk in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth. His job requires him to re-write historical documents. He revises newspaper articles.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
It is mentioned in a rather frequently visited place. It’s not against the law to visit the place frequently and it has musicians and painters as well.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
War is piece
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antiques shop is where Winston bought the diary. The shop is unique because he had a dream about O’Brien here and the dark hair is also there and Winston thinks she is following her.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
Winston’s encounter with the prostitute was awkward because the prostitute was old with a painted face on to make her look young. It’s relevant because what he did was a crime but he still did it anyway regardless of what might happen to him.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are Proletarians who are allowed to think of thought crime and not be punished. There in the outer party because the inner party considers them animals and not human beings.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
My reaction after reading the first novel was, that compared to the way we live our life is so much easier than what they have it. They can be killed for thinking, they have no freedom what so ever. Its like there robots and the party have the controls.
1.) Through out George Orwell’s life he experienced many things that would help create some of his books that are today masterpieces. He had many jobs, lived through both World Wars and experienced communism that helped him be the man he was. Before he wrote some of his best books “Animal Farm” and “nineteen-eighty four”, he wrote political articles for the British press. Living some of his life under communism helped him write these books. How this helped him; in the book “Animal Farm” it is about communism and how it can fall. “Nineteen-eighty four is about a government that is totally under control and how hard life is.
In the short story of “Shooting an Elephant” the main character is a police officer in an African community. He is told one day that an elephant has escaped and terrorizing the town. He has to be leader because no one else knows what to do. In nineteen-eighty four Winston the main character, he lives in a type of government where your thoughts, actions, and everyday activates are controlled. He is the one who is starting the downfall of Big Brother with his thoughts and writings in his journal. When he wrote “Down with Big Brother”, “Down with Big Brother” this is how the downfall could start. Winston has to be the leader; much like the main character in the story “Shooting an Elephant”, were he has to make the choice of shooting the elephant or try to tame it. This is one similarity that I noticed in the two readings.
George Orwell has lived through many different situations that had prepared him to his novels, short stories, and books. Communism was one of his biggest ideas he wrote about; writing for a newspaper on political aspects really prepped him or these stories.
2.) The way that the name of his apartment is ironic is because everything is named Victory.. . His apartment is named Victory Mansion, his cigarettes Victory Cigarettes everything has victory in front of it. This is weird because it may be trying to brain wash the people in to thinking everything is good.
3.) The opening setting, it is a cold day in April; Winston is headed into his apartment. The apartment smells bad and is in very bad shape. He looks up and notices the huge head on the wall and the caption beside that reads Big Brother is watching you.
4.) Privacy is important sometimes, like when you’re changing of course, or taking a shower. But in the book 1984 there seems to be no privacy at all. If we did not have privacy life would just not be the same sometimes in life you need privacy to discuss family things. If you knew at all times there was someone watching you life would so different. I am thankful because in my life I am granted with lots of privacy. I have the whole upstairs to my self and my own bathroom.
5.) In the book 1984 you are not aloud to think write or do anything negative towards Big Brother. Winston breaks the law by thinking and writing negative things about Big Brother. He wrote in his journal “DOWN WTH BIG BROTHER” over and over again; not realizing what he had done until he had already done it.
6.) The telescreen was not placed in the center of the wall but at the end. Right below the telescreen was a small cubbyhole were Winston would sit. Winston liked to sit here because the telescreen could not see him. He also has a small table that sits left of the telescreen that he kept his writing things in.
7.) Winston something that could get him killed at the begging of the book. While he is writing in his diary he writes “DOWN WTH BIG BROTHER”. The reason this is problematic is because this is very much against the law. Writing, saying, or thinking anything negative against Big Brother will get you vaporized.
8.) The party controls everything you do, say or think. They can change the past, present, or future. They brain wash the people in to liking violence; violence excites them. When in he is in his office and two minutes hate starts the people are screaming and yelling at the screen.
9.) Big Brother is pretty much the government. The statute faces on the walls is the face of Big Brother. Big Brother is not a single person but is the idea of the government kind of like a president but not. The people of Oceania see Big Brother as their ruler. But he is not an actual person.
10.) Two minutes hate is when Goldstein comes on the telescreen talking to them about their enemies. The screen is showing them pictures of the enemy troops. While these pictures are showing on the screen the people are showing their hate through yelling and screaming at the screen.
11.) In 1984 the government is very strict on things breaking the law will get you vaporized. The people in the book sometimes will disappear; their friends and family never know what happened to them. This is what they call getting “Vaporized”. What had happened is the Thoughpolice had come and taken them without anyone ever knowing.
12.)
a. O’Brien is very powerful but Winston thinks he might not be all for Big Brother.
b. The Parson’s Family live ext door to Winston in Victory Mansion. Parsons the husband works with Winston he is very fat and hard headed. The wife is strange and hard headed to; the kids are members of the junior-spies like most of the children.
c. she also works with Winston, very beautiful and has a small thought of rebellion towards Big Brother.
d.
13.) Katherine was Winston’s wife for a short while. He never really knew what happened to her but suspected the Thought police vaporized her. Winston met her in the proles she was a prostitute.
14.)
a. Double think is what the party uses to brainwash the people Oceania. It is two things that are contradictory and put them into ones mind so will be confused.
b. Newspeak is the language of Oceania. They take words like wonderful and erase them. Instead they use things like plus good and double plus good.
c.
d. Though crime is when someone makes facial expressions or shows negativity towards the party.
15.) Winston works in the fiction department at the ministry of truth. His job is to two take things that have been written and change them into the things the party wants him to write. Like the drop in the ration of chocolate. He finds the article that says the chocolate will stay the same and not drop.
16.)
17.) The slogan of the party is War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strength. If you read this you will notice that the slogan is completely opposite. War is not Peace Freedom is not Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. The party wants the people to believe this so they will like violence and believe they are living in a good place.
18.) The antique shop is interesting because this is where Winston gets the journal and writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” This is also where he gets the glass paper weight. The shop keeper also tells him the rhyme about the churches in Oceania.
19.) The encounter with the prostitute was strange because when the book is describing her she sounds disgusting. This shows that Winston can not live with sex. The government is trying to take away these writes you are not aloud to have sex unless you are going to have kids.
20.) The proles are the people who do all he hard work. The poor are the outer party. The inner party is the rich and powerful.
21.) My reaction to the book is definitely positive. You have to live threw times like this to write such a well laid out book with such great description. So far this is my favorite book that I have ever read.
Ashley Barlow
Mr. Parsons 3rd
Book 1
1) My first impression of 1984 was that the world is a nightmare. A government that controls everything, even your thoughts, is one of my greatest fears. The author of the book I believe had the same fear. He lived during both of the world wars and the great depression so his fear of war and government was pretty fierce. During the time period that Orwell lived in the nuclear bomb first introduced as a war weapon. The time period 1984 is the future after a nuclear war in the book 1984. Orwell was writing about the future. In the book 1984 the government has complete control of every thing. Big Brother is always watching. There’s no privacy anywhere, even in your own mind you’re not alone. The government is extremely strict. If they think the wrong thought they’d be vaporized. In the beginning of the book Winston gets a diary and if he’s caught with it he’ll surly be put to death. Big Brother brainwashes people during the two minuets of hate. People want to kill and be violent. The government does this with a telescreen and some kind of horrible sound to make people hate every one. In the book there are cameras everywhere, big brother is watching and always listening. There’s a little bit of talk about a rebellion but everyone is too afraid to even think about rebelling from the government. In the book the world is at war and if you support the war they’ll just kill you. Big Brother also tries to manipulate the children to tell on their parents for any crimes they may commit. The children have no respect for there mothers or fathers any more. I think George Orwell was afraid of this happing to the world if nuclear bombs were to be exchanged during war. I think he was trying to warn us.
2) The name of his apartment was Victory Mansions. The name is deceiving. It’s not a mansion and there’s nothing victorious about it. Throughout the book places and things are named something nice but in reality it a horrible thing or place.
3) He goes and buys a illegal dairy. Not only the abut he writes in it, “down with big brother” over and over. He would be put to death for this act.
4) There’s a telescreen that over looks the room. It’s not very clean. There’s nothing special about., its just dull.
5) Winston writes in his dairy “ down with big brother” over and over. If he were caught with that he would be killed on the spot. He would be considered a threat to the government and his country.
6) The two minutes of hate, by extreme punishment, and mind reading.
7) The government.
8) Everyone gets mad and the feeling of wanting to kill comes over you.
9) To be no more in a blink of and eye. To be turned into to vapor.
10) A. O’Brien- Is a mysterious, powerful, and sophisticated member of the Inner Party. Which Winston believes is also a member of the Brotherhood. The legendary group of anti-Party rebels.
B. Parsons Family- Mr. Parsons is fat, obnoxious, and dull Party member. They live near Winston. Mr. Parsons works at the Ministry of Truth. He has a dull wife and a group of suspicious, ill-mannered children who are members of the Junior Spies.
C. Dark-haired girl- Winston’s lover, a beautiful dark-haired girl working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. Julia enjoys sex, and claims to have had affairs with many Party members. Julia is pragmatic and optimistic. Her rebellion against the Party is small and personal, for her own enjoyment, in contrast to Winston's ideological motivation.
D. Comrade Withers- one of Big Brother's former officials and he got vaporized
11) Winston's former wife Katherine hated sex. She soon realized they would never have children. Then their love fell apart and they separated.
12) A. Double think- the ability to think two contrary idea in one mind and believe them both to be true.
B. Newspeak- A cut down simple language. It eliminates any unusual word and replaces it with a couple usual words. They’re trying to get rid of anything special.
C. Duck Speak- to quack like a duck.
D. Thought Crime- Any thought that is to smart or to original. A thought crime can also be a thought against the government or thoughts of rebellion.
13) Winston’s job it to edit the past. He rewrites history to fit what Big Brother tells everyone. Like if someone is vaporized and Big Brother didn’t want them to exist than his job is to make it like he was never here in the first place.
14) I think the Chestnut Tree Café represents a kid of normalness. Also it was a slight escape. There wasn’t a law banding it so it was a since of peace.
15) war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance I strength.
16) The antique shop was a place that Winston stopped at when he was taking a stroll. When he was about to leave he saw the dark-haired girl and he becomes sure that she is following him. The shop has a telescreen and the owner is Mr. Charrington. Winston buys the diary at this antique shop, that he writes the illegal in, ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.’ There he also purchased a cobblestone and a paperweight. This is where he remembers the dream he had previously. The dream about O’Brien saying, “We shall meet in a place where there is no darkness.”
17) He hires her so that he can have sex with her, the Party is against sex and the pleasure of having sex. The government takes away the last freedom that was given to us by God.This is important to the story because it is a huge act of rebellion against the Party.
18.They are each the classes of the citizens of the city. The proles are the lower class, the Inner party is the high upper class, and the Outer party is the middle class.
19) After reading the first book I feel powerless to stop government over all domination. I feel that it would be a huge mistake to give the government that much power. Now a days, Americans want the government to provide health care, control of private business, and control of our personal issues. we need to keep in mind the government is the people for the people.
Bradley Fyffe
2nd Period
Book 1 Questions
1) George Orwell had a life that sculpted his beliefs for his political writings such as ‘Nineteen-Eighty Four’ and ‘Animal Farm’. He was raised as a middle-class citizen and attended college. Later, Orwell lived in several years of poverty. After these years of poverty, the Spanish Civil War broke out. Orwell volunteered to fight against Franco’s Nationalist uprising. Orwell was shot in the neck. He also wrote many political articles for newspapers. After communists moved into Spain, he and his wife left.
During the life of Orwell, he saw many political uprisings and overthrows by communist regimes. Orwell’s hatred for communism was supported by the fact that he worked for the Information Research Department. The Information Research Department that published pro-democratic and anti-communist propaganda. He also wrote the novel ‘Animal Farm’. This book was believed to be supporting an anti-Stalin government. It was based on the corruption of a communist rule.
The novel ‘Nineteen-Eighty Four’ is a novel portraying a totalitarian government. Winston, the main character of the novel, describes the life in this type of world. His life is very dull, bland, monotonous, and absolutely controlled and monitored by the government. I believe this idea by Orwell was shaped by the communist and totalitarian regimes coming into power all over the world. Leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini came to power in Orwell’s time.
The short story ‘Shooting an Elephant’ by Orwell, an elephant escapes from its owner. The main character is the local policeman and is told by the people to shoot the elephant since it is destroying the town. The main character does not want to shoot the elephant but is persuaded by the people to do so. I believe the main idea is that people manipulate leaders. They often become persuaded to do what the people want, even though they may feel differently.
Orwell’s writings have been shaped by a time of history that is crucial to our world. He has lived through these times of war and they have shaped his writings. His writings will help us understand what we live for, and what the common rights of the people are and should be. They will forever shape our world.
2) The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. This is ironic because the life that the people live in Oceania is in no way a ‘victory.’ They have no right to privacy and the government can do as the please, without needed approval. Big Brother dominates every aspect of life. This name, given by Big Brother, allows the citizens to believe that their life is a victory and that the government has actually helped them.
3) In the opening setting, Winston is walking on a bright, cold, blank day in April. The life that is lived by citizens of Oceania is also very bland and boring, just like the day that is described. Also, Winston describes the face that is displayed everywhere he turns (the face of Big Brother). This shows the reader that the government watches everything that they do. They control every piece of life.
4) Privacy is important to humans because it allows us to escape from our troubles in the world. It is key to us so that we can alleviate stress in our lives. Privacy also allows us to be whom we want.
Everyone in America has privacy. We are allowed to be in our home or personal rooms and have alone time. We have no government in our lives to watch our every move (well most of the time). The only way that privacy can be conquered in our lives is due to nosey mothers.
5) Winston does not do anything illegal since there are no laws in Oceania. Winston does write in his diary, though. Doing such an act, he thinks, would get him vaporized.
6) The novel’s description of Winston’s room describes a rectangular room. He says the telescreen was not on the end wall, but instead on the longer wall of the room. To one side of the telescreen, there is an alcove. This place allows Winston to hide from the screen and write in his diary.
7) Winston writes the phrase ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER’ repeatedly in his diary. This is problematic because it is an act that would get him vaporized. Thinking in ways that are against the Party is crime that is accompanied by vaporization.
8) There are more ways that some that the Party controls the people. A telescreen is installed in everyone’s home. From the telescreen the government can watch people. In chapter III, an instructress from the telescreen forces Winston, along with everyone else in Oceania, to exercise. The party controls the language that the people speak. They force a new language called Newspeak upon them. Also, the party also controls the past, present, and future. Winston’s job is to rewrite the past to agree with the present.
9) Big Brother is not an actual person, but instead he is the image of the government. It is a figure that is put on posters and walls and is followed by the caption ‘BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU’. It is a figure that puts fear in the citizens of Oceania.
10) During Two Minutes Hate, the citizens of Oceania watch a depicting film of the Party’s enemies. During this time, the members scream and yell about their hatred for the enemies. Also, during this, audio and video cues are played to brainwash the citizens.
11) When a person is vaporized, they disappear and their names are deleted from history. They are thought to be killed. All of their records are gone; this is also an example of how the party controls the people.
12) A) O’Brien is a member of the Inner Party and holds a very important job. He is a large burly man. Winston describes him with a ‘prizefighter’s physique.’ We first see him during the Two Minutes Hate. Winston and O’Brien’s eyes meet during this and Winston believes that he hates and is disgusted by the government as well. Winston’s diary is written to O’Brien.
B) The Parsons family is the family that lives next door to Winston. Mr. Parsons is a fat obnoxious man with a boring and average wife. Their kids are out of control. The kids are also members of the Junior Spies. This shows how the Party trains the youth to rebel against the party and be one with the government.
C) The dark haired girl works with Winston but in the Fiction Department. She is a girl of about twenty-seven and with thick dark hair (obviously). She has a freckled face and makes swift athletic movements. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, which increased Winston’s sexual thoughts about her. Also, most importantly, Winston suspects her of being a member of the Thought Police. He often discovers her following him.
D) Comrade Withers is a person that Winston discovers when he has to rewrite a speech given by Big Brother. Withers was a government official and has been vaporized by the government. Big Brother gave a speech about him and Winston creates a person named Comrade Ogilvy to take his place, since he no longer exists.
13) Katharine is Winston’s former wife. They were together only about 15 months. The Party does not permit divorce, but encourages separation when there are no children. It is in question whether or not Winston and Katharine are still officially married. They attempted to have kids but failed. Winston did not like sex with her because he says that it felt only like she was submitting to him, and that was embarrassing. Also, she saw sex as ‘making a baby’, or ‘our duty to the party.’ Winston is unsure if she is alive or not.
14) A) Doublethink is the principle of thought being marked by contradictions and falseness. For example, the Party’s slogan ‘WAR IS PEACE/ FREEDOM IS SLAVERY/ IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH,’ is an example of doublethink. Orwell himself describes doublethink as ‘a vast system of mental cheating.’ Doublethink gives the party more power because the people submit to believing their contradictory statements.
B) Newspeak is the language that the government is forcing upon the people. In newspeak, there is much less vocabulary. For example, unneeded words that mean the same as good, such as extraordinary, amazing, and extravagant, would be deleted. Instead, the word plus would be added to the word good, plusgood. Then, if one needs to add more significance to the word, double could be added to the front of it. Less vocabulary allows for people to limit their range of expressing thoughts. Therefore, less people would be able to express their thoughts about the government, thus giving the Party more control.
C) Duckspeak is an example of eliminating unneeded vocabulary. The word duckspeak simply means quack.
D) Thoughtcrime is a crime in which a person thinks alternatively. The Thought Police are the Party members that enforce Thoughtcrime. They study people and if they are believed to be thinking alternatively, they are convicted.
15) Winston works for the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Truth is a building shaped like a pyramid. Winston’s job is to rewrite the past to agree with the present. He takes old news articles and rewrites them, either eliminating people who have been vaporized, or glorifying Big Brother.
16) When the Chestnut Tree Café is mention, is when Winston is describing the story of Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford. These men were leaders of the Revolution. They later admitted to having intelligence with the enemy. This confession got them dismissed from the Party. Winston sees them in the café. This café seems to be the place where people go that are against the Party.
17) ‘WAR IS PEACE / FREEDOM IS SLAVERY / IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH’ is the Party’s slogan. This is an example of doublethink. The two words in each piece of the slogan contradict themselves. The statements are believed by the citizens of Oceania and therefore strengthens the Party’s hold on people.
18) The antique shop is located in the district of the proles. This is where Winston bought his diary in which he expresses his hatred for the Party. In the antique shop are items from the past. Here, Winston has hope that the past is still alive. Also, when Winston leaves the shop, he sees the dark haired girl following him. This increases his suspicion of her.
19) Winston sees the prostitute on the street and she makes an offer of two dollars to him. He takes the offer and follows her to her home. She lay down on the bed and he lifted up her skirt. Then, he turned on the lamp to find that she was at least 50 with no teeth. He said that he still did it the same, due to his desire.
This scene is a very significant part of the story because it once again shows the Party’s control of the people. Winston describes one of their goals was to take the sexual drive out of people, even though it is one of the most natural things for a human being.
20) The Proles are the working classes of Oceania. They are not treated as humans. They are believed to be equivalent to animals, (‘Proles and animals are free’). They also are believed to be of no intellectualness because they cannot see that they are free. Their food and drinks are much less of quality than ones of the inner and outer party. The Proles are not monitored by telescreens because their jobs are to work and breed.
The Outer Party is Oceania’s middle class. They can be identified by their blue coveralls issued by the Party. The Inner Party monitors them because they do most of the governmental work. Winston is a member of the Outer Party. They seem to be the worst off because of their telescreens and they’re the ones who do the governments jobs.
The Inner Party is Oceania’s upper class. They can be identified by their black coveralls. They receive the best food and drinks. They also are monitored less closely. They also enforce principles of INGSOC, the newspeak word for their government.
21) The novel 1984 increases your appreciation for the world that we live in today. It allows the reader to be grateful for the American government, and the basic American rights we strive for that we take for granted. Being monitored by the government defeats the American dream. We have the right to privacy and we as people take it too lightly. We should be more obliged to our government and never again take it for granted.
1. George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Blair, lived a life that set the backdrop for his novels. He attended several schools through scholarships. He realized he could not afford to attend college due to insufficient financial funds, and joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. Shortly thereafter, he came to realize he hated imperialism, as shown in “Shooting an Elephant.” In the Indian village, an elephant escapes and tramples a man to death. As an officer, it is Blair’s duty to shoot the elephant before can cause any more damage. A large crowd gathers and waits to see the shooting. After he is shot five times, the elephant is still alive, and in absolute agony. He later reveals that he shot the elephant not for the right reasons, but because he feared looking like a fool. This shows his view of imperialism, and how he felt they were the wrong values.
Later, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, sympathizing with the Independent Labor Party and expressed his concern of the Spanish Communist Party; he was even shot in the neck. After that, he supported Britain’s efforts in World War II. He continued to write novels, with influence of his past, and using his anti-Stalinism, pro-democratic views. As 1984 demonstrates, Orwell felt strongly about anti-totalitarianism governments and was against governmental oppression. And like the people in Oceania, in “Shooting an Elephant,” he gave in to what was expected from the government, not what he himself believed was right.
2. The name of Winston’s apartment complex is Victory Mansions. The name of the apartment is ironic, as the place is anything but a mansion. The hallways reek of “boiled cabbage and old rag mats” (page one), and Winston takes over eight flights of stair to get to his tiny, cramped apartment, as they elevator is always broken. The Victory in Victory Mansions also is ironic, as victory is an unobtainable idea in Airstrip One, as every aspect of the citizen’s lives are controlled by Big Brother.
1. The setting of 1984 is Airstrip One, a place that used to be known as England, which is a smaller province of Oceania. The streets are grimy and dingy, although the three ministries including the Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Truth where Winston works, all tower white and high above the landscape. The buildings are dingy and many are boarded up or bombed. Just outside of town lie the slums, inhabited by Proles. Here, things are not the streets and buildings even filthier, but unlike downtown, the slums are not monitored by Big Brother.
2. Privacy is an important element to the existence of humans, as it allows us to be who we are. In the First Amendment of the Constitution, we are to some extent granted privacy, as in freedom of the press, where the press may have privacy to submit their own work with limited governmental interference, or freedom of religion, where we are able to worship as we choose, whether it be in privacy and in no way chosen by the government, or freedom of speech, where we have the power to say what we choose in privacy, and not be at fear that the government will hear. The citizens of Oceania are under constant scrutiny by Big Brother and as well as having their freedoms stripped away also have their privacy revoked. I am very thankful that I am able to have privacy, unlike those in 1984 under this totalitarianism regime.
3. Winston commits an illegal act. First, he purchased a book from an antique shop. “The thing he was about to do was to open the diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least twenty-five years in a labor camp,” (page six). What makes this act even more dangerous is that Winston writes his hatred and doubt of Big Brother.
4. Winston’s apartment is tiny and dingy. It contains the omnipresent telescreen on a long wall opposite the window. In a small alcove is the table and chair that Winston sits and writes his diary and can be out of sight from the telescreen. On the other wall, there is a door leading to a tiny cramped kitchen.
5. Winston writes about his day-to-day happenings, beginning with his description of going to see a war film, and even his encounter with a prostitute. However, as he continues writing, he exhibits his hatred for Big Brother, filling an entire page of “Down with Big Brother,” (page 14), and “They’ll shoot me. I don’t care if they’ll shoot me in the back of the neck. I don’t care. Down with Big Brother. They always shoot you in the back of the neck. I don’t care. Down with Big Brother,” (page 15). Winston also writes his thoughts about the control of Big Brother, and copies down a passage of a history book, to prove how Big Brother is even able to falsify history. This entire diary, filled with conspiracy is very dangerous for Winston to write in, as if caught, he would be convicted of Thought Crime and be sentenced to death or vaporized.
6. In 1984, every aspect is controlled by Big Brother. Leisure activities are decided, and telescreens prompt citizens on what to do, such as the Physical Jerks. Clothing is decided, a uniform of blue overalls and boots, even to go as that virgin citizens wear burgundy sashes tied around them. Food is provided, nasty portions of stew and stale bread, and other “luxury” items such as Victory Gin, Victory Cigarettes, and chocolate are provided but the amounts are controlled by the government, and can be rationed at any time. Language is restricted by Newspeak, where words are eliminated and with them, ideas are eliminated also. Big Brother has people brainwashed, so that if they even think of questioning Big Brother, they would be vaporized.
7. Big Brother is a figure of leadership to the entire country. He is in control over all the people, in a dictator style. It is yet to be determined if he is one person, or a group of people.
8. During Two Minutes of Hate, Emmanuel Goldstein comes on the telescreen and talks for two minutes about Big Brother and other happenings in Oceania. Goldstein is a member of the Enemy of the People, who was once a leader of the party and participated in counterrevolutionary activities and now used his teachings against Big Brother to advocate freedom and peace. The program reminds the people of Oceania of their hatred against non-party affiliates, and that Big Brother is the almighty ruler.
9. When a person is vaporized, they are taken in the middle of the night with no account of the arrest or original crime. After they had disappeared, their name was removed from the registers and records. Any evidence that the person ever existed was expunged. “You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word,” (page 17).
10.
a. O'Brien is a “large, burly man with a thick neck and a coarse, humorous, brutal face,” (page 9). He is a member of the Inner Party. His job is of great importance, so much so that Winston is unsure of what exactly he does.
b. The Parsons family live down the hall from Winston in Victory Mansion. Mrs. Parsons is a “woman of about thirty but looking much older,” (page 18). Her husband is Winston’s coworker at the Ministry of Truth. “He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms-one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the party depended,” (page 19). The two Parsons children, a boy of nine, and a seven-year-old girl, Winston thinks of as savages, and are programmed to be against enemies of the State, foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, and Thought Criminals, almost acting like a miniature spy for Big Brother.
c. There is a dark-haired girl, name unknown who works at the Ministry of Truth with Winston presumably in the Fiction Department. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, as shown by the burgundy sash tied around her waist. “She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick dark hair, a freckled face, and swift athletic movements,” (page 8).
d. Comrade Withers is a prominent member of the Inner Party. He had been singled out for special mention and awarded the Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class. Shortly thereafter, his organization broke up, and Withers and his associates were disgraced. There was no trial or public denunciation. Although the reasons are not exactly clear, Winston thinks, “Perhaps it was for corruption or incompetence. Perhaps Big Brother was merely getting rid of a too-popular subordinate. Perhaps Withers or someone close to him was suspected of heretical tendencies. Or perhaps - what was likeliest of all – the thing that had simply happened because purges and vaporizations were a necessary part of the mechanics of government,” (page 40).
11. Katherine was the woman Winston was married to. “She was a tall, fair-haired girl, very straight, with splendid movements. She had a bold aquiline face, a face that one might have called noble until one discovered there was as nearly as possible nothing behind it,” (page 58). They stayed together merely for sex, and to try to produce children, as Katherine called it, “our duty to the party.” After Katherine could not conceive a child, the two parted ways.
12.
a. Double Think is the act of saying one thing but doing or enforcing the opposite. It is a complete contradiction.
b. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. It’s words, including miniplenty, malreported, and doubleplusgood are all combinations of words. In the process of Newspeak, many words are eliminated. With the elimination of words, the idea behind them dies too.
c. Duck Speak is speaking unconsciously. It is speaking without meaning, similar to quacking like a duck.
d. Thought Crime is the act of thinking against Big Brother. Thought Crime is monitored by the Thought Police who watch body language or any other signs that may pose a citizen as a threat.
13. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth. Here, he works in the Records Department. He edits back issues of the Times to fit them with later issues, yet another example of changing history. He also edits speeches and other promises made by the party, to make them agree with the present time.
14. The Chestnut Tree Café is a haunt of painters and musicians. There was no law against visiting the café, yet it was looked down upon. “The old, discredited leaders of the Party had been used to gather there before they were finally purged,” (page 49). The Chestnut Tree Café is a place where citizens can go, unmonitored by Big Brother and say how the feel or be peaceful.
15. The slogans of the party are: War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. This shows the entire base of Big Brother’s philosophy. All three slogans are examples of Double Think, at least in any place besides Oceania. In the real world, these slogans say one thing but mean the complete opposite of what is traditional. War is not actually peace; peace is peace, and so on for freedom and ignorance. However, Big Brother has the citizens of Oceania believe these slogans, claiming if you have war, then you will have peace, and to have freedom you must be enslaved, and you must know as little as possible in order to be strong.
16. The antique shop is where Winston purchased his diary, and later the glass paperweight. The antique store is unique, as it is one thing that Big Brother has not changed. It still has history, and is one of the few places you could still go to get antiques and in any way remember the past.
17. Three years before, Winston saw a prostitute in an alleyway. She asked for two dollars, and led him down to a room with dim lighting. In the light, he saw she was not the young beautiful woman he had imagined, but rather a woman of about fifty with “paint plastered on her face that it looked as though it might crack like a cardboard mask. There were streaks of white in her hair, but the truly dreadful detail was that her mouth had fallen a little open, revealing nothing except a cavernous blackness. She had no teeth at all,” (page 61). Not only had Winston committed a Thought Crime by desire alone, but an act of rebellion by committing the sexual act.
18. The Proles are the poor people who make up eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania. The live in the slums outside Airstrip One, and live their lives relatively unmonitored by Big Brother. The Outer Party is average, middle-class citizens like Winston. They contain jobs within the party, and are therefore still under Big Brother’s control, but are not well respected like the Inner Party. The Inner Party is the most powerful, and has the most responsibility in their jobs, and is the upper class.
19. I think the book is fairly interesting. I think that Winston has a mind of his own, and is one of the few who dare enough to think against Big Brother. I believe as the book progresses, this will become more evident. I enjoy reading what he writes in his diary. I find the idea of a Totalitarianism government so foreign, and cannot believe that the people of Oceania are oppressed in such a way.
Book #1 Questions – Tyler Hurst – Period #2
1. Shooting an Elephant and Biography
Based on George Orwell’s biography and his writings, one can conclude that he despised tyranny and governments who instituted it. In his writing Shooting an Elephant, Orwell demonstrates how the pressure and the manipulation by others can force a person to commit acts they have no desire to commit. Orwell’s biography also gives him invaluable knowledge through which he paints vivid images of life in 1984. Orwell’s short story and biography help the reader to see Orwell’s anti-tyranny views.
In the first book of the novel 1984, George Orwell introduces us to a tyrannical government that has absolute control of the populace. The government, ruled by a single party and a single ruler, is constantly monitoring its people and has the ability to execute and imprison anyone for any reason. The beginning of the novel also introduces the reader to a poverty-stricken people known only as the proles. These people live in poverty and are much more free than the rest of the party-affiliated populace.
Orwell’s experience as a police officer for the British Empire in Burma help him to create a society ruled by tyranny in 1984. One of the primary themes in the novel can be seen in a quote made by Orwell in his short story Shooting an Elephant: “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. The point Orwell is trying to make is that once a man submits himself to a tyrant or to tyranny, he himself becomes a tyrant and destroys the natural freedom he has inside of him. This is very easy to observe in 1984; the people of Oceania, by submitting to their tyrannical government, have destroyed all hopes of inner and outer freedom in their lives.
Orwell also lived in poverty during his earlier years, as observed in the novel Down and Out in Paris and London, which helped him to paint the image of the proles in the beginning of 1984. A combination of Orwell’s biography and his earlier writings helps us, the readers, to evaluate the reasoning behind his anti-tyranny views observed in the novel 1984.
2. The irony in Victory Mansions is in its absolutely horrid condition. When one hears the name mansion, they think of a grand house that is in perfect condition and houses the rich. The irony of Victory Mansions is that it is the opposite of a mansion. The building was created in 1930 and is practically falling apart according to Winston: “Were there always these vistas of rotting nineteenth-century houses, their sides shored up with balks of timber.
1. The opening setting creates a very gloomy atmosphere at the start of the novel. Winston, the main character, describes the housing conditions as follows: “Were there always these vistas of rotting nineteenth-century houses, their sides shored up with balks of timber, their windows patched with cardboard and their roofs with corrugated iron, their crazy garden walls sagging in all directions.” (Page 3). The character also goes on to describe shortages and rationing of goods by the state. Winston also gives us a glimpse of the law and order in Oceania: “This was not illegal [writing in a diary] (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced labor camp.” (Page 6). Winston describes a nation that is deteriorating and a party that has absolute control over what happens, who lives, and who doesn’t live.
2. Privacy provides a quiet, neutral setting for people to express themselves and to go into thought without the pressure of others. Privacy is essential because although we are social creatures, we all need time alone to be alone and take into consideration personal issues that are not to be addressed in the public arena. I am fortunate enough to have my own room and my own door with my own lock. Because of the items listed above, I do have privacy in my life.
3. Based on Winston’s description of law and order, there are no laws in Oceania, so in an essence, he really didn’t break any written laws. However, the party has the right to declare people’s actions as right or wrong, and doing anything out of the ordinary can result in imprisonment or execution. Winston, a party member, broke the “law” by buying a diary on the free market and writing in it. He also commits many acts of thoughtcrime and writes many lines and words of opposition towards the party in his diary. It is through his writing and thoughtcrime that Winston breaks the “law”.
4. Winston’s room as a very odd shape and has an oddly placed telescreen. It is for this reason that he can write in his diary without being detected by the police. In the following lines, Winston describes the design of his room: “For some reason the telescreen in the living room was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window. To one side of it there was a shallow alcove in which Winston was now sitting and which, when the flats were built, had probably been intended to hold bookshelves.” (Page 5). These lines give us a glimpse at his apartment in Victory Mansions. We know he has a window, a living room, and an alcove from which he cannot be seen by the telescreen.
5. Winston writes many lines in his diary that are very problematic: “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Page 18). He also wits the following: “theyll shoot me I dont care theyll shoot me in the back of the neck I dont care down with big brother…” (Page 19). By writing opposition towards the party and Big Brother, Winston has sealed his fate. The language used by Winston in his diary would definitely be punishable by death. When Winston utters those words, he has moved from thoughtcrime, to real crime in the eyes of the party.
6. There are many ways through which the party controls its people in the story. One of the primary ways is through the installment of telescreens in all party buildings and all party members’ houses. The telescreens make citizens and workers feel like they are always being watched, keeping them from committing acts against the party where there are telescreens. The idea behind the telescreens is that if they are installed everywhere, then people will not be able to speak out or commit acts against the party because they know they will be caught and imprisoned/executed. The party hopes that the telescreens will help to make the people never consider opposition towards the government after being under video surveillance for a long time. Another way through which the party controls its people is through its large police force and crime and punishment. The presence of the thought police in party members’ lives, helps to scare the people into obedience and loyalty towards the party. They know that the police are always nearby and will carry out their orders with no mercy. The citizens also know that if they are caught, they will more than likely never return. No one who speaks out against the party or rises up against the party will live for very long. Winston describes what happens to people who speak out against or commit thought crimes: “More commonly, people who had incurred the displeasure of the Party simply disappeared and were never heard of again.” (Page 45)
7. Big Brother is the dictator of Oceania. He is the symbol of the party’s powers and appears all over the city on party posters that say “Big Brother is Watching”. He has a moustache, and his looks are considered by many to be very similar to that of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin. It is still unclear whether or not Big Brother exists. Nevertheless, Big Brother is the ultimate symbol of power for the party.
8. In the two minutes of hate, party members simply express their rage towards enemies of the party, such as Euarasia and Goldstein. In the following lines, Winston describes the actions of party members: “In its second minute the Hate rose to a frenzy. People were leaping up and down in their places and shouting at the tops of their voices in an effort to drown the maddening bleating voice that came from the screen.” (Page 14). Based on the description, one can observe that the two minutes of hate is self-explanatory: people express hatred for two minutes. The image created by Orwell is one of grown adults returning to their most primitive state by screaming, hollering, and jumping around at a telescreen. I can’t help but create an image of monkeys in my head.
9. To be vaporized is to be executed. People who disappear from society are assumed to have been imprisoned or executed by the party, but people more commonly refer to them as having been vaporized. Winston describes vaporization in the following lines: “People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.” (Page 19).
10a. O’ Brien- He is a member of the Inner Party and has a very important post, so important that Winston doesn’t even know what his position is. O’ Brien was a “large, burly man” with a “thick neck and a coarse, humorous, brutal face”. He also had glasses and Winston describes his gestures as that of an eighteenth-century nobleman offering his snuffbox. Winston feels as if O’ Brien is thinking along the same lines as he is. He thinks that O’ Brien is opposed to the party just as Winston is.
b. The Parson Family- The family lives in the apartment next to Winston in Victory mansions. Mr. Parsons works in the Ministry of Truth, as does Winston. Parsons is a very fat man who sweats everywhere he goes and is a devout follower of the party. Parsons takes on the responsibility of managing many tasks for the upcoming Hate Week. The Parsons kids are very mean children who suspect everyone around them is in opposition to the Party. The kids are out-of-control and they even use a slingshot/catapult to shot Winston in the beginning of the novel. The mom, Ms. Parsons, has no control over the children. Winston thinks that Ms. Parsons will eventually be vaporized because the children will find a way to report her to the party because of their unwavering loyalty to the party through the Spies organization, and their suspicion towards everyone.
c. Dark-Haired Girl- Winston hates the dark-haired girl, mainly because she is so young and beautiful, but is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League. Winston has a desire to have sex with her, and because of her vowel of chastity to the Party, she is not allowed to. This makes Winston angry and he identifies this as the reason for his discontent towards her. She is also thought to work in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth where they rewrite novels and such.
d. Comrade Withers- Comrade Withers was a former Inner Party Member who received the Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class. Winston’s position at the Ministry requires him to make changes about the man after he is vaporized. Winston then creates an imaginary figure named Comrade Ogilvy to replace him.
11. Katherine is Winston’s wife who is never actually seen in Book I of the novel. She is described as a woman who never thinks and always puts her duty to the part before all else. Winston describes in detail her routine attempts to make a child and how she described their having sex as “their duty to the party”. They eventually split up and she left Victory Mansions.
12a. Doublethink- The ability to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one’s mind and at the same time, to accept both of them. Winston describes doublethink in the following lines: “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions of which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing them both, to use logic against logic… consciously to induce unconsciousness… Even to understand the word ‘double think’ required the use of double think.” (Page 35).
b. Newspeak- A language based on English, but was created to limit what people could express. The objective of newspeak was to provide a way of speaking that required no thought at all, thus greatly reducing one’s ability to think about opposing the Party. George Orwell describes the principles of Newspeak in the appendix of the novel: “The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought -- that is, a thought diverging from the principles of IngSoc -- should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.” (Pages 298-299).
c. Duck Speak- To speak without thinking. The character Syme describes duckspeak in the following way: “…duckspeak, to quack like a duck. It is one of those interesting words that have two contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it is abuse; applied to someone you agree with, it is praise.” (Page 55)
d. Thought Crime- Thoughtcrime lies in the theory that all crime begins with thought, so if you can eliminate the thought, then you can eliminate crime. Thoughtcrime also includes thinking ideas or principles contradictory to Ingsoc, or English Socialism. Winston describes Thoughtcrime and its punishment in the following lines after he writes “Down with Big Brother” in his diary: “He had committed - would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper – the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.” (Page 19)
13. Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth. His job is to edit previously posted news articles in the Times. He takes articles that contradict present comments made by the Party and changes the past articles to fit the present statement by the Party. So in few words, Winston’s job is to alter the past.
14. To me, the Chestnut Tree Café is like a place of freedom to Winston. It is a place where “painters and musicians” hang out, and “Goldstein himself, it was said, had sometimes been seen there, decades ago.” The context to which the café is described is one where people with conflicting ideas and anti-Party thoughts hang(ed) out.
15. WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH; BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING.
16. The antique shop is a place where items from before the Revolution can be found. The shop is where Winston originally bought the diary that he writes in throughout the novel. The shop is unique because it contains real items from history, items that haven’t been altered by the party, items that tell truths about time before the Revolution. The shop also has an extra room that Winston and his “girlfriend” Julia frequent to have sex.
17. Winston encounters a prole prostitute in Chapter VI, and he describes her as follows: “She had a young face, painted very thick. It was really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of it, like a mask, and the bright red lips. Party women never paint their faces…When I saw her in the light she was quite an old woman, fifty years old at least.” (Page 63; Page 69). Winston has a desire to have sex, because the party has an absolute hatred of sex, and diminishes the act to merely a means of procreating. He sees the act of having sex as the ultimate act of rebellion and wants enjoy pleasure during sex, unlike in the sex he had with his wife Katherine.
18. Proles are the poorer, lower class people of Oceania. They are really not party members, but they just happen to be citizens of Oceania. They have many freedoms, compared to Party members. Eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania was proles. The party compares the proles to animals. The proles are unique in that many do not have telescreens in their houses and they are allowed to view pornography, participate in prostitution, and commit other acts of Thoughtcrime because there are too many to control, and the party wants to keep the masses “content”.
19. I feel the novel gives the reader a very detailed insight into the life I 1984 in Oceania. The Party has absolute power, not only the power of the present, but of the past also. Winston serves as a valuable narrator who gives us a glimpse of party life and of prole life. He also serves as a good explainer when describing the notions of Thoughtcrime, doublespeak, Ingsoc, Newspeak, Duckspeak, and Doublethink. I feel that the novel starts out very well by creating a very vivid image of life in 1984.
George Orwell's life is what contributed to his ability to riight his insightful political novels. The time period and location of where he grew up is what gave him a good look into the true motives of the govt. and people in it.In his short storing " Shooting an Elephant" Certain things are reflected in it and the book 1984. He shot the elephant so that he would not stand out or look like a fool. In 1984 Winston has to blend in with everyone and do what everyone does in order to stay alive.
george Orwell lived during many things that shaped our world today. he was alive during both world wars and served in thr spanish civil war. he served in Burma which was when he was introduced into imperialism. He was also alive during the American Great Depression. He experienced Democracy and imperialism. He learned the workings of two vastly different govts. These circumstances widely contributed to his politcal knowledge of the different types of govt.
Orwells short story Shooting An Elephant made him realize how awful the burmese govt treated the people. The imperialist treated the people of Burma like animals the were poor and starving and the govt was rich. Just like in 1984. Orwell also saw that there was no middle class just the rich imperialist govt and the people were all poor. This is also just like 1984. At first orwell believes that he is above the people of burma and that they deserve the way they are being treated.However after shooting the elephant his opinion changes. He realizes how awful the imperialists were and how bad dictatorships are. All these things contributed to a great backdrop for his most famous book 1984.
2) Winston Smith our main character is walking the miserable streets of Oceana. Its miserable because they are ruled by a totalitarian govt. He proceeds into his grimy dump of an apartment Victory Mansions where he gets out the diary he bought in the proles. After connquering his fear from buying this contraband knowing it leads to certain death he begins to write about the awful place he lives in.
3) Privacy of course is missing from this novel. With a telescreen in every house listening and watching you there can be no privacy. Privacy is of course important to everyone. Without it you cant have a normal life. You cant build relationships with others intimate or not. YOu cant be free to express yourself and lets face it know likes being watched 24/7. Without privacy we would just be empty soul less shells of what people should be. Yes i have as much privacy as any teenager can. Of course my parents do try to keep tabs on me as best they can. But i still maintain as much privacy as i can. But my parents arent anything close to a telescreen so i have it pretty good.
4)he not only bought a diary from the proles which wasnt exactly illegal but in essence it was. Winston also is hiding from the telescreen which is illegal. And worst of all winston subconsciencly writes DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER numerous times in the diary which is a death sentence in Oceania.
5)Winston’s room is small and dirty.There is a telescreen taking up the majority of the wall space.There is a window and a dilapitated couch and a grimy kitchen.Then their is the small alcove where Winston sits to write his diary entries.
6)Winston wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER in his diary. This is problematic because the thought police are sure to catch him. To think let alone write something against big brother is a death sentence.
7) The party controls what the people of oceania say, do, and ultimately what the people think. By restricting there language down to what they want them to say and watching them on telescreens they have almost created a sence of mind control. The people of Oceania are almost like zombies being directed by the party. When someone thinks against the party they are vaporized not only killed but deleted from existance. the party controls who lives and who dies who existed and who didnt they even control the past.
8)Big brother is the leader and brain of the party. He is the dictator and divine ruler of the party. What he says is fact and what he does is right. No one questions big brother. He is the party. Forever watching, listening, and leading everyone.
9)The 2 minutes hate is where everyone gathers in front of a telescreen with images of Goldstein and those against the party. People shout scream and throw things while listening to the teachings of Goldstein.The people are so angry that the anger is quickly channeled from one thing to another. The 2 minutes hate is ment to focus the people anger and hate towards the opposing forces of the party.
10)Anyone accused of thought crime is vaporized. They are not only killed but ersed. It is as if they never existed.
11).A O’Brian is an Inner Party member. He is a burly, stout man with a course, brutal face, with “a trick of resettling his spectacles on his nose which was curiously disarming,” Winston feels a special connection with him. O’Brian has an air of being someone Winston can trust who he thinks is on his "side".
B Parsone Family The mother is old and has dust in the creases of her face. Her husband works at the ministry of truth he is fat and reaks of sweat.Their children are members og the spies who in a few years will probably betray their mother to the thought police.
C . The dark haired girl is a young girl who works in the Fiction Department. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League,She is about twenty-six with thick, dark hair, and freckles. Winston takes one look at her and immediatly hates her.
D Comrade Withers is a man that was vaporized after he had wronged or disagreed with big brother and or shamed him. Winston is put on the job of rewriting a newspaper article that will make it seem as if Comrade Withers had never existed, and Big Brother never was wronged disagreed with or put to shame.
12) Katherine is Winstons wife. She had no mind of her own and was a perfect party member. She left Winston not to long after marryying him and he has never heard from her again. But Winston thinks she is still alive.
13) A Double Think is when you say something but mean the exact opposite.
B. Newspeak is the language that the party is making up. It limits the amount and type of words used. It avtually limits what can be thought.
C. Duckspeak is a doublespeak word. It simply means to quack like a duck.
D. Thought Crime is when you think something bad against Big Brother or the party.
14)Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. He rewrites pieces of history and records things to correspond with what the party wants. he also corrects speeches and predictions made by big brother to make it seem like he is always correct.
15) The chestnut cafe is mentioned in a song sung over the telescreen.
16) War is Peace, ignorance is Strength, Freedom is Slavery.
17)The antique shop is where Winston bought the diary. It is special because it contains alot of usless junk but the junk is from the past. This is unique because the party tryed to delete the past and everything from it. But this shop lets Winston know that the past lives.
18) Winston hires a prostitute. This kind of sex, along with any other than for the purpose of providing new children for the party is strictly prohibited and despised by the party The relevancy to the novel is shown when the reader understands Winston’s addiction to sex and his rebellion against the party. It is relevant because it was Winstons first way of rebelling against the party other than in his mind. This also shows Winstons need for sex.
19)Oceania has three classes of people, the inner party, the outer party and the proles. The inner and outer parties are the two parties that make the party that controls Oceania and accounts for 15% of the population. The inner party is more privileged and has more luxury than the outer party members. The other 85% of the population are known as the proles. The proles dont really have to abbide by the rules of the party they are considered like a sub human.
20)It makes me realize how geat it is to be an american and have freedom. I now value even the smaller things like being able to think what you want without being vaporized. I also Am able to value more the privileges of privacy and democracy. I think that Gorge Orwell has written a great book. He is very insightful about how power can corrupt peoples hearts. I would never want to imagine a world like the one in George Orwells book.
Melissa Jackson
5th Period Honors English II
Mr. Parsons
1. Read the biography of George Orwell at the following link: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html
Once you have done so, read the semi-biographical Orwell short story "Shooting an Elephant" at the following link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/
When you have completed these two readings, you will begin to understand the political backdrop for Orwell's writing.
Write a 300+ word response to the two readings linking them to your first impressions of 1984.
George Orwell, or Eric Blair, lived a short life, dieing at the age of 46 from tuberculosis. In his life he showed a love for writing and politics. He loved to see the influence the government had on people. He was best known for his journalism, both in the British press and in books of reportage. He remained to the end as a man (in his own words) “a democratic socialist”. he is also known for his insights about the political implications of the use of language. When Orwell writes, he writes about things that have happened in his life. When reading “1984” he expresses the life he lived and things he saw but he does exaggerate it. I think he write “1984” to show people the control the government has on people and how easily things can change by what the government tells the people. In “Shooting An Elephant” he shows what people will do to avoid looking like fools. He didn’t shoot the elephant because it was right he shot it so the natives wouldn’t think of him as a fool. He also doesn’t agree with the government in “Shooting An Elephant. In “1984” Winston does not agree with the government, Big Brother, or the Party. During the two minute hate Winston yells at Goldstein and praises Big Brother just because that was what everyone else was doing and he didn’t want to look different, also because people would get suspicious of him. In both stories he follows what everyone else does, and does what everyone wants because he doesn’t want to stand out. He doesn’t have his own beliefs, just the beliefs of everyone around him.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. The name is ironic because it’s like it has a name of a nice apartment that’s well fixed up, with no problems but that’s not the case. The apartment is a dump, its falling apart. The name has something like a sense of pride but theres nothing to be proud of. Oceania seems like a well kept place. With this apartment it shows that everything isn’t as well kept as they would like to believe.
1. Describe the opening setting.
The opening setting takes place at Victory Mansions. Winston is coming home from work and from getting the diary. “slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions.” –paragraph one page one. “The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a colored poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall,” –paragraph 2 page 1. He’s going into his apartment to start writing in his diary. He fears the thought police while writing.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is so important to the human existence because its something everyone needs. When someone doesn’t give you privacy it could stress you out and make you sick. Well the stress can make you sick. We all need to be able to have secrets, to be able to hide things from others. I have VERY limited privacy in my life. I’m constantly sick from the stress people give me. Everyone wants to know what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, or when I’m doing it. They always make me talk and not keep things private. People start there drama and try to invade my privacy. Honestly I’m sick of the lack of privacy. At my house I’m always watched. At school I’m always watched or people go nosing around invading my privacy.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
What Winston does that is illegal is write in a diary. “it is not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected I was punishable by death”
4. What does his room look like?
“for some reason the telescreen in the living room was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window. To one side of it there was a shallow alcove in which Winston was now sitting and which, when the flats were built, had probably been intended to hold bookshelves.”
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Winston writes about different things. Mostly he writes his memories and thoughts. It’s problematic because if the thought police found out about it then he would be vaporized, arrested, or disappear.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
They change history. They make it their version. The party controls the thoughts of the people because what they think is a crime. They use the telescreens to watch the people. They wake them up, and make them exercise. They pretty much run their lives. They watch and look for any sign of disloyalty
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the guy that the people look up to. He is the ruler of Oceania.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
What one does during the 2 minute hate is hate Goldstein. They curse, yell, scream, and throw things up at the telescreen.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
To disappear. The thought police come and get you in the middle on the night and erase all memory of you.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
O’Brien works with Winston at the party. He is the guy Winston is writing the diary for. “O’Brien was a large, burly man with a thick neck and a coarse, humorous, brutal face.”
b. Parson Family
The Parson Family is a family that lives next to Winston in Victory Mansions. They have 2 bratty children who believe they are spies. Mr. Parsons works for the party. Winston describes Mrs. Parsons as “a colorless, crushed-looking woman, with wispy hair and a lined face”
c. dark-haired girl
The dark-haired girl is a girl who Winston hates. She’s part of the junior anti-sex league. “She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick dark hair, a freckled face, and swift, athletic movements.”
d. Comrade Withers
a prominent member of the inner party. He had been vaporized.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine is Winston’s wife or ex wife, he doesn’t really know. They separated; he left and is living by himself. They didn’t divorce because divorce is not allowed they separated.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think
It is the ability to hold two thoughts at once.
b. Newspeak
the official language of Oceania. For an account of its structure and etymology. Newspeak is a variant of English in which vocabulary is strictly limited by government fiat. The goal is to make it increasingly difficult to express ideas that contradict the official line - with the final aim of making it impossible even to conceive such ideas.
c. Duck Speak
to quack like a duck
d. Thought Crime
crime that is thought.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
He works for the Ministry of Truth. He is a writer. He re-writes everything.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is described as a place were ideas are shared and talked about.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antique shop is where Winston bought the diary. They sell antiques there. It is unique because there is no telescreen around watching them. Its empty and full of memories. Winston is keen on the past and would like to know more about it.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
He encountered the prostitute on a dark evening, on a narrow side street near one of the big railway stations. Standing near a door. When we was walking up to her she said two dollars. He went through the doorway with her and into a basement kitchen. She through herself on the bed. He turned the lamp up and saw that she was old, but went ahead and did it. It is relevant to the story because when he thinks of it he thinks of Katherine. Its also not approved by the Party. He was sneaking around doing that like he is writing in the diary.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the common people, they are not considered Party members. The inner party is the upper class, and the outer-party is the middle class.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
I think that the first book is boring but interesting and confusing at the same time. When they talk Newspeak I get really confused. It seems interesting, the way he’s sneaking around is interesting at least. I think it will get better through the 2nd and 3rd books.
Hillary Johnson
Advanced English ll
Mr. Parsons
Nov 12, 2008
1) In Orwell’s short life, he had many things accomplished. He went through a lot of things that most people who live to be 90 years old, do not even see. Orwell got most of his ideas of hatred and opinions of the government during the times of war in England. The books that he has written, reflect on how he felt during the war, and the opinions that he had on the government that ruled his country. In my opinion, I believe that Orwell was very out-spoken and brave for writing these books on his opinions of the government. He was never afraid to tell the truth, or express his true feelings toward situations. Orwell shows his bravery through the books, “Shooting an Elephant” and “1984.” In both books, there is one person who wants to step up, and take charge, just like Orwell would have wanted to do.
In “Shooting an Elephant,” he describes an Elephant that is doing very much damage to this town, and it needs to be stopped. The elephant was very violent, and nobody knew what to do. The main character, after seeing what had happened, still had the courage to chase down the elephant and kill it. Orwell, is definitely showing his bravery through this book.
The book also shows relation to the novel, “1984.” In “1984,” Winston is very brave by committing Thought crime, and he knows that one day he will get caught. He does not care, because he thinks his true feelings, and believes that the Party does not have the right to control what he thinks. Winston, wants to do something about it, and thinks that he has a plan to take down the Party. This shows true bravery, knowing that at any moment, the Thought Police could take him away and nobody will every remember him, and his whole life records will just vanish into thin air.
Reading these stories that Orwell written, really showed me connection between Orwell and his stories. His bravery and strength, are both represented well in his novels, “Shooting an Elephant,” and “1984.”
2) The apartment that Winston Smith lives in, is called the Victory Mansions. Things are not what they seem in Oceania because his apartment is not all that great. The apartment itself is very small, and does not like up to its name.
1) The opening setting is when the main character, Winston Smith, is introduced. He is walking into his apartment, called Victory mansion. In the beginning, the book describes the horrid smells in the hallway, and how ugly the halls were. This gives an ugly mood, which represents that Winston is not happy with his life.
2) Privacy is so important to the human existence in America, because we are supposed to be free. America is called the Land of the Free, which means that we have the right to freedom, and privacy goes along with that.
I have privacy when I am at home, because I can just escape to my bedroom. At school there isn’t that much privacy because there are cameras everywhere, except the bathroom.
3)Winston keeps a diary, explaining all of the things that he does not like about his government. Going to an antique shop, and buying a diary is illegal anyways. This is all illegal because the citizens are not supposed to think bad things of the government and are supposed to be punished for this. Winston knows that he will eventually get caught keeping this diary, but he does not care. This would be known as Thought crime. If caught my the Thought Police, you we re usually awaken at night, and you would become vaporized, as it was called. Your name would be taken out of the registers, and every bit of evidence that ever said you existed, goes away.
4) Winston’s room was smaller that the Parson’s room. His kitchen and living room was small. The telescreen in the living room was sat in an odd place, hard to hide from it.
5) In his diary, Winston wrote over and over again,” DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!” This is problematic because, the citizens are not supposed to think bad thoughts about big brother. By saying this, Winston is meaning to take down big brother, which is considered thought crime.
6) The party controls the people by not letting them have any freedom. The people cannot think what they want, and if they do, they are vaporized. During the day, the people have a certain amount of things to do, with a certain amount of time. This is required for all citizens to do. These activities come up on the telescreen, where the people are evaluated.
7) Big Brother is the party that controls the people. I do not think that Big Brother is just one person, dictating everyone else, but a group of people that call themselves Big Brother. Big Brother is the group that decides to do away with certain people, for committing crimes. They choose what is considered thought crime, and how they should be punished.
8) During 2 minutes of hate, the people watch the telescreen, and watch pictures of terrorist, or things that are considered crimes. While they are watching this, they are screaming and saying harsh things about what they are watching for 2 minutes.
9) To be vaporized that means that your whole existence is just gone. The thought police will come into your home during the night and take you away. Then, you name and everything that ever showed that you existed, is just deleted, and nobody will remember you. This seems to happen a lot in Oceania.
10) O’Brien- he is a member of the Inner Party. He was a large man, thick neck, and a brutal face. Winston looks up to him, because he had a secretly held belief.
Parson family- the Parson family was the neighbors who lived in the same apartment building as Winston. The have two children, and live in a bigger apartment building than Winston. Mrs. Parsons is believed to be afraid of her own children, because children were a part of the Thought Police also.
Dark Haired Girl- she is a woman that Winston dislikes. She works at the Fiction Department Presumably. She had dark hair, a freckled face, and swift athletic movements. Winston thinks that she is a Party Agent, but nobody knows it. She is everywhere that Winston is.
Comrade Withers- he was considered as an enemy to the party. He was Big Brother’s former officials.
11) Winston writes in his diary about a prostitute that is old and ugly, but he did what he did what he had to do to get sex. The Party has hatred toward sex, and Winston thinks that their goal is to remove pleasure from the sexual act, so that it becomes merely a duty to the party, as a way of producing new Party members. Katherine, Winston’s former wife, did not like sex. They soon realized that they would never have children, so they separated.
12) Double Think- the acceptance of mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time
Newspeak- the name of an artificial official language
Duck Speak- to speak without thinking
Thought-Crime- an instance of unorthodox or controversial thinking, considered as a criminal offense or as socially unacceptable
13) Winston Smith works in the records section of the Ministry of Truth, where he works with a new machine called a speakwrite. A speakwrite is a machine that types as he dictates into and, that it the machine that destroys peoples records of living. He updates the demands of Big Brother and the Party so that they match new developments. He also altars the documents in history, so that they do not contradict anything that the party says or does.
14) The Chestnut Tree Café was mentioned when Winston Smith was flashing back in a story that he would never forget. The Chestnut Tree Café is a gathering place for out-of-favor Party Members. When a song played, mentioning a Chestnut Tree, one of the party member, Rutherford, began crying.
15) The Party had three different slogans, that they used as their mottos. These slogans were kind of brain washed into the people, because they are reminded of them everyday. The three slogans are:
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16) The old antique shop was called a secondhand store. This is where Winston bought his diary and bought a clear glass paperweight with a pink coral center from Mr. Charrington, the proprietor. This is where he leads Winston up to a room with no telelscreen and shows him a print of the St. Clement’s Church looks down from the wall, saying the old rhyme: “Oranges and lemons, say the bell of St. Clement’s. You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martin’s.
17) The Party has very harsh hatred against sex, so one must just fantasize about it. So, Winston gets a prostitute and has sex with her. Winston says that the prole prostitute was old and ugly, but he went through the sex act anyways. This is relevant to the story because he is going against the Party, which means that he is threatening himself to get vaporized.
18) The proles are the people who are very poor, and the Party thinks that the proles are so impoverished and insignificant that they are not a threat to its power.
The Inner Party were the people that the citizens were afraid of. They are the ones who declare what is going to happen to the people, so everyone is afraid of them.
The Outer Party were the people who did all of the dirty work. They were the people like the Thought Police and everything.
19) Personally, I like the novel. It gives me a new perspective of thinking about how different America could be if we had a dictator and got a lot of out freedoms taken away. It makes me think of how different my life would be, and I would not be able to do a lot of the things that I do today, because it would be illegal. It makes me think of all of the different people I know, and where they would fit in into the world of Oceania.
20) I watched the video.
1. Read the biography of George Orwell at the following link: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html
Once you have done so, read the semi-biographical Orwell short story "Shooting an Elephant" at the following link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/
When you have completed these two readings, you will begin to understand the political backdrop for Orwell's writing.
Write a 300+ word response to the two readings linking them to your first impressions of 1984.
The biography of George Orwell and the short story “Shooting an Elephant” correspond with my first impression of 1984 in many different ways. With George Orwell living through not only both World wars but also the great depression he developed many beliefs and ideas. Many of the beliefs and ideas that he developed are political. One thing about George Orwell was that he was always very upfront and clear about his feelings. As he said in “Shooting and Elephant” he shot the elephant so he wouldn’t be mocked by the people, not merely out of fear. This shows him to be a very strong, and a courageous man. Also the way 1984 portrayed him, even though he could be vaporized for thinking the things he did, he thought them any way. George Orwell portrayed the Character Winston Smith as I imagine him to be. Just as George Orwell was not easily swayed from his opinions, Winston smith stood for his opinions even if the ultimate punishment would be death. George Orwell lived through many tough and harsh times that not many people could rebound from. Not only did he overcome the circumstances he was faced with, he rose above them. This links to the way that Winston Smith was faced with worry and struggle about the way that the party was making them build and live their lives. The description that George Orwell put in his short story “Shooting an Elephant” describes the elephant to be very hard to kill shot after shot the elephant managed to keep some kind of life. This is a comparison how we can take kill after kill from the government, but we must hold out for the final kill as long as possible. This shows strength and bravery which is also portrayed in 1984.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it
Indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions; this is ironic because his apartment was far from victorious. Winston’s ulcers made it hard for me to use the staircase, but since the elevator was always out of service, he would have to trudge on through the pain. Once making it up the staircase he was startled on each landing of a poster that informed him bug brother is watching. I n Oceania things are made to be glorious, while they really fall way below normal. Victory Mansions’ seems to be a beautiful place, when in reality it is ran down, and a horrible excuse for an apartment.
1. Describe the opening setting.
The opening setting is very dreary and dull. It explains itself to be a cold day in April, with Winston returning to his neglected apartment. The fact that his apartment is decaying adds surreal visual aide to the opening of the book.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is lacking from the opening of the novel, every move unless made in the dark was being scrutinized. Privacy is very important to the human existence because without this we would never have the opportunity to truly be ourselves. Privacy is also a very treasured freedom that the citizens of the United States obtain. In my life I receive privacy, but only to a certain extent. Occasionally I may realize that my phone conversation has a third party on it, my mother.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Throughout the novel Winston became part in many illegal things. One of the most absurd illegal acts was his part in thought crime. Thought crime is when you would think something about the government, whether it being ill natured or just simply disagreeing with the government. Luckily Winston was never caught by the thought police, when he was committing the thought crimes.
4. What does his room look like?
In the novel Winston’s room appeared to be very plain and dreary. It was told to be very small, and to have a rather tiny kitchen that was under stocked. It explained that he had a tiny alcove where he could sit in his chair and hide from the telescreen, which was located opposite the window on a long wall.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Winston, after purchasing this diary from an illegal antique shop decides to take the act of crime a step further and writes “Down with Big Brother” in repetition. This is extremely problematic because he is not only thinking negative things about Big Brother, but writing them, this takes on a whole new level of punishment.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
In the story there are many ways that the party becomes a dictator in controlling the people. One of the easiest to point out is the constant spying which the party does on the people. In each room there is a “telescreen” that not only provides a mean to transport media that the party wants the people to receive but it is also equipped with a microphone and camera used for spying purposes. Another was that the party controls the people, is through thought crime. Any person that they believe has committed thought crime they would “vaporize”.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the name the party took one implying, that the know all and see all just as Big Brothers do. This nickname is found on posters everywhere which portrays the saying “Big Brothers watching”.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
In the novel Orwell explains to us something known as the two minutes of hate. The two minutes of hate is a daily program that would air in Oceania. The program is a simply the party bashing a rebel leader.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
When you wear caught committing a thought crime you would be vaporized. The process of being vaporized was never thoroughly explained in the novel. They just talk of one day you will be there and the next you’ll be no more never to be found.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
O’Brien works in the ministry of truth and is a part of the inner party. Winston believes him to be opposing the party.
b. Parson Family
The Parson family is also residents of Victory Mansion. The Parsons seem to represent the outer party of Oceania, and are very dedicated members of the party. With them being so dedicated they would not second think the thought to turn Winston in, if that was what was needed.
c. dark-haired girl
Dark haired girl is a coworker of Winston at the ministry of truth. She has dark hair, and freckles. Winston hates her because he cannot sleep with her because she is a part of the anti sex league.
d. Comrade Withers
Comrade Withers is a man that was vaporized. Winston had to rewrite a article that he was in to make it look like he never existed.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was Winston’s former wife. After realizing the Winston liked sex and Katherine didn’t they separated.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think: is thinking something but acting in a way that contradicts what you were thinking.
b. Newspeak: is the language of Oceania, which replaced old speak. Newspeak ultimately controls what you can think.
c. Duck Speak: a double speak word; it means to quack like a duck, but whether it is good or bad depends of the opinions being “quacked”.
d. Thought Crime: is when you think something against the party.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston Smith obtains a job at the ministry of truth. He rewrites pieces of news so they will correspond with what the party wants.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is mentioned in the context of a song lyric. The lyric would be played in between the bulletins the party gives out.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
-War is Peace
-Freedom is Slavery
-Ignorance is Strength
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antique shop is where Winston bought his diary. It’s unique because it is the only place that still holds true history.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
Winston described the prostitute very well. He said she had a young face which was painted and that he liked that part of her. This is relevant to the story because the party hated sex, so when Winston took part in sexual activity it was an act of rebellion.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the poorer, lower class people of Oceania; they are not in any particular party. Inner party is the upper class, while the outer party is considered the middle class.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book?
At the start of the novel, it was very dry and dissatisfying. The more I read into it the more in drawled me in. It is extremely interesting and leaves me with issues to ponder on.
1. George Orwell or Eric Blair had a hard life; though it was rough he was tough, courageous, and over came many obstacles. Even in time of war he was able to write well-written pieces of literature that lead to his career in writing. He saw some terrible things during The Great Depression, the political struggle of World War 1 and 2, and when he served in the Spanish Civil War and in Burma. When he served her Burma he was exposed to imperialism. These events and his views about the government show in his writings such as, "Shooting An Elephant" and even more in "1984." In his short story, “Shooting An Elephant” and in “1984” the main character in both novels show great bravery and honesty within themselves. The characters relate to Orwell himself in many ways. In “Shooting An Elephant’” he shows bravery when chasing the crazed elephant. Bravery shows in “1984” as well. When Winston goes against Big Brother so many times. Winston knows if he ever got caught he would be severely punished. But still Winston keeps doing it. He shows honesty in that he knows what’s right and will keep doing it no matter what would happen. Also in “Shooting An Elephant” when his character in waiting to see if the elephant behaves bad and the crowd is cheering to kill it. It reminds me of the preparation of 2-minute hate that take place in “1984.” The actually 2-minute of hate is when he has to shoot the elephant several times to kill it. That’s torture and cruel just like the 2-minute hate. I think the 2-minute hate wasn’t something he made up. I believe it has something to do with something he went through or even seen. I think that because he using things he went through and seen to write excellent novels.
2. Winston’s apartment is called Victory Mansions. The term victory means something is won, or gained. This is ironic because in Oceania, Big Brother controls all people. Everyone must obey by his rules. Big Brother takes the people’s freedom away from them, there’s is nothing they can do to change that. Nothing will ever be gained or won in Oceania. That’s why its ironic for his apartment building to be called Victory Mansion.
1. The setting starts off on a day in April, Winston of 39 is walking into his apartment building called Victory Mansion. He than begins heading for the stairs because the lift seldom works. He struggles getting up the starts because of an ulcer he has that’s above his right ankle. On they way to his apartment he seen a posted reminding him that Big Brother was watching. When he reaches his room is turns his back to the telescreen and heads to the window where he can see the four ministries.
2. Privacy is very important for everyone. In United States of America we the people have the right to our freedom, freedom entitles privacy. Well all need privacy to get away for everything, or everyone around you and just be able to think. I do have privacy in my life. I’m able to go to my room and stay as long as I want and do what I want. I cant image what it was like for Winston and the people of Oceania.
3. Winston Smith commits a thought crime without getting caught. If caught by the thought police he would be severely punished. Winston is able to hide form the telescreen and write in his diary. The crime is what he writes in the diary. Winston didn’t know what he was going to write or even if he was going to at all. After he wrote about a video he had watch he began to wrote ‘Down With Big Brother’ several times down the page of his diary.
4. His apartment seems extremely plain, like the whole apartment building. In the living room, the telescreen is placed in an odd position. Because of this he is able to have a chair against the wall and not be seen, this is where he writes in the diary. There is also a couch and a window that looks out over the town. There is also a doorway that leads you into the kitchen that is also plain.
5. He wrote in his diary about the videos he watch the night before. He describes them in great detail. He wrote about the lust and hate he has for a dark-haired girl and about O’Brien who he thinks is against the Party. He writes about memories he has of the past. He also wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, several times in a row. This act is problematic because it goes against Big Brother. Not only Big Brother but the rules and what they go by.
6. The Party controls the people by placing machines (which are called telescreens) everywhere. The telescreen watches and listens to you. They make the citizens on Oceania watch everything they do or say, and it keeps them from disobeying the laws. They also control the citizens by the large police force and the punishment they enforce when a law is broken.
7. Big Brother is not one person. He represents the government and what they stand for. He is someone that outs fear and hate into people. He controls everyone and thing in Oceania.
8. The place chairs in a room opposite the big tellescreen. Than a hideous, grinding screech burst from the telescreen. Goldstein’s face appeared on the screen. He’s the enemy of all people: hate and disgust, came from the people automatically. Behind Goldstein face there was columns, row after row of the Eurasian army. They could hear Goldstein’s bleating voice and because of that people began jumping up and down screaming to try to drown out the voice. It makes a person have the desire to kill and to torture.
9. It happened at night, the thought police would come and take you away. When they take you away, its been called being vaporized. You not only disappear, but the destroy and records of you even existing.
10.
A. O’Brien is a party member and works in the Ministry of Truth. He has an obscure post in the inner party that Winston doesn’t understand. He’s a think man with a course face. Winston’s thinks he feels the same way as him about Big Brother.
B. The Parsons Family lives right across the hall from Winston. Mrs. Parsons has no control over her children. Mr. Parsons works at The Ministry of Truth and is dedicated to the Party and helps manage Hate Week. Winston thinks the children are spies.
C. The dark-haired girl works at the Ministry of Truth in the fictional department. Winston deeply hates her, he knows she will not have sex with him because of her membership to the Junior Anti-Sex League. She is young and very beautiful.
D. Comrade Withers is a former Inner Party member and second class. He inspired Winston to create Comrade Ogilvy, an imaginary figure.
11. Katherine is, or was Winston’s wife. Winston doesn’t really know where she is or what happened. When they were together, Katherine hated sex which didn’t work well with Winston because he loves sex.
12.
A. Double Think when you accept two different opinions or beliefs at the same time. Its when you realize two things at once, but they are contrary to one another.
B. Newspeak in the language of Oceania.
C. Duck Speak is to speak without thinking about what you say first.
D. Thought Crime is when you do an act that goes against Big Brother. Its not an obvious action but out of movements.
13. There are four Ministry’s, Winston works at the Ministry of Truth. Winston works in the Record department, he’s a propaganda officer. He works with a machine that destroys document. He than updates them with Big Brothers orders and Party records to match the new developments.
14. The Chestnut Café is mentioned in song lyrics and where Winston seen three men of a certain memory. It’s a place where people go and talk about their views about the Party.
15. WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH are the three slogans for the party.
16. The antique shop is where Winston bought the dairy he write in. The antique shop is unique in that it contains many different items from the past. Its things that have not been changed or taken by the Party.
17. Winston comes in contact with a prostitute, which seems really strange. He cant really see her face but when he takes her back to his apartment and turns on the light, he sees and elderly woman. After seeing her with white hair and wrinkles he says, “I gave it to her the same.” To me this means he doesn’t care that she’s old but he will have sex with her anyway. Still Winston wants to have sex with her, although its against the Party. Winston will die or be executed for having sex anyway, it’s the one thing he cannot give up.
18. Proles are known as the working class. They are class of people. The poor are considered the outer party and the inner party is the rich class.
19. When I first heard we were reading 1984, I figured it was going to be the worst book ever. That’s what everyone was telling me anyways. But after I started reading it, I got a different reaction. Book 1 started off that way but after I started reading I didn’t ant to stop. Reading about thought crime, the telescreens, and two minutes of hate made me want to keep reading. I want to learn more about the dark-haired girl and I want to find out if the kids of the Parson family really are spies. I’m interested to see if Winston ever gets caught going against Big Brother.
1) George Orwell, formerly known as Eric Blair, was a man who wrote about many interesting topics, including 1984, Animal Farm, and many others. These stories stressed his beliefs on worldly events and facts. He certainly lived through enough hard times to be able to write about these things. He lived during times of the Spanish Civil War, fighting for the Republicans. He also fought very hard for things that he wanted. He got scholarships, allowing him to attend more than decent schools. His awarness of worldly issues, and training at the best of schools, helped him transform his writings into the great works that they are today. His life was full of hard times, and with those hard times came great accomplishments. He lived a short life but did great things with his time lived. Without his experience in things like war, he wouldn't have been able to connect with his writing the way that he was able to. When reading his work, the audience is clearly able to tell that he is a man of which creativity and imagination are fluent. 1984, is a perfect example of his worldly views, and a great story the expresses them.
2)The apartments in which Winston resides are given the title of "Victory Mansions". One might think that it was a rather nice place to live in, but when you read further into 1984, you find that it is a title that is not suiting. Winston describes Victory Mansions as having a very dingy look, with a constant odor, that smelled of boiled cabbage. The first impression of what you might get when hearing the name of the apartments, is completely different than what is on the inside. This might also be the case with Oceania; It isn't what it seems to be on the outside.
1)It is 1984, in the sity of Oceania, and Winston Smith, the main character, is found walking up the stairs belonging to the apartments in which he lives. There are various posters, lining the path in which he has taken to his home, that advertise many important points in the novel, such as the Party slogans.
2)Privacy is missing throughout the novel, in each of the people's lives, just because Big Brother doesn't want people thinking anything less than good about the party and its' rules. Privacy is so important to each one of us as human beings, simply because it allows us to be ourselves in ways that we might not appreciate the whole world knowing. It allows us to make new ideas on our own, and to express ourselves in many ways. With out privacy, we don't have alot of things that make us true people. We don't ahve the right to be ourselves, which makes us all the same.
3)Winston, committed various illegal crimes. Most of them were notorious "Thought Crimes", but the greatest of all was writing about the fall of "Big Brother". In the novel, it states that you can be severly punished if you are found even thinking about going against "Big Brother", but Winston actually wrote about it in his wrongly purchased diary. He wrote "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER", which in the town of Oceania, is an unthinkable crime.
4) Winston's room is quite small, including only a tiny kitchen, and a sitting place. In the sitting area he was said to have a telescreen, placed at a caddycornered angle, so that he would be able to escape, nonetheless, the eyes of Big Brother.
5) Winston writes "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER", in his diary. This statement if found to be extremly problematic, because in Oceania, everyone is expected to obey and honor "Big Brother". When you go against "Big Brother" you are considered a traitor, and Winston's writing habits would be a clear example of someone who was going against "Big Brother", in the eyes of its' supporters.
6) The party controls almost everything the people do. A person in Oceania can't even think a simple thought without having someone questioning them for it. The party watches their every move, by placing a "telescreen" in each place of living, so that anybody or anything that tries to go against them, or what they stand for, will be caught.
7) Big Brother, is more or less the head of the party. The main organization over Oceania. Big Brother is what is keeping watch over everyone, so that its' rulse are followed.
8) During "Two Minutes Of Hate", a picture of Mr. Goldstein, who was a man that betrayed Big Brother, comes onto each telescreen in Oceania. Everyone is to stop what they are doing, and express great feelings of hatred and dislike toward this man, because they are supposed to hate all that would go against Big Brother.
9)Vaporized is a term used when someone in Oceania is completely forgotten about. When someone is found guilty of "Thought Crime" they are taken away, and all traces of former existence are wiped out. All of their files, paperwork, and everything else that could lead back to that person are destroyed.
10) A:O'Brien, is described as a very strong looking man, with a rough exterior. According to Winston he also has a very common way about him, which is found to be quite odd, considering he is a member of the Inner party. There is something unusual about his actions that makes Winston question his true dientity.
B:The Parson family are Winston "neighbors". Their family consists of a "sweatier than normal" husband who seems to like fixing things in their broken down living space, who was a leading figure on the Sports Committee. His wife, who is the mother of their two rowdy children, is also part of the Parson family.
C:The Dark-haired girl, is someone who, at first, Winston finds to be quite despiseable, but then realizes that this was only so because he could not have his way with her. He dislikes her for the fact that she is anti-sex, and this is thrown in his face everytime he sees her wearing the sash that clearly represents that tied around her waist.
D:Comrade Withers was a former inner party member. He was found guilty of going against Big Brother, so he was vaporized for his so called crime.
11) Katherine was Winston's former wife. She ended up leaving him because of his constant issues with his sex addictions.
12) A:Double Think is a term used to describe thinking one thing but doing something different.
B:Newspeak is the language that the party uses. It is one of the many cover ups that the party uses against the knowledge of the people in Oceania.
C:Duck Speak is to speak or act without thinking before doing so.
D:Thought Crime is exactly that: A thought that consists of a crime, and by crime it means anything that could be issued as a threat to Big Brother.
13) Winston works for the Ministry of Truth. It is his job to go and change any files, or records so that they can fit the ideas that Big Brother are trying to convey to the public. This way Big Brother won't get caught up in any mishaps with things that may not be 100%truthful.
14) The Chestnut Tree Cafe is a place where some people of Oceania would go to discuss their views on things openly, and away from the eyes of Big Brother.
15) The party slogans include,War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery, and
Ignorance is Strength.
16) The antique shop is the place where Winston purchased many things, that should have been destroyed by Big Brother, including the diary. It is so unique because it has inquired many items that should no longer exist, because they are from the past.
17)Winston's first thought of the prostitute were that of beauty, but once he sees her in better lighting, he notices that her "beauty" only consisted of a painted face. He admits, in hid diary, that he did what he had planned on doing anyway, even though she was not what he thought she would be. His acts are justifiable with that of a Thought Crime, which is just another way he is going against Big Brother.
18) The inner party, are the people that are top priority with Big Brother. They are most respected, and watched most, for they know most about the secrets that lie within the party. The outer party are more common than the inner party. They are inbetween the inner party, and proles. Winston is a member of the outer party. Proles are the most common of all. They would best be classified as the lowest on the scale of authority and respect.
19) After reading book one in 1984 by George Orwell, I realized that the people in Oceania have almost no control of their own lives. After comparing Big Brother to our own government, Ive wondered if there are secrets, like the ones kept from the people in Oceania, that are being kept from us. Ive wondered if we are victims of altered pasts, and controled lives. Ive compared myself to Winston as well, knowing that his habits of striking out, to be his own person, are things that I would do also. So much interest in the life of Winston, his constant rebellion, and the great control that Big Brother has on him and everyone, is keeping me reading.
Amanda Harris
11/11/08
Parsons
2nd period
1) George Orwell is an amazing author. He has great writing abilities. And he uses life experiences in the writing. All through his life he lived through was surrounded by political things, and that was why he put so much description and feeling into his book “1984”. He lived through all of that, and he saw how the government has an affect on the people that lived in that area. So, he had a person connection with the people in his story. He knows how they truly would feel if they were real people instead of fictional characters. And the short story “Shooting An Elephant.” Was written also by George Orwell. In this short story that he wrote he made the main character be the one to shoot the elephant. The main character was given orders, and he had to carry them out. It did not matter whether it was right for the man to shoot the elephant but that is what he was told to do. If he did not, then there were consequences to be paid after. Also in this short story that Orwell wrote the character does not want to look like an outcast. And he does not want people to think of him as a coward because he did not shoot the elephant as ordered. And the same goes for Winston in the book “1984”. During the two-minute hate he worshiped big brother just like everyone else was going. He did not want to draw attention to himself not only because he did not want to be thought of as a fool but also because he did not want to get into trouble. My first impression of these pieces of literature is that the characters are always afraid of being thought of different, or getting into trouble. They do not truly speak their minds and they do not fight for what they believe is truly right. They just sit back and go with the flow because they are afraid.
2) The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. The reason that it is so ironic is because things aren’t always what they seem. When you think of a mansion you think of a huge nice house, extremely clean, and a place where rich people live. But, instead of being a mansion that a rich owner would have these apartments aren’t very clean, and from what George Orwell describes it does not smell very well. “The hallway smelt if boiled cabbage and old rag mats. “ (Section One, page 3, and paragraph 2) Orwell also states that the elevator that the apartment has does not work. “It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at resent the electric current was cut off during daylight hours.” (Section One, page 3, and paragraph 2) The apartment that Winston lives in, is the farthest thing from a mansion. Also Oceania is not what is seems. The government was trying to say that things were better now then they were before Big Brother was put into action.
1) The opening setting of the story is set on a bright cold day in April. The character Winston Smith was coming home to his apartment, Victory Mansions. The apartment is a far cry from being a mansion. All over the apartment there are posters that has Big Brother on them. And then eyes always follow you, not matter where you are in the room.
2) In this book privacy is limited to the characters that are living there. Privacy is an extremely important thing to the human race. The reason for that is because it is no one else’s business what you do in your free time, and what you think or say. If it was meant for them to hear then you would mention it to them, or send them a copy of whatever your ordered or watched on the television. You life, is a personal thing. And no one has the right to invade it unless you invite him or her to. I have privacy in my life, the constitution states that I do. It is one of my rights as a U.S citizen.
3) Winston Smith is not as innocent as he wants people to believe, he did something that was illegal for him to do. The illegal act he committed was that he was writing in a diary that he purchased, that was considered a rebellion against the party. He also commits thought crime, which is where you think against Big Brother. In his diary he notices that he has written “Down With Big Brother” over and over again.
4) In Winston’s room there is a television called a telescreen on the right hand wall in this book by George Orwell. His room also has a window. Through it he can see the Ministry of Truth, which is where he works. In his room he also has a drawer, that was hidden from the telescreen, in which he pulls out a diary that he bought.
5) In his diary Winston wrote about the film that he has saw the night before. He also talks about his feelings and hatred toward the girl with dark hair that worked in the fiction department in the Ministry of truth. But, that isn’t all, Winston also writes about a man who is an important member of the inner party. His name is O’Brien. He tells that he believes that he is an enemy to the party. In his diary he also writes “Down With Big Brother.” The reason this is problematic is because he is committing a thought crime. No one is allowed to think against big brother, and that is what Winston is doing.
6) There are many ways that the Party controls the characters in this story. First off they have children that check up on the adults, they are called ‘Junior Spies’. The children that he comes in contact with in Chapter 2 are the children of Mrs. Parsons, his neighbor. When he goes to her house to help her with the plumbing her kids start to harass him about committing thought crime against Big Brother. Also the government controlled their language.
7) Big Brother is the most powerful person in the book. He is considered the ruler over everything. He has a group of people working as him; they are considered the government of the town. They are sent to monitor people, destroy and evidence of any person who was vaporized for committing crimes against them.
8) The two-minute hate was designed to keep the people believing that they needed to hate their so-called enemy and love their government. During this two-minute hate situation the telescrenes would show footage of Goldstein and the war. This would send the towns people into fits, they truly hated Goldstein, that’s what the government, Big Brother, wanted.
9) When someone was vaporized they were sentenced to death. Every scarp of evidence that they ever existed such as; birth certificate, records, bills, everything and anything that linked back to that person was disposed of. They were then forgotten, as far as the government was concerned they never existed.
10- a) O’Brien is the man that Winston mentions in his diary. He believes that he is an enemy of the Party, and dislikes them just as much as he does even though O’Brien is the most important member of the Party.
b) In this book there is a family named the Parsons family. Mrs. Parsons is Winston Smith’s neighbor. She calls him down to her apartment because she is having plumbing problems and needs his help. She has children, and they are known as being part of the “Junior Spies”. Their job is to make sure that the adults follow up on their responsibilities. And that they do not break the law, if they do, the junior spies are suppose to report it to Big Brother, or the thought police. Mr. Parsons worked at the Ministry of Truth, but not in the same place that Winston did.
c) The dark- haired girl that is mentioned in the story worked in the fiction department of the ministry of truth. Winston had an instant hatred against her, because he thought that she was a member from the thought police. He also thought that she was following him, and kept her eye on him. And that she was trying to get him to mess up.
d) Comrade Withers was the man that received the Order of Conspicuous Merit, he also went against big brother and everything about him was then erased and disposed of.
11) In the story there is a character by the name of Katherine. She was Winston’s wife. They were only together for eleven months.
12 a-) double thinking is when you think that you are going to do something, but then you turn around and do something completely different.
b) The newspeak is the language in which the characters are forced to speak, and the word count decreases.
c) Duck speak means that you speak before you think things through.
d) Thought crime is a crime that is committed when you think against Big Brother.
13) What Winston does is he works in the Ministry of Truth. But what he actually does there is he is the propaganda officer. It is his job to change history and destroy any records of the past.
14) Chestnut Tree Café is a place that the characters feel that they can go to express their opinions and feelings, and hide from the government.
15) War Is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength is the slogans for the Party.
16) The antique shop is unique because all the items that are being sold are from the past. And everything that comes from the past is supposed to be destroyed and yet there is a whole store full of items from the past.
17) In this story Winston encounters a prostitute. At the time she looked gorgeous to him and extremely young. But when he took her home he realized that her face was just painted with makeup. She was really old, but he did not care. He wrote in his diary that he did it anyway. He didn’t care. The only thing he wanted was sex. That is just another way that he proves that he does not care whether he lives or dies; because he committed a crime by doing so with her.
18) The proles in the story are the common people, kind of like peasants in a fairy tale. They are not considered part members. The inner party is upper class, like the royal families such as the king and queen. And the outer party is the middle class, kind of like the helpers to the king’s and queens.
19) After reading this book I now find that I like it. It makes me appreciate what I have and how much privacy I have in the U.S; Everyone is always complaining, but we have no room to even utter a bad word about our government and the way our country is being ran. The people in this book have it so much worse. I enjoy seeing how different our government could be. And I really enjoy this book so far.
1) Describe the opening setting.
A)The novel begins on a cold day in the month of April, as the main character Winston is scurrying into his apartment to escape the harsh weather. After he has entered, he climbs the tall staircase to his apartment.
2) Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
A)Privacy is important to human existence because without it, one could not fully develop a personal life or a personality, or to formulate their own beliefs or ideas or theories. It helps one become who they are as a human, without it, one would be nothing. I have privacy in my life.
3) What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
A) He commits thoughtcrime, which he realizes when he sees that while reminiscing on an earlier event that occurred that day, he had written the words “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” many times on the diary page in front of him. This is a crime because any type of thought against the power of Big Brother is considered a crime, appropriately named “thoughtcrime”.
4) What does his room look like?
A) Winton’s room can best be described as a small flat with a tiny window that overlooks the barren city street. The telescreen is constantly transmitting information; the device can be turned down, but never completely shut off. Adjacent to this room is a kitchen; empty of food, but with a table and a chair, which he uses later in the story.
5) What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
A) Winston, repeatedly writes in his diary, the words “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”. This is problematic because he had just committed what was commonly referred to as thoughtcrime. He had thought against Big Brother and he was well aware that it was only a matter of time before the Thought Police seized him.
6) What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
A) There are many ways in which the party controls the people in 1984, on of which being the telescreen. The telescreen is a grayish device that is built in to the walls of every citizen’s home. These devices give the party the ability to spy in on the people and listen to their every noise. Another way the people are controlled by the party are by the harsh laws. It is, as described in the book, illegal to create, write down or share ideas with others. It is also illegal to even form a thought or question the rule or power of “Big Brother”. These laws, if broken, are punishable by death.
7. Who is Big Brother?
A) Big Brother could be considered the absolute ruler of the people. He is a dictator to the people who demands full and total dominance and respect. He is made out to be an almighty and great public figure and his power is not to be questioned under any circumstances.
8.What does one do during the Two Minute Hate?
A) As described in the novel, the Two Minute Hate is a daily ritual that is watched by the people of the city. This is a video of Goldstein, a public icon of hate and anger, threatening the people along with flashes of the opposing military forces marching across the screen. One feels the uncontrollable urge to scream and curse and rebel against the screen, a wave of hate and frustration coming over them and forcing them feel enraged.
9) What does it mean to be Vaporized?
A) To be vaporized, as it is used in the book, is basically to be permanently deleted by the government. To have all of your records, files, and any proof of your existence destroyed. To be vaporized to be wiped off the face of the Earth, to be completely removed from history.
10) Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
A) O’Brien – O’Brien is a member of the inner party, a member who’s post was so high and discreet Winston new very little about it. He is a large, charming man with a big burly face and glasses. Winston thinks highly of O’Brien, even hoping that maybe, just maybe he too questions the power of Big Brother.
B) Parson Family – The Parson family is a small family who reside in the flat down the hall from Winston. Mrs. Parson is described in the book as a woman of about 30, who appears much older than she is. It is even rumored that dust can be found in the creases that line her face. She seems to be frail and have no control over her children.
Mr. Parson, though he is not present when the family is first introduced in the novel, is described as a large, ignorant man who is very good with his hands. A great repair man.
The Parson children seem to be greatly influenced by The Party and Big Brother. This can be seen in the novel during the second chapter when Winston is assisting Mrs. Parson with the clogged drain. The children, free of authority by their mother, run around and attack Winston. The young boy is pretending as if he is a Spy, and Winston is a criminal. The young daughter, greatly influenced by her older brother, follows his every move.
C) Dark Haired Girl – The Dark Haired Girl is described as a bold, freckle-faced, swift girl of about 27. She is described to have a post in the fiction department, working on one of the novel writing machines. Winston, that not completely certain as to why, feels a feeling of hatred towards the girl.
D) Comrade Withers - A former member of the Inner Party who is believed by Winston to have been vaporized.
11) Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
A) Katherine is the ex-wife of Winston. Their divorced caused by issues involving sex, she disappeared and he never heard from her again. Winston believes that she is alive.
12) Define the following:
A) Double Think - the act of holding two contradictory beliefs about something.
B) Newspeak - A quickly developing language in Oceania, created for the sole purpose of narrowing the vocabulary of citizens to create one dominant language as well as immobilize their thoughts, which is thought to put a hold on thoughtcrime.
C) Duck Speak - the act of speaking without thinking of what one is actually saying. Can be complementary as well as insulting, depending on how it is used.
D) Thoughtcrime - any thought against the authority of big brother or the power of the party. Punishable by death, or vaporization.
13) What is Winston Smith’s job? What exactly does he do?
A) Winston works in a department of the Ministry of Truth. His job is basically to take any type of literature expressing thoughts or events or opinions contradictory to what the party wants the people to believe and rewriting them as well as destroying the original, forever changing the course of history.
14) In what context is the Chestnut Tree Café mentioned?
A) It is mentioned as a place where ideas, whatever the topic be, are exchanged amongst one another. It is a small way of escaping the government, yet not completely getting away.
15) What are the slogans of the Party?
A) WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
16) What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
A) The antique shop is a small little establishment that sells many items from the past. The store is unique because for some reason, unlike all of the other things from the past, the things in the store haven’t been destroyed by the government. The store is like a portal to the past.
17) Describe Winston Smith’s encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
A) Winston encounters the prostitute at first without seeing her face. After reaching his apartment and seeing her in a better light, he sees she is an elderly woman, yet his lust for sex drive him to intercourse with the prostitute, knowing full well it is illegal.
18) What are Proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
A) Proles are the lowest of the classes, the hard laborers who aren’t even thought of as humans. The Inner Party consists of the richest citizens, and the middle class reside in the Outer Party.
19) Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first book.
A) I think the first book of this novel is great! It goes deep into the lives of the citizens and shows how the government uses it’s power to control the lives of the citizens. The book also gives me creeps, also giving me the sobering thought that the world described in the novel may not be just a work of fiction.
Alex Lanning
1] George Orwell, previously known as Eric Blair, was a writer, journalist, and veteran. In his short life he accomplished more than thought possible and achieved success with the two novels, “1984” and “Animal Farm”. His writings consistently hold a background of politics and opinions. His life influenced his writings being that he lived during both World Wars and eventually became vocal about his democratic views, which is shown in his works. They can often be related to each other in the sense of injustice and descriptiveness. A few pieces that are comparable are “1984”, “The Biography of George Orwell” and “Shooting an Elephant”.
In the novel “1984” and the short story “Shooting an Elephant”, the two main characters each lead to the downfall of an over-powerful monster. The monster in “1984” is portrayed as a government known as Big Brother. The government controls everything a person does such as thoughts and actions. Winston, the main character commits thought crime by writing “Down With Big Brother” in a journal of his. He could be portrayed as a hero in the story because he thinks against the controlling government.
In relation to this, the monster in “Shooting an Elephant” was indeed the elephant. The main character in this story acted out in courage to seize the animal before it claimed more victims. While others were scared and stood by to watch the show, the hero stood up and did something about the situation.
Another similarity between the two works is that of being in the “in-crowd”, or in these cases, not doing what you think is right. In “Shooting an Elephant”, the officer who killed the elephant wanted not its death, but to tame it. He gave in to peer-pressure though, and killed the elephant because it was what everyone else wanted.
Winston, the character from “1984”, also let himself down. He followed through with the despicable acts of Big Brother though it was the complete opposite of his beliefs and morals. Winston and the officer both gave into the government so they weren’t portrayed as fools.
In Orwell’s life, he became a big fan of anti-tyranny and had pro-democratic views. He greatly illustrated the importance of privacy and freedom in many of his writings. Orwell’s life experiences, such as living in poverty and witnessing governmental cruelty helped create a great backdrop for his novels.
2} The name of Winston’s apartment was Victory Mansions. The title created much irony in the story because Winston had a feeling of not victory, but defeat. This atmosphere of encouraging building titles and posters that demanded success were the exact opposite of everything Winston felt. It created an era of lies and proposed that things were not always how the seemed. The name also created irony because the entitlement of a mansion would mean the building is large and beautiful. In this case, Orwell described it as being horrid and disgusting. “The hallways smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.” (Page 3)
1} The opening setting begins with Orwell describing the month and weather in this world that a man named Winston Smith lived in. Orwell created an uneasy feeling by saying, “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (Page 3) He later indicated that there were gusts of wind dust smothering the building. Winston was entering his apartment building, which were extremely unclean and not right for living conditions. The setting was the apartment itself, with many staircases and posters on every floor that threatened, "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU".
2] When you are given privacy for the majority of your life and then have it suddenly taken away, it creates a feeling of degradation and depression. In the novel “1984”, the men and women under the Big Brother government are deprived of all privacy. The government is always watching their every move, and trying to read their every thought. That leaves little room for happiness in their life. Privacy is anything but insignificant to human existence. It allows the mind to flow freely, and gives people the right to have secrets. I personally have privacy in my life. I have a bedroom door with a lock, a cell phone with a pass-code, and fortunately I cannot be tried for thought crime like the characters in the novel.
3] Winston smith is so disgusted with the Big Brother government that he decides to write about it in a journal. Not only does he write “Down With Big Brother” multiple times, but he commits muliple acts of thought crime that could have him killed.
4] Winston’s room goes hand-in-hand with the rest of the building being that it is small, dirty and increases his depression. It has the basic layout of an apartment, with a living room, a kitchen and bed. The telescreen takes up much of one wall and there is a small window near it.
5} In Winston’s diary he wrote about movies that were being shown on the telescreen and how brutally murdered many people were. Later he wrote the words "Down With Big Brother" over and over again. His writings would get him tortured and executed if found. He was committing a distinct act of thought crime.
6} The party is a part of the government that controls people’s pasts, futures, acts and thoughts. They transfer old newspapers to their preference and clear everyone’s remembrance of what life used to consist of. They also control Oceana’s vocabulary by transferring the dictionary into a much smaller, unintelligible book. The Party influences the ways people live, and transfer children into spies. They are cruel and dictating.
7} Big Brother is a government who basically brainwashes its followers.
8] During 2-minutes of hate, Goldstein is shown on the telescreen along with many people yelling at him and scrutinizing what he stands for. The point is to completely turn everyone against him.
9] In the novel, the act of being vaporized is being killed and having your past die with you. Your existence is completely forgotten and it is as if you were never born.
O'Brian – A significant member of the inner party. He is very manipulating, persuasive, convincing, determined, and sly. He convinced Winston that he was part of the brother hood when he really was not. O’Brian is big-boned and rather husky.
Parson family – The Parson family consists of a mother, father, and two children. The children are obnoxious spies who make Winston and their parents very nervous. The father works with Winston at the Ministry of Truth.
Dark haired girl – Winston often has the feeling that she is following him, which he does not like. She has freckles scattered upon her face and no one is sure where she works, but she is a former member of the junior anti-sex league.
Comrade Withers – once existed, but soon vaporized. Winston, with others, had the challenge of denying his life and rewriting newspaper articles to remove his existence and idolize Big Brother.
11] Katherine is Winston’s ex-wife. They divorced because of their different views on the government and children. She often urged him to make a baby with her so the government would be happy. Winston opposed her request and felt divorce was needed. He does not know where she is, but he thinks she is still alive.
12]
Doublethink – to believe two different things at one time, and accepting both of them.
Newspeak – a way to narrow thoughts and eventually ridden all thoughts against Big brother. It is the new form of the dictionary.
Duckspeak – a term in Newspeak that means to talk without thinking.
Thought crime - the act of thinking against big brother and downgrading its government.
13} Winston Smith’s job consists of erasing and creating people. He works at the Ministry of Truth where he alters newspapers to help the big brother government.
14] The Chestnut Café is a place of shared opinions. Winston mentions it often and it is thought of as a mere getaway. The people of Oceana go there to discuss things other than government.
15] War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength
Freedom is Slavery
16] The antique shop is the store where Winston bought his diary. It can otherwise be known as the free market and is unique because it holds items you can’t find anywhere else. It is Winston’s link to the past.
17] Winston encounters a prostitute and states that “The sexual act, successfully performed, was rebellion. Desire was thoughtcrime.” (Page 75) Winston knew it was wrong, just like writing in his journal, but he did it anyway not caring about the consequences.
18] The Proles can be considered as the lower class and are referred to as animals by the inner party. The are the working class and make up most of Oceana. The Proles have more freedom than other part members because there are too many to control. Their rights consist of pornography, no telescreens, prostitution and varius acts of thoughtcrime.
19] When I began the novel, it was extremely hard to pay attention to. I had a hard time relating and becoming interested. Eventually, I began to understand the life of Winston and the mental pictures became more detailed as I read. I must say that I was proved wrong. 1984 is a fairly good novel as opposed to my first judgement of it. I respect how George Orwell signified the importance of privacy and freedom. Along with Orwell, I have democratic views, which allowed me to appreciate this book even more. I am looking forward to reading the second book.
Book 1
George Orwell has had an exceptional politically attuned life. In “Shooting an elephant” it showed how pressure brought on by a culture could make a man do things he would have done differently. In Orwell’s biography, it seems that he has been through every form of life style, from the rich to the poor and even living in the army life. Seeing life through all spectrums and even reporting on it, when he a journalist, it’s not surprising for him to have gained a good grasp on what the government means to each social class. With that being said, he also witnessed wars and the communist’s trying to oppress people. Being through so much it’s not hard for me to see why he wrote the novel he did. From the social classes, to the constant threat of war, to the novel has many mirrors to his life. I think that Orwell’s novel has a message that needs to headed, and he has experience to prove why.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. This is ironic because everyone in this novel seems to have anything but victory. People are like zombies, freedoms as simple as thought have been taken away. It's a really a horrible situation. The very fact that not much of anyone (citizen wise) is having a victory and the names victory mansion is very fishy, it's a sign that thing someone is trying to hide something.
1.Describe the opening setting.
Winston is entering his apartment complex “Victory Mansions”.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is what allows people to make some decisions without opposition. It’s what lets us all function the way we truly want to. Without privacy, people would live their whole lives as if someone hateful toward them were present at all times, not matter WHAT they were doing! This simple thing is one of our greatest necessities. No privacy spells disaster for most people, it would mean sharing every important moment with an uninvited guest. Many people would lead zombie lives, never expressing their true feelings because they didn’t want Big brother or whoever was looking to know what they think, a monitored life is not a free one.
Yes I have plenty of privacy in my life, I’m always a simple closing of a door away from all the seclusion I need.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
He writes in a journal. Winston does this to rebel against big brother, which is a major offense against big brother.
4.What does his room look like?
Small, has a pathetic almost empty kitchen, a big poster of Big Brother and a telescreen.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
He writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” and other things in rebellion against the totalitarian government.
This is problematic because it is a direct offense against the government. He could be sent to the ministry of love for doing this. That means torture and ultimately death. This also means to avoid that grotesque fate, he has to stay calm at all times so as to not be found out by the “thought police.”
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
The ministry of truth eliminates the “truth” out of past documents to keep people out of “the know” and keeping them from discovering truths about Big brother. Writing in journals is forbidden and anything to keep people from remembering much of past events.
7. Who is Big Brother?
A fictional character used to sum up the totalitarian party. Being an icon, Big Brother my seem like one person, but is instead a group of people all under one face and name, “Big Brother”.
8. What does one do during 2
minutes of hate?
Enters a room with a giant telescreen, there the rebel leader is demonized making the people present grow very angry at him. Eventually one is consumed by unrelenting rage and begins to shout and throw thing at the telescreen.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
To be “vaporized” means just that. Its means to be eliminated, snuffed out of existence and having all traces of ever existing destroyed. No one remembers you, your very being losses everything.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien, Big intimidating man who’s part of the inner party. Has a very important job, Winston has only a vague idea as to what it is. However despite all of this he has a certain charm that makes him seem less scary.
B. Parson Family Mrs. Parsons, a pathetic seeming woman who is about thirty years old who ends her sentences short. Overall she is fairly normal. Mr. Parsons, a fat man who is easily manipulated by big brother, works at the ministry of truth and is “friends” (comrade) with Winston.
c. dark-haired girl, Winston hates her for being part of the anti-sex league, works in the fiction department and is seemingly twenty-seven.
d. Comrade Withers, Was vaporized and had to be edited out of the past by Winston.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine used to be married to Winston, however after failing to get pregnant and sex issues divorced him. Winston hasn’t seen her at all since the divorce.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think- the believing in something and the exact opposite of that something at the same time.
b. Newspeak- A language fine tuned to control thoughts by have limited words to generate new ideas.
c. Duck Speak- Saying words that have no meaning
d. Thought Crime-Thinking about anything that one is not supposed to think of.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston works at the ministry of truth; his job to rewrite the past by changing documents so that they convey only what Big Brother wants them to.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree café is a place where people went to conspire against the government, it is a place that going to is seen as an I’ll omen for someone.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOME IS SLAVORY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
A place on the free market, it has books in it that weren’t changed by the ministry of truth.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
He sees a girl with a white mask of paint on, knowing she is a prostitute and knows they are cheap, he sleeps with her, ignoring the fact that she turns out to be an old woman with missing teeth. This shows how far the standard of living and freedoms have fallen. He has to hire a prostitute in order do to something that married couples once enjoyed freely without doing just to “make a baby”.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
The proles are the slums of Oceania, the Inner party is the upper class and outer is middle class.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
It made me feel caged when I read it. I think the ideas and lessons in the novel are not to be laughed at. It reminded me and things clear to me why we should question everything that is said and not taken for granted that it is truth. I like the novel, but I don’t like the caged feeling it gives me. I think it is an important book to read and I’m glad that a book like this can be allowed to exist, so people will always feel the need to second guess what the government does.
1. The name of Winston’s apartment, Victory Mansions, is ironic because of its poor condition. Contrary to its name, “Victory Mansions” has many problems including stopped up sinks and bare living quarters. The way that Winston talks about it, it sounds like this is a problem occurring all over Oceania.
2. The opening setting of 1984 introduces us to a man named Winston Smith, who is making his way into his apartment building from the cold winds. Once inside, he takes notice of a poster inside of a man whom we later learn is called “Big Brother”. Winston eventually makes his way up to his apartment, where we learn about something called a telescreen. It is explained that a telescreen is somewhat like the modern television, except that a telescreen transmits both ways, picking up both sound and sight.
3. One of the first things you notice about 1984 is how it seems that no one has any privacy. Privacy is an extremely important part of human life. It gives you control over what people know and don’t know, it lets you keep your sanity because you only have to deal with your own problems, and people simply have something in them that tells them certain things should be private.
4. At the beginning of the book, Winston writes in a diary, which he explains is illegal.
5. Like most of the residents of Victory Mansions (or most of Oceania, for that matter), Winston’s room is bare with few amenities. It includes mainly only things important to everyday life, and even those are in short supply or poor condition.
6. While Winston is sitting alone in his house he looks down at the diary and realizes that he has written the phrase “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” multiple times down the page. Seeing as Big Brother is the apparent leader of all of Oceania, Winston fears that the Thought Police have seen him through the telescreen, and that they will vaporize him.
7. The party has many ways of controlling people in 1984; the most obvious of these is the telescreen, but there are others. The party seems to spread its control best with the various groups and organizations it has established, including things like the anti-sex league (which tells women to practice chastity), and the Spies (which is an organization similar to the Hitler Youth).
8. In the story we hear a lot about Big Brother, who seems to be the party leader, or at least the figurehead, of Ingsoc.
9. The party seems to have many strange practices, or at least they seem that way to us. While Winston is working during one part of the story, a bell tells them that it is time to practice something called the 2 minutes of hate. During this time, the telescreen makes a loud screeching noise and flashes pictures and clips of people that should be strongly disliked. People are expected to hiss at the appropriate pictures, and cry in joy at the ones of Big Brother. After the clips finish, they usually begin to chant “B-B…B-B” in long intervals before finally returning back to work.
10. In 1984 Winston talks constantly about his fear of the Thought Police, who seem to govern everything that humans strive for. Apparently, if you commit a crime that involves thinking in a way other than the party (cleverly named a “thought crime”), you will be taken by the Thought Police and never be seen again. Winston tells us that this is called being vaporized.
11. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
A. O’Brien- O’Brien is an inner party member who Winston seems to feel a connection with. He is a large man, with a brutal face, but is still a very charming person
B. Parson Family- the Parson family lives down the hall from Winston’s flat. It consists of: Mr. Parson, a large man who is most comfortable when he is doing work, and always has the smell of fresh sweat. Mrs. Parson, a mother of two and Mr. Parson’s wife, she is horribly scared of her children. Then there are the two children, who are members of the Spies, and are constantly calling someone an enemy to the Party.
C. Dark haired girl- A girl who works in the fiction department of the Ministry of Truth. She wears a chastity belt because she is part of the Anti-Sex League, and this angers Winston because she is so beautiful.
D. Comrade Withers- Withers is a man featured in an article from the times who was one of the Inner Party members for FFCC, which was a company that provided cigarettes for the Flying Fortress. In the article, Big Brother is praising FFCC for their contributions to the war. Years later, FFCC is shut down, and therefore it supposedly never existed. Winston has to change the article so that Withers and FFCC are never mentioned.
12. Winston makes references at different times during the story to a woman named Katherine, who is his wife. He says that she disappeared, and he has not heard from her in many years.
13. Define the following:
A. Double-think- Also called “Reality Control”, Double-think is the word the party uses to describe the ability to alter the past. It states that if you can destroy all evidence of an event, than that event must have never occurred, even if you can remember it. In other words, no matter what, the Party is always right.
B. Newspeak- Newspeak is the language that the party has invented to take completely get rid of Oldspeak (Regular English). It is the only language to ever exist that focuses on the demolishing words instead of making them. Newspeak words are intended to be so few, so that there will be no words to explain emotions other than the ones the party wants you to have.
C. Duckspeak- Duckspeak is the ability to get your point across in Newspeak, but never really have to delve deep into any though processes.
D. Thought Crime- To commit a thought crime is to commit any act of treason against the party, including those you make inside your head. Thought crime is considered the most potent form of crime, seeing as it is really the only one.
14. In 1984, Winston Smith is employed in the records department of the Ministry of Truth. His job is to read over articles that are now considered false (thanks to doublethink), and rewrite them so that the person or things involved that “no longer exist” are taken out.
15. Ingsoc has three slogans that are considered its core principles. These are:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
16. Multiple times during the story, Winston visits an antique shop in the prole quarters. It is an interesting place to Winston because he has never seen objects that serve no purpose, especially ones that are so old.
17. At one point in 1984, Winston tells us about an encounter he has with a prostitute. He explains that such activities are supposedly frowned upon, but in a sense the Party almost encourages it. He goes on to explain that once he finally gets to a room with the girl, he discovers that she is old. He says that her makeup is thick and cracked, and that her mouth is toothless. Even after learning this, Winston decides to go ahead and finish the job.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the biggest of the three groups that make up Oceania, their numbers producing 85% of the population. They are extremely poor and are given low amounts of food and necessities. However, they are watched with a much less careful eye than that of the Inner Party or Outer Party, and are often simply ignored. All in all they live a normal life, except for constantly having their homes destroyed with rocket bombs.
Outer Party members make up the next largest group of people in Oceania. They are only slightly less poor than the proles. However, they are constantly monitored by the Thought Police. The Outer Party members complete jobs that require more intelligence than that of a prole, but less than that of an Inner Party member.
Inner Party members number few and far between, and are the leading people of Oceania. Any government, scientific, or economic decisions go through the Inner Party members.
20. After reading the first book of the novel my immediate reaction was to say that I would most certainly not survive in that situation. Now I suppose that if I were there with the exact circumstances I would have to make it, but if someone simply threw me into the middle of 1984 I would be arrested by the Thought Police instantly.
1) George Orwell lived in harsh times of America. He experienced the effects of war on a person. This is most likely why he implies such radical views of the government in his writings. He shows this in both “1984” and “Shooting an Elephant”.
In “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell imposes his political beliefs. He makes it seem as if a person must take care of thyself and only thyself in harsh times. This is shown when he is alone in hunting the elephant while no one else will. It also goes with the state of mind that desperate times call for desperate measures. The elephant will be a big loss if it is killed, but it is harming the people. The elephant also seems like an example of the government. It is terrorizing the people, and taking away their freedom. This is probably how Orwell views the government, due to the harsh times when he experienced it. In the story he rebels by killing the elephant.
The theme of “1984” is much like that of “Shooting and Elephant”. In 1984, Winston hates the government and rebels by committing a few crimes. This is just like him killing the elephant. Big Brother terrorizes the people and gives them no freedom, just like the elephant.
Orwell’s views on the government are showed in both these writings. Orwell thinks that the government is bad. He thinks the government gives people no freedom and is constantly harassing them. He also wants people to rebel against it. Winston saw a very bad side of the government, because he was living in times of war. Orwell shows these views as Winston Smith hating the government and committing crimes against it. He also shows this with the elephant and him killing it. All of this show the connection between Winston’s life and his writings.
2) “Victory Mansions” is a very ironic name for Winston’s apartment building. A mansion is usually thought of as a wealthy, and well kept up environment. The descriptions in the book do not give one this impression at all. It says that the building smells like boiled cabbage and old rags. It also says the elevator usually never works, which is very inconvenient for Winston, because of his ulcer. Also, victory usually implies other feelings such as happiness and freedom. It is ironic because the people do not seem happy or free, because of the way they are ruled by big brother. The apartment being the exact opposite of the name, is a great indicator that things aren’t always as they seem in Oceania
1) The story begins on a cold day in 1984. A man named Winston Smith is returning to his home, a slummy apartment building in Oceania. The apartment is covered in telescreens, which are always watching the citizens and spreading propaganda. There are also posters everywhere, showing a big face and saying “Big Brother is watching you.” The building is in the bad part of town. It smells bad, like old cabbage, and isn’t kept up well, because the elevator is broken.
2) Privacy is very important to human existence. It is missing in the novel, because Big Brother, which is the government, is always watching. People cannot be emotionally stable without privacy. There are some things that are hard or not meant to be shared with others. I do have privacy. I can be alone in my room and do as I like when I want.
3) Winston acted illegally by committing thought crime. Thought crime is thinking badly about Big Brother. Winston is committing a crime when he buys a diary and when he writes in it. These acts are illegal because it provides suspicion of tyranny against the government. It is considered an especially unacceptable crime when he writes “Down with Big Brother”, which is punishable by death.
4) Winston stays in a small room no different than the rest of the apartment building.. It is small and not very homey, and he is watched by big brother. There is a small kitchen and living room. There is a telescreen that sees most of the room. Winston writes in his diary in the part by the window that is not watched by the telescreen. From his window he can see one of the posters saying “ Big Brother is watching you”.
5) Winston writes “down with Big Brother” in his diary. This is very problematic because it is against the government. Any thoughts or actions are against the government are reason for vaporization. Winston is afraid to be caught by the thought police. Winston seems to be more aware of what the government is doing than anyone else.
6) Big Brother controls nearly every part of the members’ lives. One way this is done is by the laws and the punishments for breaking them. If nothing else, the citizens are loyal for fear of being punished. If they acts against Big Brother, they could be sent to a labor camp or be vaporized, an act of execution. Also Big Brother puts telescreens nearly everywhere. This makes the citizens feel like they are being watched and they will be caught if they commit a crime or do anything suspicious. All the telescreens spread propaganda, which alters the peoples’ minds.
7) Big Brother is the government as a whole. Big Brother watches the people at all times. They maintain obedience at all costs. People are loyal to Big Brother, whether it be true loyalty, or just fear. This government is ran in the state of mind that the loyalty of the whole is more important than the happiness or freedom of an individual. This makes a successful government, but not a successful citizenship.
8) During the two minutes of hate, one watches a man named Goldstein on the telescreen. There is very much controversial information spread about the war and the enemy. The people are outraged and yell at the screen. The loyalty of the people to their government is shown. It also makes the people hate the enemy that much more.
9) Vaporization is making it so that someone never existed. This is the worst form of punishment. The person accused is not only executed, but documentation is changed so that it is like the person never existed. The people are also manipulated by the government so they don’t remember the person either. A person may be vaporized when acting against Big Brother.
10) a) O’Brien is a heavy man who wears glasses. He is a member of the Inner Party. Winston doesn’t understand O’Brien’s job completely. His views of the government are much like Winston’s. Winston thinks O’Brien may be opposing Big Brother. Winston feels a big connection between himself and O’Brien.
b) The Parsons are a family that lives in the same apartment as Winston. Mr. Parsons works in the Ministry of Truth, but in a different department than Winston. Mrs. Parsons is a young woman who looks much older than she actually is. The 2 children both work as spies, and accuse Winston of being against Big Brother.
c) The dark-haired girl works in the Fiction Department of the Ministry of Truth. She is young looking with freckles and dark hair. Winston has an immediate disliking of the girl. She is very mysterious. Winston feels as though she may be following him.
d) Comrade Withers is a man that was vaporized. He had disgraced Big Brother. Winston and a few others had to erase documentation of him so that it was like he never existed. This way it would be like no one had went against Big Brother.
11) Katherine is Winston’s ex-wife. They had not been married long before they divorced over sex issues. Winston has not seen Katherine for a long time.
12) a) Double think is the thought of two things that contradict one another. A person may be thinking or acting on one thought and also on another one which is the complete opposite, which is double thinking.
b) Newspeak is the language spoken in Oceania. This replaced oldspeak when Big Brother took over. This language omits some of the old language as to limit the freedom of the citizens. Deleting some words is just another way Big Brother controls the people. They get rid of the words that go against the government, so the people can never think or say them.
c) Duck speak is when one quacks like a duck. This is done without thinking. The opinions that are expressed determine whether the duck speak is good or bad.
d) Thought crime is the act of thinking anything that goes against Big Brother. One does not have to act to commit this crime, only think. Anyone who commits thought crime would be ceased by the thought police. They could be put in a labor camp, or be vaporized. This is just one of the radical ways that Big Brother controls the citizens.
13) Winton works for the Ministry of Truth. He altars documents to match up with the present. For example, if someone is vaporized, he trashes all documentation of them. This helps Big Brother control what the people think.
14) The Chestnut Tree Café is a place to get away from Big Brother. The people can actually have a little bit of freedom here, which Winston very much appreciates. There are often painters and musicians here. The people can think and say what they want of Big Brother, without fear of being punished.
15) The slogans of the party are “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.” All of these words are examples of double thinking. It show a lot about how things work in Oceania. The people are basically brainwashed into thinking this is true, that they need to be miserable in order to be happy.
16) Winston visits the antique shop to buy a diary and later a paperweight. The antique shop is very unique. It is the only place where the past hasn’t been changed due to the future. People can go here and get a glimpse of the past.
17) Winston had hired a prostitute about 3 years ago, he writes in his diary. He says that he paid two dollars to a young prostitute in an alley. He later realizes she is a much older lady, but “does it just the same”. Winston wants to have sex, mostly out of hatred for big brother. It is an act of rebellion, which could be punishable by vaporization.
18) The proles make up 85% of Oceania. They are the poverty stricken people that live in the slums of town. They are rarely bothered by Big Brother, because they are considered to poor to be a threat. Winston is of the outer party. They are the middle class of Oceania. These people have jobs within the government and are watched almost always by Big Brother. The inner party are the upper class citizens. They have the most important jobs of the party. They are also monitored by Big Brother.
19) At first I thought the book was somewhat boring and hard to understand. I think it became more interesting and comprehendible as it went on. I am actually anxious to see what goes on next. I don’t really like the idea of the book that much, but it makes me curious to see what happens.
Aaron Hieneman
Advanced English II
Mr. Parsons
November 16, 2008
1984 Section Questions
1.) George Orwell was born into a very hard life, he was born in 1903 and at the time the government was cracking down on peoples freedoms because of a civil war that his country was having at the time. George did not live a very long life he died in 1950 of tuberculosis and in his time he gave the world two great pieces of litature that will always be remembered “ Animal farm” and “ 1984”. George also wrote a story called “ shooting an elephant” to me it is about the stories he had with the Burma army and how the government treated there people, very similar to 1984 in many ways. When Orwell shoots the elephant he does it not because it was the right thing to do but he did not want to stand out and look stupid. This is very similar to his charcter Winston Smith in “ 1984” in the way that they act. Winston agrees with the government of Oceania while working for them, but while he is in public he blends in with every one else public he actually hates the government. He just trys to fit in with everyone and he feels as if he has no choice no matter what he does. During the two minute hate he worships big brother and talks down to Goldstein even though he hates the party he wishs not to be differnet and he dosen’t want to look like a fool. All of these views are through politics and how people are so afraid to be differnet when they should have there own voice. This leads to these ideas lead to all of the politics that go on today people are so scared to be differnet that they forget that its there voice that should be heard and not that of another. You cannot lead if you are stuck just following every one that’s how we have leaders today because there are people out there who want there voices to be heard and we should follow there examples and do and become what we believe and want.
2.) How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
The name of Winston’s apartment is “ Victory Mansion” this is very ironic because the apartment is worn down and there are many things wrong with the place. He depicts the place as a run down place with the smell of cabbage and old rag mats. Because of the title of the apartment it gives the reader the perspective of Oceania and that nothing is what it appears.
1.) Describe the opening setting.
The opening scene tells about Winston and the apartment that he is living in and the all the bad features about it and it also tells of the Parsons family, which lives down stairs of Winston. It talks about where Winston is working and what he does, the house is broken down while he is working a very important job at the ministry of truth and lastly it talks about the thought crime that he did.
2.) Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is very important to humans because there are just some ideas that need to be kept secret and Winston is a fine example in the beginning of the story he has strange thoughts and in a journal that he was keeping he writes, “ down with big brother” with all of the telescreens that they put into his house that watch every movement made there would be no privacy at all. I do myself have a private life that I would like to remain private because they are things that only I should know and not any one else.
3.) What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Winston commits thought crime, which is were a person has thoughts about rebelling against big brother he repeatly writes “ down with big brother” he keeps his thoughts in a journal which is illegal because no one is allowed to even have a journal.
4.) What does his room look like?
Winstons room is smaller than the parsons room, its has everything bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. He has a telescreen that is oddly positioned and and he could stand next to his wall and not be seen by the telescreen, this is were he commits his crime.
5.) What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Winston writes “down with big brother in his diary” repeatly in his diary where he collects all of his thoughs this can very bad for winston if anyone were to find his diary because if anyone found out he would immeadly vaporized.
6.) What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
They put telescreens in peoples house to limit all of the privacy they then change all of the past in the ministry of truth to there likings and if anyone goes against them they vaporize them where they erase them like they where never born.
7.) Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the nickname of the party to let the people let you know that they are watching you in the posters throught the story they have posters in the towns and houses they that say “ obey” and that “ big brother is watching you.”
8.)What is the two minute hate?
The two minute hate is were the enemy of the people Goldstein appears on the telescreens. All of the people start yelling at him or the enemy for two minutes. Also on the screen appears the face of soldiers marching,which is an image that frightens and angers all of the people watching.
9.) What does it mean to be vaporized?
The come to your house in the middle of the night waking you up by shaking your shoulders, and then they glare ligh into your eyes and faces circle around you and then your gone. You are erased from all records and you existence is forgotten and replaced they use vaporize to explain this event.
10.)Describe the people in detail
O’Brien- he is not talk about that much, he is only mentioned during the two minute hate when winston glances at him noticed that he is doing something that would make him think that he is commiting thought crime. O’Brien is a very powerful member of the party.
Parsons Family- The Parsons are Winstons neighbors and they are very messy and disorganized. There kids are noisy and annoying to everyone, but they are spies in training and they try to tell there father about Winston commiting the crime but he just ignores them.
The dark haired works along side Winston and he thinks that she works for the fiction department. He doesn’t like the girl because she is apart of the anti sex league and she would not have sex with him.
Comrade Withers- Winstons replacement for Comrade Ogilvy in history because Ogilvy was vaporized
11.) Katherine is Winstons ex-wife. She hated the thought of having sex and having kids and this was something Winstons opposed greatly. When Winstons realized that they were never going to have children then they divorced.
12.) Define the following
Double Think- In other words is thinking something, but doing the opposite, a mental discipline more or less
Newspeak- a languae that the party is in the process of creating. It passed as a easier and better way to speak, but its just a plot that the party is putting togther to get rid of everyones thoughts of freedom and justice
Duck Speak- A newspeak term meaning to speak without actually thinking
Thought crime- Any thought that a citizen of Oceania has against big brother, or something the party does not want to know, in newspeak it is known as “crime thought”
13.) What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston is a propaganda officer for the ministry of truth. He’s the one that changes all of the records to the views of the party. He basically changes history to the partys liking and destroys the record of the real event.
14.) In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is a place where people go to escape the government and share there ideas and opinions freely, but they cannot completely escape
15.) What are the slogans of the party?
The slogans of the party are:
-Who controls the past, controls the future and who controls the present controls the past
-Big Brother is watching
-War is peace, Freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength
16.) What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
Winston bought his diary at a antique shop. The shop is special because it has items that haven’t been changed by the party.
17.) Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
Winston hires a prostitute because he desired sex a lot and he didn’t want what the government had taken away from him what he wanted the most, he knew it was illegal but is was his true passion.
18.) What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the working class of Oceania and they are treated like slaves and treated more like animals than any thing, the outer party are the middle class people and the inner class people are the richer and wealther people.
19.) Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
After reading the first book I think it is very intresting in some parts and it makes me want to read the book more and more. But in other parts I just want to throw the book in a trash can and burn it. All in all it is an alright book that I could read in my spare time if I was really bored.
20.) –Watched da movie-
Nathan Hernandez
November 16th, 2008
5th period
2.) The name of Winston’s apartment is ironic because it is called Victory Mansions. According to Winston the apartment is quite shabby. Things are not what they seem in Oceania because his apartment is horrible. It is far from a mansion and does not display the qualities of victory.
1.) The opening setting introduces the main character, Winston. It takes place at his apartment and the book describes his apartment as being ugly with horrid smells. “The hallways smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats” is what Winston described.
2.) Privacy is important for someone to be their self. People need privacy so they can resolve inner conflicts which cause the most problems. I do not have privacy myself for you see I have these two little annoyances called “parents”. These “parents” completely neglect to realize that they are only needed to provide me with shelter, nutrition, and at times, transportation.
3.) He commits no crime since there are no crimes in Oceania. However he does think that by purchasing a diary and writing in it, he will be vaporized. Also, he has committed many thought crimes by thinking bad of the government.
4.) Winston’s room is rectangular and the telescreen is placed at an odd angle. His room is also very grotesque. Due to the fact that the telescreen is placed at an odd angle he can write in his diary.
5.) Winston writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” repeatedly. He also writes down things that are punishable by death. He commits thought crime by saying things that are against the government. Thought crimes are punishable by death.
6.) There are several ways by which the party controls the people. One way is by the telescreens. The telescreens are implemented to keep the people from committing acts against the government. If they cannot say or think against Big Brother then they cannot rebel. Another way is by it’s large police force. By scaring the people with harsh punishment, they must follow the party.
7.) Big Brother is used to represent the government. He may not be specifically one person but he is used as a symbol to scare the people into following him. Big Brother is used to scare people by making him look bigger than he actually is.
8.) The 2 minutes of hate is used to hate the enemy of the government. People are supposed to scream, curse and yell at the silkscreen which will have a picture of Goldstein. Goldstein is the enemy.
9.) Being vaporized is when you are punished by the government. The government is very harsh and punish people by vaporizing them. Being vaporized simply means you disappear and no one knows what happened to you or where you are.
10.) a.) O’Brien is apart of the party. He is very powerful but mysterious. However, Winston believes that O’Brien is not for the party but for the Brotherhood.
B.) Parson’s family is the family that is the neighbor to Winston. Mr. Parsons is obnoxious and his kids are junior spies. The junior spies accuse Winston of committing thought crime.
C.) The dark haired girl works with Winston. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League. Winston believes she is a member of the thought police.
D.) Comrade Withers rewrites speech given by Big Brother. Withers was vaporized after disgracing Big Brother. He rewrote history so that he, himself, never existed and Big Brother never disgraced.
11.) Katherine used to be the wife of Winston. She left and never talked to him afterward. Winston believes that she is still alive.
12.) a.) Double think is when you say something but do the opposite.
B.) Newspeak is the language of Oceania. It has limited words so that the people cannot conjure up ideas to rebel against the government.
C.) Duck speak allows you to speak without actually talking.
D.) Thought crime is when you think against the government. It is a crime that is punishable by vaporization.
13.) Winston works at the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Truth rewrites history. Winston rewrites articles so that the government appears to have done nothing wrong.
14.) The Chestnut Tree Café is where people go to share opinions. It is not under complete government control. It is mentioned as a semi-safe haven.
15.) War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
16.) The antique shop is a store that has items before Big Brother took over. The shop is where Winston bought his diary. It is unique because it has actual items from the past. It has not been “censored” or “rewritten”.
17.) Winston encounters a prole prostitute. Winstons wants to have sex but the government hates sex. They diminish the act to simple procreation. He thinks if he has sex then it is the ultimate form of rebellion.
18.) Proles are poor. They live in their own sector of town with minimal surveillance because the government does not see them as a threat. The inner party is the upper class and the outer party is the middle class.
19.) My reaction to the novel is that it is a very political yet enjoyable novel. The plot is great but the way it’s written is suckish. It’s a great book with great ideas but it’s chunky. So far I give a 3 out of 5 stars.
-Megan Smallwood
BOOK I QUESTIONS
1. Read the biography of George Orwell at the following link: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html
Once you have done so, read the semi-biographical Orwell short story "Shooting an Elephant" at the following link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/
When you have completed these two readings, you will begin to understand the political backdrop for Orwell's writing.
Write a 300+ word response to the two readings linking them to your first impressions of 1984.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
Winston’s apartment name is ironic because, the building name is Victory Mansions. However, the building and his apartment itself is the farthest thing from victory. This shows that things get very mixed up in Oceania, and nothing is quite what it seems.
1. Describe the opening setting.
I imagined the opening setting to be somewhat dull and lifeless. Not only is the outside weather dark, but the inside of Winston’s life is dark as well. I envisioned that he lived in an old run-down apartment building in the city, with not much more than a telescreen and empty space.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
No matter how social or outgoing you are, you still need some time for your own. Freedom is something we fight for, and privacy comes along with freedom. I think every person should have at least some privacy in his or her life.
I have privacy in my life, maybe not as much as I’d like to have, but enough to get by with. Living in a small town like I do, it’s hard to keep your privacy, and we fight for it, kind of the way Winston does in 1984.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Winston goes against the beliefs of “Big Brother”. This may not seem like anything big, but to them it’s compared to committing a serous crime. In his diary he wrote “Down with Big Brother”. He didn’t really take into consideration what he was doing, and that he could face consequences for his actions.
4. What does his room look like?
His room is very empty, and quite bleak. It doesn’t seem welcoming what so ever, definitely not a place you would hangout in your spare time. It’s very small, and his telescreen is placed in an awkward place. The position the telescreen is in allows Winston to sit beside it, and not be seen.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Winston wrote about the movies he had watched the previous night, along with the dangerous words “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” more than once. This situation is problematic because not only did he purchase the diary illegally but he thought against big brother, and this was not accepted in his world.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
The party controls the people of Oceania in various ways. For example, they installed telescreens to observe what the people of the party are doing and possibly even thinking. They have no freedom what so ever. They are assigned certain tasks that they are required to do, within a limited amount of time. They make the decisions for the people of Oceania.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is not one person. It is a group of dictators that control what the people do. The message is portrayed through posters put up around the city saying “Big Brother is watching”. He is the main source of control.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
During the two minutes of hate they gather in a room facing a telescreen, on the telescreen is Goldstein’s face (a man who betrayed Big Brother). This causes people to act in crazy ways, screaming and cursing at the telescreen.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
When one is vaporized they vanish completely, leaving no trail of existence. They’re records are destroyed by the party.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien
He is one who Winston really admires. He is a very important person to the party, who Winston believes may be somewhat against Big Brother as well.
b. Parson Family
The members of Parson Family are Winston’s neighbors. Mr. Parson works at the ministry with Winston. Mrs. Parson was a mysterious woman in her mid thirties. They have a 9 year old son, and a younger daughter.
c. dark-haired girl
Winston has much hatred for the dark-haired girl. She is a member of another Ministry. She is a younger woman, and obviously has dark hair.
d. Comrade Withers
Comrade Withers is a man who was vaporized, that was a member of the Inner Party.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was the woman who Winston is married to, or was married to. They got separated, but Winston still believes she is alive.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think
It’s to think one thing, and do the exact opposite. In other words to contradict yourself.
b. Newspeak
Newspeak is the official language of the party.
c. Duck Speak
Duck Speak is the act of saying something, without thinking first.
d. Thought Crime
A thought crime is controlled by the thought police. It is thinking against big brother, or even something that could be considered against big brother.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
He works for the Ministry of Truth. He works with the record department, and takes the orders from Big Brother instructing him what to do with the records.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
It is described as a place where people of Oceania can go to actually express their ideas and feelings. This is thought to be a place of freedom.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
The party has three slogans.
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antique shop is a place Winston decided to randomly stop by, while taking a walk. It’s unique because this is the place he bought the diary in which he betrayed big brother.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
Winston hired a prostitute because his wife wasn’t comfortable with having sex, although sex was one of Winston’s sweetest addictions. The party is not okay with sex and thinks it’s unacceptable. This shows that he isn’t afraid to betray the party, or Big Brother.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
The people who you could consider in today’s world “lower class”. The party feels like they have no place in this world. The Inner party includes the rich, upper class. The Outer Party includes middle class, not so rich,
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
The beginning of the novel was boring to me, and I couldn’t relate to it. As I read further into it, I feel more relation and can understand what George Orwell felt while writing the novel.
Kaleb Kozee
2nd Period
1.I hve been quite impressed by the book 1984. George Orwell has done a fine job of showing the true power, and the fear of living under a true totalitarian government. The book gives me the feel of what London would be, under the same circumstances as Germany in the 1940’s. And big brother has to be one of the most intimidating figures in all literature.
Orwell had a moderately hard life. His time in Burma sounded awful, and being homeless can never be fun. I take it that through his time in the police in Burma, and through his experience as a soldier against communist Spain, he had gained a sense of what true communism is like, and he wanted to have a say against it. He used his writing to ward the world off of communism, and being a slave to your country. Orwell also seemed like a humble man. He did not ever ask for much, and he simply wanted to write. But he must have had some stowaway anger saved for later, because he did volunteer to fight against Spain as an infantryman.
But “Shooting an Elephant”, was a complete different story to me. Even though it had some fantastic imagery in it, I thought it was pointless. I could see where someone would find some sort of enlightenment from the story, but I would not be one of those people. Why did he have to shoot the elephant? Could he not just let it calm down, as it was, and prod the Burmese people back to their village? As I said before, I was very impressed of how well Orwell could describe the elephant’s death, unnecessary or not. He created a vivid image of how it fell, and that terrible wheezing noise that he described was truly something I did not enjoy reading, but that’s a good thing. And his description of the soggy and damp day was truly riveting.
I enjoy reading Orwell’s work, but sometimes I think he over analyzes things. He just doesn’t seem to face problems head on, but instead pondering about the conflict and he would rather stop and philophosize about it, hoping for the problem to suddenly solve itself before he had to act. But other than the elephant story, I believe Orwell is a phenomenal author.
2. WInstons apartment is named victory mansions. This is very ironic because the people who reside there actually have no victory or freedom at all. And also, the place really isnt a mansion... its of far less quality.
3. I see it that Victory mansions used to be very nice, but has now diminished into its current form. After Winston walks in, he see's the hallway. At the end of the run down foyer is a humongous poster nailed to the wall with an ominous and intimidating face drawn on it. Underneath the face lies the bold words, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
4.Privacy is very important and necessary in the human existence. Without privacy, everyone would know all of your secrets and personal thoughts. Nothing would actually be yours, and you would become very blunt, because whats the use in trying to hide things when you cant? I have a nice amount of privacy in my life, but a large family seems to contradict that.
5. Winston unconciously scribbles, "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER", in his book, and officially committed a thought crime. Any malice towards the government is considered punishable by jail or worse. But because of the layout of his room and telescreen, he avoids the thought police.
6. A large portion of the parties control of the people is through fear and intimidation. The thought police is so large and daunting, people do not want to commit thought crimes in fear of being physically harmed. Another way the party controls the public is through the telescreen placed in all citizens rooms. It monitors their every movement and words, so that every citizen can be watched at all times, and that they can be heard so that thought crimes can be punished.
7. Big Brother is not an official being. He is more of a psychological figure, used to implant fear into the public. Big Brothers demeanor and image represents what the government wants the people to view them as. This obviously works.
8. During two minutes hate, a large mass of people assemble into a large room and view a giant telescreen. On the screen a film is played showing how awful Mr. Goldstein is and of how awful big brother can be. During this the people act out and become entranced in a sort, and rebel against the screem as if it was big brother himself. I think the government uses this technique to keep the people on the edge and to keep them in fear of their government.
9. Vaporized in reality means blown up literally. But in the book i believe it means to be executed by the government, and having all records of your existence completely wiped.
10. A.brien is a large member, in his position and in his physical girth, of the inner party. Winston does not know his official position, but knows that he is very important. Winston looks funny, facially and in his physical build, and wears glasses.
B. The parson family are winstons neighbors in his apartment. Their apartment is total chaos and clutter, and A man, wife, and a few kids reside in it. Mr. Parson is one of winstons co-workers in the ministry of Truth. Mrs. Parsons has a very loose grip on her children, and the children are very unruly.
C. The dark haired girl is another co-worker of winstons. She works in the fiction department writing novels and stories. Winston Harbors a hatred against her, for she will not succumb to his sexual desires, for she is a member of the junior anti-sex league. She is described as very beautiful and youthful.
D. Comrade Withers is a former member of the inner party. He received the Order of Conspicuous Merit, second class. He is also the inspiration of Winston’s creation of the imaginary figure called Comrade Ogilvy.
11. Katherine was Winstons ex-wife. They split up because winston was a sex addict, and she couldnt tolerate it. Katherine just left winston one night and didnt return.
12. A. the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. This is a firm technique in the governments propoganda and a good way of confusing their citizens.
B. Newspeak is the official language of oceania, and is very innovative. It sort of combines words together, to hide certain definitions. Propogandists use newspeak to fool people and citizens.
C. Duckspeak actually means quacking like a duck. It is an official term of Newspeak.
D. Thought crime is a serious term. It is literally a crime of thought, as in thinking against your own government. This is highly punishable, and can be reported by anyone who hears you commit it.
13. Winston works in the ministry of truth. He rewrites the archives of the london times, to keep up to date with the polocies of Ingsoc. When Ingsoc creates new alliances and abandons old ones, winston must rewrite what happened to show that the old alliance never happened.
14.The Chestnut cafe stands as an establishment of freedom among the totalitarian government. People inside the cafe seem to do as they please, and not be punished for it. People of all types and professions come into the cafe and exchange ideas and make small talk.
15. The simple yet powerful slogans are, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. These obviously wrong phrases are posted everywhere, and the propoganda takes a toll on peoples thoughts and beliefs.
16. The antique shop is where winston came into contact with the dark haired girl, who seemed to be stalking him. This is also where he bought his diary to write against big brother in. It is also the place where he had a dream about o'brien telling him t hat they will meet again in a place where there is no darkness.
17. While the encounter with the prostitute was utterly disgusting, it helps with winstons character developement. Winston led the hooker back to his apartment without seeing her face, and soon realized she was very old. But he said," I gave it to her the same." This is very gross, but it shows how addicted Winston is, and how reliant he is on sex to relieve his stress.
18. Prole means working class. Poor working class people were outer proles, while more rich working people were inner proles.
19. The novel gave me a sense of patriotism in a way. It is a very nice thing to have freedom, and that our government, while too powerful in my opinion, doesnt define our lives. Winstons story shows of how awful a communist government can be, and of how terrible totalitarianism is on a persons personal and professional life. The first book allowed me to see how many countries in the world are like, and it broadened my horizons on this country.
2) Winstons appartment is called victory mansions. It's ironic because he describes it as ahorrible place to live, rather than a upscale functional mansion. He says the elevator rarely works, the kitchen is tiny and that the whole building smells like boiled cabbage. Which is contradictory to a masion, which you picture as pretty, facny and a great place to live. This shows that the Party gives things names to make the people unsupicious to what really happens. Like the ministry of love which handles law affairs which canbe harsh instead loving.
1) Midday on a cold windy day in April 1984. The story takes place in the country of Oceania, which is ruled by a totalitarian goverment. Winston, the main character is walking to his apartment, victory mansions.
2)We as humans need privacy. I couldnt imne livig life like a goldfish in a glassbowl. If we didnt have privacy we would live in constant suspicion that someone is watching and this would make people go insane. And I do hae occasional privacy in my life.
3.)Winston doesnt d anything illegal. Oceania no laws. However the goverment still punishes people,so winston could be killed for betraying Big Brother in his diary.
4) Wistons room has a telescreen on the wall opposite the window. Theres a little cove where the telescreen cant see him at and theres a table next to the telescreen.
5)Winston writes "down with Big Brother". Its problematic because big brother is their l and if someone found his diary he would be killed for being a traitor.
6)The party controls the poeple with constant survailnce. telescreens in their homes tell them when to wake up, eercise, go to work, ect. The goverment also has thought police and spies everywhere so the people always have to be on the alert.
7)Big brother is the leader of the Party. He is prettymuch the Hitler of Oceania. The people view him as their savior though.
8) The 2 minu hate is like a 2 mnute movie reminding the people about everything bad in the world and that big brother is eliminating thisbadness. The people shout at the criminals, cheer for Big Brother, and chant "B-B" durng this time.
9) It means the party disposes of every piece of evidence that you were ever alive in the first place.
10)
A) O'brien- a member of the inner party Winston senses that he has similar views, and wants to over throw Big Brother.
B) Parson Family- They are a family that lives down the hall from winston. Mr. parsons works at the ministry with Winston and is an active ber of comunity organizations.Winston feels his " duckspeak" will get him vaporized. The Parson children are members of the junior spies. mrs. parsons acts like she is afraid of her children because they could turn her in for thougcrime.
C) Dark haired girl- is a girl who works in the fiction department. Winston thinks shes a spy or part of the thought police. He is aid of and hates her.
D) Comrad Withers- a member of the inner party who big brother gave a award to in a spek of his that Winston had to write. Withers is dead or a"unperson" so Winston has to eliminate him from the speach.
11) katherine is Winstons wife. They were married for a few months but seperated. The party didnt approve of divorce so she just dissapered when they couldnt have a child.
12)
A) doublethink- to have mixed feelings on something. Or to second guess what your thinking.
B)newspeak- The official language of Oceania. It only includes words that ability to free think.
C) Duckspeak-To quack like a duck. it can be praise when you agree with the person,of abusive if you oppose.
D)thoughtcrime- essentially thinking about breaking the rules or thinking about rbellion againest Big Brother.
13) Winstons job is locted at the ministry of truth which is concerned with entertament, education, news and fine arts. his job was to rewrite news at articles to make the party seem like they were always right. He forged actual events into fiction that met the demands of the inner party.
14) The chesnut tree cafe is mentioned in a small song lyric winston heard while he was in the cafe. he remembed it because he saw 3 outlaws there when he heard the song.
15)The party slogans are:
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is Strength
16) The antique shop is were winton buys the notebook which he is sure he will get vaporized over. He goes there again and buys a paperweight. Its unique because it has no telescreen. Winston at one point thinks about renting the upstairs room to escape the constant svaillance of the party.
17.) Winston goes to the prostitute simply because he is desperate and wanted to rebell againest the partys 'no sex" rule. He stays even when he realizes she is a crusty toothless old woman. This shows that you cant kill human instinct.
18)Proles are lower class people. i guess yold call them peasants. they dont belong to the inner or outer party. They consist of most of Oceanias population.
19)The first book showed a power struggle and shows the hardships that affect the ctizens in a totalitarian reign. It emphasied the importance of agoverment that grants its people freedom. however the lack ofaction left me kind of bored.
Book 1 Questions
1. George Orwell, or Eric Blair, was a very intelligent man. He proved this by working his way through school, and impressing many people on the way. Since he was born in 1903 and lived until the age of 47, Orwell lived through many hard times, including the Spanish Civil War, both World War I and World War II, and the Great Depression. So many hardships brought Orwell to be such a very strong person with strong beliefs. He enforced his beliefs, especially his thoughts on politics. Orwell greatly opposed the thought of totalitarianism and a controlling government in any case. This shows in many of his writings, including his novel, 1984, and an essay, Shooting an Elephant. In 1984, Winston is a man living in a country completely controlled by the government, portrayed as Big Brother, where no privacy and little freewill exist. The government controls their possessions, their language, and even the past. He, like Orwell, stands up for himself. He commits small acts of rebelling against the government to prove that he will not be controlled. Winston holds onto his individuality and refuses to give in to the government, despite his fear of what might and probably will happen to him. In Orwell’s essay, Shooting an Elephant, a police officer who is unliked in his city is faced with the decision of right and wrong. A crowd of townspeople pressures him to shoot a raging elephant that has destroyed part of the town, as well as killed a man. The man does not want to shoot it because it has calmed down and he doesn’t think that it is harmful anymore. The man does shoot the elephant because he doesn’t want the crown to think of him as a coward. The elephant is slowly tortured to its death.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
Winston’s apartment building, Victory Mansions, sounds like it would be a beautiful big building that everyone would want to live in. However, it’s actually the complete opposite. The rooms are small and dingy, the elevator hardly ever works, and the hallways smell awful. Things are not always what they seem in Oceania because the government tries to make things sound better than they truly are.
1. Describe the opening setting.
The book opens on a cold, windy day in spring. Winston Smith walks up seven flights of stairs to get to his apartment because the elevator rarely works. The building “smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.” There were also posters on ever floor of a face and the words “Big Brother is watching you.”
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
In the novel, Winston is always watched by telescreens and the Thought Police. The book says, “Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed---no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic meters inside your skull.” Humans need privacy. People need to have their own possessions and thoughts. Without them, you have no purpose or feeling and you might as well not exist. Thankfully, I do have privacy in my life. I have my own room, my own things, and I can think freely and share or choose not to share my thoughts whenever I want.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Winston bought a diary from an old junk shop. You were not allowed to do this because it was considered expressing individuality. This is a serious crime and is punishable by death.
4. What does his room look like?
Winston’s room was smaller than his neighbor’s room. It was dingy and had a repulsive smell to it. It had a living room with a telescreen along the longer wall with a window opposite it.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
In his diary, Winston begins by writing about a movie he saw the night before. He knew this was not the reason he had bought the diary. He remembered work that morning and while thinking about it, he repeatedly wrote, “Down with Big Brother” until it took up half of the page. This is problematic because he was rebelling against Big Brother. If anyone caught him, he would definitely be punished by death.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
The Party controls the people by spying on them with telescreens and thought police. They warn them that if they rebel against the government, then they will be vaporized. They change documents, limit rations, and even change their language.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the ruler of Oceania. Whether he is a real person, or a symbol of the government, he is very powerful. Pictures of his face are found everywhere, including on posters, the telescreens, and even on the coins.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
During Two Minutes Hate, a telescreen displays enemies of Big Brother, while members of the Party spend two minutes screaming and yelling at their foes. To end the Two Minutes Hate, the telescreen switches the picture to Big Brother. People begin to praise him and worship him like a God.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
When someone commits a crime in Oceania, they are seized and vaporized. When someone is vaporized, they disappear completely. Whether they are killed, or simply taken someplace else, they are “considered never to have existed,” and are erased completely from history.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien is a member of the Inner Party. Winston believes that they share the same beliefs in opposing Big Brother. He also thinks that O’Brien might be part of the Brotherhood.
b. The Parsons’ family lives right across the hall from Winston in Victory Mansions. Mr. Parsons is a tubby middle-aged man with a froglike face and always smells of sweat. He works with Winston at the Ministry of Truth and is the treasurer of their apartment. His wife, Mrs. Parsons, is a nice, hard-working woman who looks years older than what she really is due to her two troublesome kids.
c. Dark-haired girl is a beautiful, young woman that works in the Fiction Department. She is a member of the Party and of the Junior Anti-sex league. Winston believes she is either a spy or a member of the Thought Police who was supposed to kill him.
d. Comrade Withers was a member of the Inner Party. He was awarded the Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class in one of Big Brother’s speeches. At his job, Winston had to change Big Brother’s speech and eliminate Comrade Withers because he was disgraced and vaporized.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was Winston’s wife. She was an extreme supporter of Big Brother and the Party. Winston really did not like her because she was empty and had no thoughts that were her own, but fed to her by the Party. Winston and Katherine tried to have children, since that was purpose of marriage. They ened up having no children, and separated.
12. Define the following:
a. Winston describes doublethink by saying, “to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them.” It is the idea of thinking two opposite things at once and accepting both of them. This allows the government to get away with a lot of things because people accept these contradicting statements.
b. Newspeak is the language of Oceania. The government uses Newspeak to prevent anyone from rebelling against them. They change the way people think by eliminating words that have to do with crime. Syme, a specialist in Newspeak, said, “We’re destroying words—scores of them, hundreds of them, every day.”
c. Duck Speak is a word in Newspeak that means “to quack like a duck.” It has two different meanings. It can be a complement or an insult, depending on if you agree with the person you are talking to.
d. Thought Crime is the act of thinking against or even doubting, the government. Something we would consider normal in the United States is punishable by death in Oceania. Winston says, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime is death.”
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth. When the government wants to change something from the past, such as a false prediction or mentions of people who have been vaporized, they send Winston a note. He then alters the past by changing the text of the document to what suits the government.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is a place where Winston recalls seeing three men, Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford, who all had been vaporized. Winston said that it isn’t illegal to go into the Chestnut Tree Café, but it is suspicious because many of the people who have rebelled against the government, including Goldstein and the three men, often spent their time at the café.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
The slogans of the party are:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antique shop is the old store that Winston bought his diary from. This store sells useless odds and ends that a Party member would never buy. However, Winston is deeply attracted to it because not only is it something the government wouldn’t like, but the items in the shop remind him of the past.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
One night about three years ago, Winston met a prostitute on a street near the railroad station. He gave her two dollars and followed her into a dimly lit basement. When he turned on the lamp, the light revealed that she was actually an older woman, around 50, with no teeth. He disregarded these fact and “did it just the same.” This is important because it was one of Winston’s first acts of rebellion.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are like the lower class of our society. They’re not really considered important, and they aren’t watched as much as members of the Party. The Inner Party is like the upper class. They are the official members of the Party. And the Outer Party is like the middle class. They don’t have as many possessions or privacy as the Inner Party.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
At first, I thought that this book was going to be extremely dry and boring, but it is actually pretty interesting. It changes my perspective on life. It’s hard to imagine living in a world where the government controls you and you have absolutely no privacy. What I really found interesting was how they are changing their language which will completely change how people think. It gives the government complete power. I can’t wait to read more and find out what happens.
1. George Orwell, also known as Eric Blair, was born in 1903, and brought up in England, where him and his mother and two sisters, lived in the middle class. He then went to well-known schools and then received scholarships for universities such as Wellington and Eton. After leaving school, Blair left for Burma, to join the Indian Imperial Police. There, he felt what it was like to be controlled by people, just because he didn’t want to feel like a fool. This is shown in the essay “Shooting an Elephant,” which recalls him shooting an elephant, even though he didn’t want that to be the actions that he took. He then later resigned because of his complete dislike for imperialism. After resigning and returning to England in 1928, Blair then experienced a life of poverty, sometimes being homeless. Soon after the Spanish Civil War started, Orwell then volunteered to fight for the Republicans against Franco’s Nationalist uprising, and also joined the militia, that was non-Stalinist and known as POUM. There he was shot in the neck, and him and his wife escaped narrowly. After his instead of going back to a life of poverty, Blair started writing book reviews for the News English Weekly. In 1944, he finished “Animal Farm” as George Orwell and then “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” in 1949. Orwell is widely known as a novelist for not only his successful titles previously mentioned, but as well as a journalist, for Down and Out in Paris and London, and The Road to Wigan Pier, as well as many others. Eric Blair, also known as, George Orwell, died at the age of 46, of tuberculosis. He died on January twenty-first, 1950. George Orwell experienced many difficult times throughout his forty-six years of living. He didn’t lead a boring life, but a life in where he got to experience many different types of things, which helped him write some of the most well-known writings today. With his experiences and especially the one in “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell learned of a life of how you can be controlled and influenced, which directly had to deal with his writing and novels that he wrote.
2. The name of Winston’s apartment is Victory Mansions. This is ironic because the place where he lives is dirty and grimy, and also smells of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. The elevator also doesn’t work. This gives the impression that things aren’t always what they seem because though his apartment building might be called Victory Mansions, it is the opposite, so it could easily be like this with other things in Oceania.
1. The book starts out on a bright cold day in April, at about one o’clock. Winston Smith, who lives in Oceania, is coming home from work, which takes place at the Ministry of Truth. Winston is describing the place where he lives, and that the streets consist of dirt and grime, as well as Victory Mansions. He also points out and starts to explain the posters of Big Brother that inhabit the city and where he lives.
2. In Oceania, privacy is missing from the millions of lives that inhabit the large superstate. Privacy though, is something that is important to the human existence. If you don’t have privacy, you can’t formulate opinions that are comprised of your own thoughts. If you never have any privacy, you are influenced by other people, and other things, so you never are really the person you want to be. People need privacy, because everyone should be entitled to their own opinion on things, and should be able to keep their personal thoughts and actions to themselves. Yes, I would have to say that, in my life, there is a point where I am able to keep my thoughts and actions to myself.
3. What Winston does that is illegal is thoughtcrime. This consists of Winston thinking badly of the Party and Big Brother. When he does this, he then writes his thoughts about the Party, and how he disagrees with it in a diary.
4. Winston Smith’s room is on the seventh floor, and has a view a good view of the street, and the Ministry of Truth. Opposite the window, lies the telescreen. To the left of the telescreen, there is an alcove, which was originally designed to bookshelves, where now sits a table. From this point in the room, you cannot be seen by the telescreen. Also, there is a tiny kitchen off the living room.
5. In the diary that Winston owns, he starts by writing about a film that he saw, which was about people dying and drowning. Then, once he starts writing about the film, he remembers the instance that had happened that day, which had first made him want to start writing in the diary in the first place. When he recalls the story in his mind, he involuntarily writes, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER,” many times, filling up the page. Then, he writes of how everyone is that same, that the truth doesn’t exist, and that thoughtcrime is death. From this, he now knows that he is the dead. Writing in the diary is problematic, because not only has he committed thoughtcrime, but he has written that he will do anything to keep big brother from reigning, and he has now permanently sealed his fate of vaporizing.
6. There are many ways in which the Party controls the people in the story. One way consists of how there are telescreens in personal and private places. If the people are seen doing something that the Party does not agree with, the Thought Police will vaporize them, and they will never be heard of again. This keeps people in line with what the Party wants. Also, during the Two Minutes Hate, the people of Oceania have to participate. The Party makes it mandatory for the people to watch the Two Minutes Hate and yell profanities and get mad at Goldstein, and either Eastasia, or Eurasia. Another way that they are able to keep tabs on people, is that keep microphones in a variety of places. By doing this, people don’t know whether there is a microphone stored somewhere, so they are afraid to do anything or say anything against the Party, in case it would be heard by the Thought Police.
7. Big Brother is the face that is on all the posters that are hung around the superstate of Oceania. He has a black mustache and eyes that look like he is watching you constantly. Big Brother is the dictator of Oceania, and is looked upon as infallible and all-powerful. Everything that happens in Oceania is said to be a direct result of his leadership and inspiration.
8. During the Two Minutes Hate that happens each day, you are supposed to break out in uncontrollable exclamations of rage and hysteria. You are obliged to yell and scream at Goldstein in order to drown out the voice that comes out of the telescreen. It is also not unordinary if you would throw something at the telescreen. During the Two Minutes Hate, you are supposed to join in with any chanting that should happen and be as though you will do anything for Big Brother.
9. If you should be vaporized, it is because you have committed thoughtcrime. The Thought Police come to your house, usually at night, to take you away, and you are never to be seen or heard of again. No one knows exactly what they do with you once you have disappeared. You are also removed from any records, so it is though you never existed.
10.
a. O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, is a burly man with a thick neck and a coarse, humorous brutal face. He also wears spectacles. Winston believes that O’Brien also secretly hates Big Brother and if anyone is a part of Brotherhood, he is. O’Brien holds a position of so much importance, that Winston only has a dim idea of what he does.
b. The Parson Family is a family that also lives on the same floor of Victory Mansions as Winston. The family is big supporters of Big Brother, and would give a member of the family’s name to the Thought Police if they had committed thoughtcrime. The husband’s name is Tom, and they are about in their thirties. Tom is tubby man with fair hair, and a frog-like face. They have children; a boy of nine, and a girl about two years younger.
c. The dark-haired girl is a bold-looking girl that is twenty-six years of age, with thick dark hair, a freckled face, and athletic movements. She wears a red sash around her waist, which means that she is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League. She is an avid member that has anything to do with the Party or Big Brother. Winston immediately dislikes her because she is young and pretty, and believes that she could even be a member of the Thought Police, because she gives him a feeling of uneasiness and is able to fill him with terror with a sidelong glance. She also works in the Fiction Department.
d. Comrade Withers is someone who has vaporized and is now an unperson, and because of this, Winston has to delete him from the newspaper. He was a member of the Inner Party and was awarded an Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class. He was part of an organization known as FFCC that supplied cigarettes and other comforts to the sailors in the Floating Fortresses.
11. Katherine is Winston Smith’s wife. They were only together about fifteen months, and parted about ten years ago. She was a tall, fair-haired girl, very straight, and had splendid movements. Katherine had a bold, aquiline face, but had no mind behind it. She was a big supporter of the Party, and her mind was empty. Since their “duty to the Party” did not produce a child, Katherine and Winston parted.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think – “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” Doublethink is also called “reality control.” Doublethink is the act of changing your memory to fit the present. When the Party alters the past, to use doublethink is to delete your old memory and to change your memory to whatever the Party says.
b. Newspeak – Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. Newspeak is the act of cutting language down to the bone, destroying thousands of words. The language is the only language whose vocabulary gets smaller each year. By having Newspeak, it narrows the range of thought of humans, so that thoughtcrime is almost literally impossible because there are no words to express your opinion.
c. Duckspeak – Duckspeak is a word in Newspeak, which means to quack like a duck. It also has two contradictory meanings. If the word is applied to an opponent, it is abuse. Though if it applied to someone you agree with, it is praise. When Syme speaks of this word, he is referring to a comrade that works in the Fiction department, that speaks constantly, and you can be sure that everything that he says is general nature.
d. Thoughtcrime – Thoughtcrime is where you speak, think, or do something where you are against Big Brother and the Party. For example, in your mind if you think badly of Big Brother, and that is it, the Thought Police will one day know, and you will disappear. If you are to commit thoughtcrime, the Thought Police come to your house in the middle of the night, and you are never to be seen or heard of again. You vaporize.
13. Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, which deals with the lies that the Party speaks of Oceania. During the day, messages come out of the pneumatic tube, that consist of newspapers or records that he has to rectify or alter. This is so that the Party and Big Brother are always right, because they have altered the past to coincide with the present and the future. Winston uses the speakwrite to alter the certain messages and then throws away the original copy and any notes that he has made into the memory hole, so that they are destroyed. Then, the past has officially been altered, because there is now no record that it was ever different.
14. The Chestnut Tree Café is mentioned a few times throughout the first book. It is mentioned when talking about Syme, and how he frequently visits the place. The Chestnut Tree café is a place where musicians dwell, and also where old discredited member of the Party are gather. It is also said that Goldstein was seen there, decades ago. Then, the Chestnut Tree Café is mentioned again when Winston is thinking about the three guys, Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford. These three guys were leaders of the original Revolution. They had disappeared for a year or two, then reappeared to confess to the crimes to they had committed, making amends with the Party. After this, Winston then saw them at the Chestnut Tree Café.
15. The slogans of the party are, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. These slogans are posted on the Ministry buildings, and they are what everyone in Oceania lives by, although some do not comprehend what they really mean. These slogans are also during the Two Minutes hate that takes place every day, so that every citizen of Oceania can recite them by heart.
16. The antique shop is the place where Winston bought the diary that he writes in and the paperweight that has the coral in it. The antique shop is in the slums where the proles live. In the antique shop, there are all kinds of useless things that fill up the room. It is unique because it contains things that are linked to the past, before it had been altered.
17. Three years ago, Winston had an encounter with a prostitute. He first saw her at a big railway station, under a dim light, under a doorway. What drew Winston in was that she was wearing make-up and scent, which Party members are unauthorized to do. She drew him to a basement kitchen where it was dimly lit, but when Winston turned up the lamp, he found out that the prostitute was a woman of fifty years of age. When he found this out, he still continued on with the prostitute. This short story that Winston writes in his diary is relevant to the story, because Winston is telling of a time when he committed a crime much more dangerous than thoughtcrime. This also tells that Winston has always been against Big Brother and the Party because he was rebelling many years ago.
18. The proles are the lowest class that is in Oceania. Syme doesn’t even believe them to be human beings. They make up eighty-five of the Oceania, and their main purpose is just to populate the superstate. The Inner Party is the highest class, and less than two percent of the population. The Inner Party is allowed to have and do many things that the Outer Party and the proles are not allowed to do. The Outer Party is thought of as the middle class, and it is the Party that Winston resides. “Below the Inner Party comes the Outer Party, which, if the Inner Party is described as the brain of the state, may be justly likened to the hands.”
19. After reading the first book within the novel, 1984, it made me think if the difference between life in 1984 actually, and the 1984 that George Orwell describes. The setting and the language make me think more of a story of fiction, than something that could actually happen, though it can. When the jobs and lives of the many that lived in the book were explained, I felt bad that this has actually happened, and wondered how people survive. After reading the first book, I wanted to know what actually happened between Julia and Winston throughout the rest of the book, and in more detail things like doublethink.
1. George Orwell may not have had a long life but I feel that he accomplished many things. In the life that he lived, he experienced many different ways of life and truly got to see the world up close. HE was very bright which gave him many advantages and took him to many different places where he studied. He saw firsthand many different systems of government, and the effects that they brought. He lived through and overcame great hardships in his writing during the times such as The Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Great Depression. With him living through this and still managing, you can see how the complexity of his life ties into some of his deeper novels such as 1984.
As his many characters convey, I feel that George Orwell is a brave and strong powered guy. There were many points in his life when he was in poverty or even homeless, but through it all he stayed strong and continued writing the truth. It wasn’t until his novel Animal Farm that George Orwell became financially stable in his writings. In his short story Shooting an Elephant, his character is far from happy about having to kill such a creature as an elephant. Yet he knows that he has to do it because it’s what the people want. In 1984, the main character Winston is constricted and not able to think freely, yet he stays strong in his opinions and writes the truth in his diary. I feel that all in all George Orwell is a man of rebellion and in his many writings, his characters are unhappy with the government and the state that they are in. Winston is unhappy with the party and feels the need to go against it. In Shooting an Elephant, the character hates his job and what the government stands for. I think that this roots back to George Orwells many different governments and his unsatisfaction in them.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment Ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
Winston lives in Victory Mansions, although the name leads on, Winston’s apartments are far from luxurious. It’s in a crummy condition with a terrible odor, paint peeling from the walls with posters tacked from them. This is a prime example of how things in Oceania aren’t always the way they seem. You’ll soon come to find that the government is not as wonderful and perfect over the people as it seems to be.
3. Describe the opening setting.
The story opens on a bright, cold day in April. Winston hurries into Victory Mansions trying to escape the dusty wind. Upon entering, the hallways reek of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. Everywhere he looked the eyes of Big Brother were following him from posters.
4. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
Privacy is of major importance to the human existence. It allows your mind to be free and gives you space to research the things that trouble you the most in life. The more the government takes away privacy the more people are tempted to rebel. I do feel that I have privacy in my life. The government gives us freedom unless we are endangering someone and my parents give me the freedom to make most of my own decisions.
5. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Since Big Brother can see and hear all, Winston conveys his thoughts by writing them down in a diary. This is illegal because he commits thought crime in that he writes DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER. This is against the party and would show suspicion and retaliation.
6. What does his room look like?
Along the same lines of Victory Mansions, his room too was not in the best of shape. It was small and weird shaped as to make it hard to hide from the telescreen. There were many windows in which Winston could spot Big Brother signs.
7. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
In Winston’s diary, his true thoughts about the government and how it is run are revealed. He questions Brother and life as he knows it. The thoughts he wrote against the government would be considered thought crime and he could be severely punished.
8. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
The party controls the people of 1984 in many ways primarily through the use of telescreens. These objects not only display media but they can watch, and hear your every move to see if any of your actions are suspicious or a threat to Big Brother. The government instills fear among its citizens and therefore they are emotionless and not a problem for the government. The party also controls the people in the past, they can altar records to bring anything or event to life. On the contrary they can make anything disappear from the past as well; they can vaporize people as to where they never existed. The only thing that the government states are free is the proles and animals.
9. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the symbol of the party and basis of the Government in George Orwell’s book 1984. They run it with little to no privacy, so that everything will run smoothly and turn out as they want it to. They suppose they are always watching you, much like a big brother.
10. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
During the two minutes of hate, people watch the telescreen with Goldstein speaking and the war. As he was an enemy of the party, the people spent this time trashing him and going completely insane with hatred. This is what Big Brother wanted to show that you love your gov. No matter what you would get caught up in the action.
11. What does it mean to be vaporized?
To be vaporized simply means to be zapped out of existence. With all evidence deleted that you ever even were present on the Earth.
12. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien- An inner party member who is very high in power. Winston’s gut instinct is that he is against the party too and for the brotherhood.
b. Parson Family- A family living in an apartment near Winston. They were quite an odd family, with crazy uncontrollable kids. The dad is large and expressionless, the mom is stressed with dusty skin.
c. Dark-haired girl- a mysterious and untouchable employee of the ministry of truth. Winston is intimidated by her and convinced she’s a member of the thought police. She has freckles and is a member of the junior anti-sex league.
d. Comrade Withers- At one time he was a member of the inner party. He was soon vaporized.
13. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine, at some point in time was Winston’s wife. They spent a long time struggling through differences and being miserable every second that they spent together. She was plain, simple and dull. They had no desire to be together and since the party discouraged divorce, they separated and went their different ways.
14. Define the following:
a. Double Think- When you say one thing, but your actions contradict it.
b. Newspeak- the new language the government created. It limits vocabulary and simplifies language.
c. Duck Speak- a term simplified to meaning to quack like a duck.
d. Thought Crime- a potential crime against the party in which your thoughts are against them. They feel you are a threat.
15. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston works for the ministry of truth. In his job he takes part in altering the past as to satisfy the party. He destroys records and recreates new experiences. Winston has the power to vaporize people to wipe out their entire existence. Being in the ministry of truth is ironic because in reality they destroy the truth.
16. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is spoken of as an escape or release from the government. A place where you can speak freely and talk openly about stuff other than the government. This is what’s hoped for but as you know you are never really free.
17. What are the slogans of the party?
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Big Brother is watching you
18. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
A tiny little shop in the prole’s quarters where Winston found himself searching for answers from the past. He could buy things that were actual evidence of another time and had not been altered.
19. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
As the government is against sexual desires, he had sex with the prostitute merely as a form of rebellion. They want to slowly take away the want.
20. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
The proles are the free working class of Oceania. They are poor and they make up 85% of Oceania. The outer Party is the Middle class; they are thought more of than proles but are below the inner party. The Inner Party is the upper class and most monitored by the government.
21. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
At first I had no idea what I was reading because I kept getting distracted and it bored me. Yet after you get past the beginning I found that the story line became more and more interesting. It’s pretty good and getting better.
Questions for 1984
2) How is the name of Winston’s apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
Answer:
The name for Winston’s apartment is ironic because it’s called Victory Mansion. It is ironic because it’s an apartment. It is also ironic because everything is falling apart.
1) Describe the opening setting.
Answer:
The opening setting of the novel is that it’s a cold windy day and Winston is just returning home from his work. Then it tells us about all the posters of big brother on the wall and how they watch the people. It also tells us about the telescreens.
2) Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? /Do you have privacy in your own life?
Answer:
I have somewhat a decent amount of privacy in my life. My mom stays out of my personal life pretty much unless she thinks that I’m going to hurt myself. Privacy is important to the human existence because without some amount of privacy a person would go mad. For example in the novel 1984 the party is watching their every move. They even have telescreens in their homes to spy on the people and make sure they’re not becoming a threat to the party. The public of Oceana has no life to themselves. That would make me go insane.
3) What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Answer:
Winston smith went to the prole part of town and bought a diary. Thee most illegal thing that Winston did was he wrote things against the party in that diary. That was considered a thought crime.
4) What does his room look like?
Answer:
His room is very small. He had a living room, kitchen and a bedroom. In the middle of the living room there is a telescreen which lets Big Brother he and see everything that goes on.
5) What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Answer:
Winston wrote in his dairy down with big brother over and over. This is problematic because it would be considered a thought crime against the party. If you committed a thought crime you would be vaporized.
6) What are some of the ways in which the party controls the people in the story? Answer:
Some of the ways the party controls the people are that they have to attend the two-minute hate. Another thing was that they couldn’t write in diaries or think for themselves. They have to complete their physical jerks every morning. The party even goes so far as to control the peoples information source.
7) Who is Big Brother?
Answer:
Big Brother is the ruler of Oceania. His pictures are on everything with the message Big Brother is watching you. He controls everything.
8)What does one do during the two-minute hate?
Answer:
During the two-minute hate the people have to stop working and the get in front of the telescreen. Pictures of Goldstein and the Eurasian army are flashed across the screen. They people yell and scream for two minutes then they go back to work.
9) What does it mean to be vaporized?
Answer:
When a person is vaporized that means that they are cone for good. The party erases them from all existence. To be vaporized the party had to see you as a threat. You either were a traitor or committed a thought crime and got caught. Some times you saw the people once before they were gone for good. Other times they just never came back.
10) Who are the following? Describe in detail.
A) O’Brien is the mysterious character in the inner party. Winston believes that he is party of the brother hood. Winston also believes that he was the man in his dream telling him to meet him in a place where there is no darkness.
B) The Parson Family is Winston’s neighbors. The other party members consider him as sort of a boring party member. He works at the Ministry of Truth. His wife is very shy and dull as well. She stays home all the time and tries to manage the kids while he’s at work. Their children are loud and ill mannered. Their kids are members of the junior spies.
C) The Dark Haired Girl is whom Winston sees a lot at work. He thinks that she is following him because she is a member of the thought police. He dislikes her a lot because she committed to chastity.
D) Comrade Withers were a prominent member of the Inner Party and the FFCC, which supplied the soldiers with comforts on the Floating Fortress. He was awarded the Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class but got disgraced from the party when the FFCC dissolved. Winston had to rewrite an article to make it where comrade Withers never existed.
11) Who was Katherine? What happened to her?
Answer:
Katherine was Winston’s wife. They separated because they didn’t have children. The party wouldn’t allow couples to be together unless they had children. They tried for a long time but she eventually gave up. The only reason they stayed together as long as they did was to try and get a child.
12) Define the following.
A) Double Think is the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in ones head at the same time. This makes it easier for the party to control every ones mind. With double thinking the people will think anything the party tells them is true.
B) Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. It was made to meet the needs of Ingsoc. It was meant to suppress old speak or Standard English.
C) Duck Speak is a word in newspeak, which means to quack like a duck. When you’re talking to an opponent it is considered abuse. When you’re talking to someone you agree with it is considered praise.
D) Thought crime is when you think something against the party or Big Brother. It is illegal and you could go to prison for it or even get vaporized. The government officers are the main people that will catch you if you committed thought crime. The regular citizens can turn you in as well. All you have to do is flinch or have strange body language and tell on your for thinking against Big Brother.
13) What is Winston Smith’s job? What exactly does he do?
Answer:
Winston Smith’s job is to manipulate past documents into what the party wants them to say. Winston gets to work and messages come out of a tube at his desk telling him what documents he needs to change. He types the documents code numbers in and that document that he needs to rectify shoots out another tube at his desk. Then he thinks of the best way to word what the party wants the document to say and clips it to the document then sends it back. He sends the note that told him what to change down the shoot that burns the notes up so no one would ever know the documents had been changed.
14) In what context is the Chestnut Tree Café mentioned?
Answer:
The Chestnut Café is used many ways in the novel. It’s a place where the people of Oceania can relaxed and be their selves. It’s the only place that the government is not hounding them and watching their every move. It doesn’t matter what type of person that you are you are welcome there. The people in the Chestnut Café can talk freely and share their ideas.
15) What are the slogans of the party?
Answer:
The party has three major slogans that they live by. The first one is War is Peace. The next one is Freedom is Slavery. The third slogan is Ignorance is Strength.
16) What is the antic shop and why is it unique?
Answer:
The antic shop is where he ended up after his walk. It is where he found the dark haired girl following him and thought that she was out to kill him. It is also where he bought the diary, which has down with Big Brother in it. He also bought the paperweight there. When he was standing in front of the store he remembered the dream with O’Brien saying we shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.
17) Describe Winston Smith’s encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
Answer:
Winston’s encounter with the prostitute was weird. It is relevant to the story because Winston really loves sex and he will be executed for doing it anyway if the government takes it way. He took her up to the apartment but didn’t have the light on so he didn’t see her face. When he did turn it on he saw how old she was and had white streaks down her hair with a million wrinkles. He still slept with her though. That showed how much he loved it and that he would fulfill his needs with anyone.
18) What are the proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Answer:
The proles are the working class citizens in the novel. They are in the outer party and live in the rundown part of town. The inner party is the rich people.
19) Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first book.
Answer:
My reaction is quite different than what it was at the beginning. I thought that it would suck because I didn’t understand it but then the book grew on me. When I started the first one I really thought that it would suck. When I got farther into the book I began to enjoy the idea of thought crimes and that people would be vaporized for that. I also wanted to know who the dark haired girl was. My reaction changed from thinking that I would hate the book to not wanting to stop reading it.
20)
1.George Orwell lived a Short, Successful life. The fact he could write during the harsh times of war astonished me.He saw firsthand many different systems of government, and the effects that they brought. He lived through and overcame great hardships in his writing during the times such as The Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Great Depression. With him living through this and still managing, you can see how the complexity of his life ties into some of his deeper novels such as 1984.
As his many characters convey, I feel that George Orwell is a brave and strong powered guy.
2.2) Winstons apartment is called victory mansions. It's ironic because he describes it as horrible place to live, rather than a upscale functional mansion. He says the elevator rarely works, the kitchen is tiny and that the whole building smells like boiled cabbage. Which is contradictory to a masion, which you picture as pretty, facny and a great place to live. This shows that the Party gives things names to make the people unsupicious to what really happens. Like the ministry of love which handles law affairs which canbe harsh instead loving.
1.The opening setting is when the main character is introduced, Winston Smith. Winston is walking into Victory Mansions (his apartment) on a bright, cold day in April. It started by describing Winston as being 39 years old, and kind of slow due to a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. Winston went for the stairs and eventually made it up to his room. On the way up it described the posters of Big Brother everywhere, and the four ministries you could see out the windows. This gave the reader a sort of idea of how the government controlled the country, and how things were done with this type of government.
2.Privacy is important because it is a persons freedom and helps them feel secure. I do have privacy and it is a good thing if everything i said or thought became known, I wouldn't be the person I am. I would be embarrassed and would hide from others.
3.Winston commits thought crime, which is were a person has thoughts about rebelling against big brother he repeatly writes “ down with big brother” he keeps his thoughts in a journal which is illegal because no one is allowed to even have a journal.
4.inston Smith’s room is on the seventh floor, and has a view a good view of the street, and the Ministry of Truth. Opposite the window, lies the telescreen. To the left of the telescreen, there is an alcove, which was originally designed to bookshelves, where now sits a table. From this point in the room, you cannot be seen by the telescreen. Also, there is a tiny kitchen off the living room.
5.He writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” and other things in rebellion against the totalitarian government. This is problematic because it is a direct offense against the government. He could be sent to the ministry of love for doing this. That means torture and ultimately death. This also means to avoid that grotesque fate, he has to stay calm at all times so as to not be found out by the thought police.
6.It is a part of the government that controls people’s pasts, futures, acts and thoughts. They transfer old newspapers to their preference and clear everyone’s remembrance of what life used to consist of. They also control Oceana’s vocabulary by transferring the dictionary into a much smaller, unintelligible book. The Party influences the ways people live, and transfer children into spies. They are cruel and dictating.
7.It is the ruler of Oceania. Whether he is a real person, or a symbol of the government, he is very powerful. Pictures of his face are found everywhere, including on posters, the telescreens, and even on the coins.
8.Listen to Goldenstien speak on the telescreen, about many different views about the government and about the views of his opinion.
9.To be vaporized that means that your whole existence is just gone. The thought police will come into your home during the night and take you away. Then, you name and everything that ever showed that you existed, is just deleted, and nobody will remember you. This seems to happen a lot in Oceania.
10.a. O'Brien- An inner party member who is very high in power. Winston’s gut instinct is that he is against the party too and for the brotherhood.
b. Parson Family- A family living in an apartment near Winston. They were quite an odd family, with crazy uncontrollable kids. The dad is large and expressionless, the mom is stressed with dusty skin.
c. Dark-haired girl- a mysterious and untouchable employee of the ministry of truth. Winston is intimidated by her and convinced she’s a member of the thought police. She has freckles and is a member of the junior anti-sex league.
d. Comrade Withers- At one time he was a member of the inner party. He was soon vaporized.
11.Katherine is Winston’s wife or ex wife, he doesn’t really know. They separated; he left and is living by himself. They didn’t divorce because divorce is not allowed by Big Brother.
12.a-) double thinking is when you think that you are going to do something, but then you turn around and do something completely different.
b) The newspeak is the language in which the characters are forced to speak, and the word count decreases.
c) Duck speak means that you speak before you think things through.
d) Thought crime is a crime that is committed when you think against Big Brother.
13.Winston Smith has a job in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite the archives of the London Times so that they are consistent with current Ingsoc policy. Ingsoc changes it’s political alliance with another superpower and begins waging war on a former opponent.
14.The Chestnut Tree Café is an idea place, where people come, share ideas, and hang out. Winston remembers it while talking, and mentions it but they don’t ever enter the place.
15.War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength
Freedom is Slavery
16.The antique shop is where Winston bought the diary. It is special because it contains alot of usless junk but the junk is from the past. This is unique because the party tryed to delete the past and everything from it. But this shop lets Winston know that the past lives.
17.He hires her so that he can have sex with her, the Party is against sex and the pleasure of having sex.This is important to the story because it is a huge act of rebellion against the Party.
18.The proles in the story are the common people, kind of like peasants in a fairy tale. They are not considered part members. The inner party is upper class, like the royal families such as the king and queen. And the outer party is the middle class, kind of like the helpers to the king’s and queens.
19. At first I didn't understand it and could bring myself to enjoy it. As I continued to read, I became more interested in it. It make me think of government in different ways.
2. The name of Winston’s apartment complex is the victory mansions, which is ironic due to the fact that later Winston says that the government is always at war and that there is no victory in sight. It also represents that it hasn’t always been war in Oceania because the building was named after a victory, not only the building but also Winston’s old gin and cigarettes are called victory gin and victory cigarettes.
1. The opening setting is Winston walking in from the cold outside into his apartment complex. He passes a big brother poster and walks to the window. The narrator then talks about how cold and dreary it is outside. Then he goes on to explain Winston’s home and the telescreen.
2. Privacy is important in human existence because it allows one to think by himself and the reason the government took it away is they don’t want people to think for themselves. I have a very small amount of privacy in my life.
3. He begins a diary to keep his thoughts in. This is illegal because the government thinks you will write bad things about it, in other words it is a thoughtcrime.
4. His room is a small flat with a bed in one corner and the telescreen in the other. Winston finds that if he hides in a small alcove to the left of the telescreen it can’t see him.
5. He writes DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER in all capital letters over and over again, without meaning to directly. This is a thoughtcrime, along with later he writes about his time with a parole, which is illegal.
6. The party controls people in a lot of different ways none are direct control unless the thoughtpolice threaten you. Many of these ways involve propaganda and surveillance both are designed to invoke fear in the common every day citizen in Oceania.
7. Big brother is the party leader in Oceania, and his face is plastered everywhere in London on posters with the phrase BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING. Which leaves one to think that he may not exist and it is all a ploy to get the people of Oceania to follow government rule.
8. Programming is played on the telescreens designed to enrage the citizens to hate a man called Goldstein who recently rebelled against the government. During these two minutes the citizens scream and curse at the man on the screen and the army that follows him.
9. To be vaporized is to be erased from the general populace. You disappear and are killed and all of your records, work and such are erased. This is apparently something the thoughtpolice do a lot.
10. A. O’Brien is an older man that wears glasses; he is a member of the upper party. Winston has come to believe that he is one of the rebels, and he speaks to Winston during the two minutes of hate.
B. The Parsons are a small family consisting of Mrs. Parsons, an older lady who is married to Mr. Parsons Winston’s landlord, who also works at the ministry of truth. They have two kids, a boy, and a girl, who are both members of the junior spies. Mr. Parsons mentions that the girl caught a Eurasian spy on one of her community hikes.
C. The dark haired girl that works with Winston is very odd. She wears a red sash around her waist that states that she is abstinent and belongs to an anti-sex group.
1984 Book Questions
Kala Brown
2nd period
11-12-08
Mr.Parsons
1) On paper….
2) Winston’s apartment name was, called Victory Mansions. It was ironic because of its name, because when you first think of it you think of something nice and big. Then it’s totally the opposite, because it says that it is dilapidated apartment, meaning that it was decrepit, rundown and decaying. He say that the elevator is out of service, and always is so he takes the stairs.
1) The opening setting is taken place on a cold day in April of 1984. It was just after World War 2 had ended. It says that Winston is a thirty-nine year old man who is thin, frail, and he has a varicose ulcer above his right ankle.
2) Privacy really is something that is missing in the opening of the novel, because he feels that everyone is watching him, mostly Big Brother. He always felt like he every movement was being watched by someone. Privacy is important to the human existence because it is like our freedom, to do what we want without anyone knowing about it. Yes I do have some privacy in my life, but not really a lot because my parents can be over protective.
3) The thing that Winston Smith does that was illegal was he had a diary. He had come home one day and started writing in it saying “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”, over and over again. When he done this he thought that he had commited a thoughtcrime, and he had. So later on that night he was woke up by the light in his eyes, and rough hands shaking his body.
4) Winston’s room had a telescreen in which he would didn’t like to turn it off. He had a tiny kitchen, where he said there was nothing there to eat but bread, in which he was saving for the next morning. There was a window, a shut window pale where he could look down into the streets. Also there was a table drawer where he had penholder, a bottle of ink, and a thick, quarto sized blank book.
5) After looking out of the window, Winston went over to the table drawer and got all of his utensils out to write in his diary. The first thing that he wrote was the date, April 4, 1984, in clumsy letters. Then he later wrote, the things that had happened the night before, such as the all the war films, and a ship full of refugees being bombed somewhere on the Mediterranean, and also Down with Big Brother. This was problematic because he knew that he shouldn’t be writing this because he could get in trouble by the thought police, and they could read his diary.
6) The party controls the people in the story in a few ways. One of them is by what the citizens read. Like Winston’s job is to take old news from history, and rewrite into that time in which they was in then.
7) Big Brother is the government. The government is what controls, and make the laws for its citizens. In the book, it is described that everyone is being watched in full surveillance by the authorities, mainly through telescreens. Also the signs or billboards saying that “Big brother is watching you”.
8) The two minutes of hate is where people gathered among each other and yelled, and talked bad about everything. It was not obligated to act part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in Where Winston worked, they dragged chairs out of cubicles and grouping them in the center of the hall, in opposite position of the telescreen.
9) Vaporized in the book means to be non-existing. It talks about where the thought police came to his home during the night, and shaking his shoulder, with the lights in his eyes. Then it said that that was where your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out. That one time existence was denied and then forgotten. It said that you were abolished, annihilated, or the usual word used was vaporized.
10) A) O’Brien- was a member of the inner party and holder of some post so important and the remote and that Winston had only a dim idea of its nature. He was large, burly man with a thick neck and a course
b) Parsons Family- the Parsons family lived down the hall from Winston's room. The Parsons flat was a bigger than Winston's and dingy in a different way it had a trampled on look, as if the place had been left by a big animal. Mr.Parsons was a fellow employee with Winton's at The Ministery of Truth. He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity. He was a man of about thirty-five. Mrs. Parsons was a woman of about thirty. Together they had two kids, a boy the age of nine, and a girl of seven.
c.) Dirked haired girl- she worked at the same place as Winston, but only in the Fiction Department. She was about twenty-seven. Winston thought that she was a thoughtpolice, because he noticed that she followed him around.
d.) Comrade Withers- At the age of six he was he joined the spies, by the age of nine was a troop leader. At eleven he denounced his uncle about the thought police. Seventeen he was a member of The Junior Anti Sex League. Nineteen he designed a hand grenade, and twenty-three he was perished in action. He was also a prominent member of the inner party.
11) Katherine was Winston’s former wife. They were together for about fifteen months and then split. The party didn’t permit divorce, but did encourage separation when there were no kids. He saw the real person. She looked to be a woman of about fifty.
12) A) Doublethink- It is like where you think something is right, or what it should be but it turns out not to be. Like in the book Winston didn’t know the right year so he guessed by the age he was. The magnitude of what he had undertaken him came home to him. How could you communicate with the future, it was of nature and was impossible. To know, and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies.
b) Newspeak- a type of word that they often used where Winston worked was like a dictionary also maybe even a building.
c) Duck Speak- To quack like a duck. It is one of the most interesting words that have two contradicting meanings.
d) Thoughtcrime- Winston said that thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death. Like when he was writing in his diary he knew that he shouldn’t have because he could get in trouble for just speaking his mind.
13) Winston works at The Ministery of Truth. The work was said to have about three thousand rooms above ground level, and corresponding ramifications below. It made up the four Ministerys. They were The Ministey of Truth, The Ministery of Love, the Ministery of Peace, and The Ministery of Plenty. There they had to take old articles, and make them into things from his time.
14) The Chestnut Tree Cafe is mentioned in the book where Winston said that he had read to many books, he frequented this book. It had a haunt of painters and musicians. There was no law, not even an unwritten law, against frequenting this cafe, yet the place was somehow oil-omened.
15) There were three slogans for the Party. They were WAR IS PEACE/ FREEDOM IS SLAVERY/ IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. The whole thought of climate will be different than it was then.
16) The antique shop is the Chestnut Tree Cafe. It is unique because of what it was it was a book where it had painters and musicians. It often frequented Winston.
17) Winston's encounter with the prostitute was when he thought about his ex- wife Katherine. It was when they were in the room together, and he pulled the lampshade up, and saw that she was an old woman of the age of about fifty. It was relevant because he thought of it being as Katherine.
18) Proles- they are people that Winston doesn’t take as real human beings. For example he said "It had been on the tip of his tongue to say "Except the proles," but he checked himself, not feeling fully certain that this remark was not in some way unorthodox. Inner Party was where
The Outer Party was
19) My first reaction to this book was that it was boring. As I started off I didn't really like it, because I didnt understand it. After reading the first book I still get confused, because I’m always left wondering about things, because it doesn't fully explain it. I hope that as I continue the other books after it that I will comprehend it better.
Haylee VanHoose
2nd period
11/10/08
Essay- On paper..
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
- It was named Victorious Mansion.. but there is nothing victorious about it. It’s just a normal apartment. it was small, smelly; nothing like a mansion.
1. Describe the opening setting.
- In the opening Winston is sitting outside on a windy, cold day in April. It’s a very gloomy atmosphere. It describes to us that he is trying to keep himself warm as well. Winston, the main character, describes the housing conditions as being rotted 19 century houses. It tells us how Winston is part of this Party that he hates with a passion. Winston also gives us a glimpse of everything goes in Oceania
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
- It is missing; Wilson can’t have any privacy because the party people and thought police have been watching them through the telescreen and following him around. Privacy is just something people need, I love to have privacy. We don’t want people to see us doing anything or see us when we’re naked. I understand why Winston hates the party people and big brother. Privacy is a very important thing to people; it provides them a nice quiet setting so they can think about things going through there minds.
I personally like having my own room, and my own bathroom that have locks.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
-According to Winston, there are no written laws in Oceania. So he didn’t do anything illegal. But the party people have the right to declare people’s actions as right or wrong. The only thing Winston did wrong was buying the diary and writing in it.
4. What does his room look like?
-In the book; it read as a dull, oddly shaped room. All it mainly talked about was the grey walls, and how disgusting they were. He has a small telescreen. The telescreen was placed in a different place that way he could write in his diary. Just as Winston described in page 5. It gives us an idea of victory mansions.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
-He writes Crimes in it. It’s against his party people to do that. So he went against the party and had bought this diary. That way he could write how he felt and also about crimes. He writes.. ”DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” through out his diary.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
-There are many different ways the party people control. One way is they watch the party members through the telescreen, and follow them through out town and watch them through windows. They have installed these telescreen’s throughout the party buildings and party peoples homes. The party members hope that the telescreens will help to make the people never consider opposition towards the government after being under video lock down.
7. Who is Big Brother?
-Big brother is the dictator of Oceania. He is the symbol of the party’s power and appears all over the city on party posters.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
-When they watch the telescreen, they get to scream hatred for 2 minutes against the other members of the party that they hate.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
-The fate of those who commit Thoughtcrimes. Those who are vaporized are removed from society in that they are killed and all evidence of their existence is removed.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien- powerful member of the Inner Party who tricks Winston into believing that he is a member of the revolutionary group called the Brotherhood
b. Parson Family- Mr. Parsons is a fat, obnoxious, and dull Party member who lives near Winston and works at the Ministry of Truth. He has a dull wife, who is Mrs. Parsons, and they have a group of suspicious, ill-mannered children who are members of the Junior Spies.
c. Dark-haired girl- Is Julia, Winston's lover, a beautiful dark-haired girl working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. Julia enjoys sex, and claims to have had affairs with many Party members. Julia is pragmatic and optimistic. Her rebellion against the Party is small and personal, for her own enjoyment, in contrast to Winston's ideological motivation.
d. Comrade Withers- he was a big brother official who got vaporized.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine is Winston’s former wife. She hated having sex, and later they found out she couldn’t have kids, so her and Winston separated.
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think- he ability to maintain two contradictory ideas in one's head simultaneously and believe them both to be true. It’s crucial to the Party's control of Oceania, because it enables the Party to alter historical records and pass off these distorted accounts as authentic. The brainwashed populace no longer recognizes contradictions. Instead, it accepts the Party's version of the past as accurate, even though that representation may change from minute to minute.
b. Newspeak- is the official language of Oceania, is engineered to remove even the possibility of rebellious thoughts—the words by which such thoughts might be articulated have been eliminated from the language. It contains no negative terms.
c. Duck Speak- is to quack like a duck.
d. Thought Crime- Any thought that is to smart or original. It can also be a thought against the government or thoughts of Rebellion
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
His job is to rewrite the archives of the London Times so that they are consistent with current policy. When Ingsoc changes its political alliance with another superpower and begins waging war on a former ally, Winston's job is to rewrite all the prior information to show that the old alliance never existed. So addled are the minds of the people he meets that they don't even realize that these changes have been made.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Café mentioned?
In chapter 5; this is where the chestnut tree café is mentioned. I think it’s kind of a place for Winston to have some freedom. The context of this is were people with conflicting ideas and anti-party thoughts hang out.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
War is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength; BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The antique shop is a place where items from before the revolution can be found. The shop is where Winston originally bought the diary that he writes in illegally. It’s unique because of what it holds. It always has a room where Winston and Julia have sex frequently.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
- it talks about how she stands under the street light, with a painted up face. Which he then knew she was part of the party, because the women didn’t fix up their faces. She made him want to scream filthy things. She made him think of his wife, Katharine. It’s relevant to the story because, they are not allowed to have sex in there community.
But Winston has this strong urge to have sex and because the party doesn’t approve of sex, he can see that having sex is a rebellion way and he always wants to enjoy the pleasure during sex, unlike the unpleasure he had from Katharine
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the poor, lower class people. They are not party members but they are just citizens of Oceania. Inner Party
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
I think it gives us a very good idea and detailed sight into the life in 1984 in Winston’s home town Oceania. I sort of enjoy the book, it’s different, and it makes the life back in 1984 seem very interesting.
1. George Orwell was born was Eric Blair in the early 1900s. He was born in India, but grew up in England. After leaving school, Blair moved back to India and joined the Indian Imperial Police. He grew to dislike imperialism while living there, and resigned his position. In the essay "Shooting an Elephant," he talked about how the people there felt very bitter toward him because he was from Europe.
After he resigned, he returned to England and experienced a lot of poverty. After the Spanish Civil War began, Orwell volunteered for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist uprising, and also joined the army. After he was shot in the neck, he decided to begin writing instead of returning to a life of poverty. He began writing book reviews. He also wrote many essays and soon wrote "Animal Farm" and then "1984". He became famous for his writings and grew quite wealthy. He died January 21, 1950.
Orwell lived a short life, but as shown in "Shooting an Elephant," he was affected by the government in many ways. His strong views on politics at the time and his experiences with it was obviously what influenced him to write the things that he did.
2. Winston lives in Victory Mansions. Victory is a term that means a win or a gain. Its ironic because, really, no one has any sort of victory or freedom. The government has created so many restrictions on the people that they cannot gain much of anything.
1. The opening setting is in Oceania in 1984. The main character is a middle-aged man named Winston. He is walking into his run-down apartments called Victory Mansions on a cold and windy April day. He describes the poster on the wall of Big Brother, and describes being able to see the four ministries outside of his window. The opening shows how the government plays a part in the novel.
2. Privacy is very important to everyone. I feel that privacy is almost a mandatory right to humans. If we didn't have that privacy, we wouldn't be our own person. We would constantly be watched, and it would make us paranoid to think and say what we really feel.
I wouldn't be able to function without privacy. Sometimes I just have to have time for myself, and I think it's the same way with most people. I do have privacy, and I'm grateful that I do. I am left free to think as I wish, and I don't feel as though someone is trying to trespass on that .. well, most of the time.
3. Winston commits a few crimes, such as thought crime and in some writing. He never gets caught doing any of it, though. In his diary, he wrote "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER." Big Brother is the head of the government, and insulting him is definitely illegal.
4. Winston's room is small and filthy, just like the rest of the apartment. On the right hand wall, there is a large telescreen. Across from it is a window. There is also an alcove where Winston sits to write his diary entries.
5. Winston wrote "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER." This is a problem because it goes against the government, and could result in his death.
6. The Party controls what they say and think. Anyone who does, says, or thinks something they are not supposed to is immediately vaporized. The government also watches everyone, so no one has any privacy.
7. Big Brother represents the government. He is a dictator, and he watches everyone's actions.
8. The Two Minutes of Hate is a daily program in Oceania. Peoople gather in a room to hear Goldstein. It's designed to keep everyone hating the members of the resistance.
9. When someone is vaporized, it is as if they never existed. Everyone about them -- records, photos, etc. -- is erased, so it's like that person was never even born.
10.
A) O'Brien is large and wears glasses. He is an Inner Party member, but Winston is not sure exactly what is position is.
B) The Parsons' family lives in the same apartment building as Winston. The Parsons' family consists of a wife, husband, and two children. Mr. Parsons works at the Ministry of Truth with Winston, but in a different department. Mr. Parsons is a dedicated to his Party, and manages Hate Week. The children are members of the Spies, and also very disobedient and come off as obnoxious.
C) The dark haired girl is a young woman who works in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth with Winston and Mr. Parsons. She is in her late twenties, with dark hair and freckles. Winston does not like her.
D) Comrade Withers used to be an Inner Party member, but was vaporized. Winston was put on the task of rewriting a newspaper article to make it seem as though Comrade Withers never existed, and so it looked as though Big Brother was never disgraced.
11. Katherine was Winston's wife. She didn't like to have sex, but Winston did, so she left him.
12.
A) Double Think means to say something, but to do the opposite.
B) Newspeak eliminated certain words from the language. The government did this hoping that it would rid ideas from people such as freedom.
C) Duckspeak literally means to quack like a duck.
D) Thought Crime is the act of thinking against the Party.
13. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. His job there consists of rewriting records and history, making it look as though some things never existed.
14. The Chesnuut Cafe is mentioned in a song lyric played the telescreen.
15. War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength
16. The antique shop is where Winston buys his diary. It is unique because it sells things that are from the past. Usually the Party will not allow things that are from the past, but Winston feels as though the antique shop brings the past alive.
17. Sex is illegal, therefore, Winston having sex with the prostitute is a great act of rebellion against the Party.
18. The proles are simply just classes of people. The inner party is the upper class. The outer party is the lower class.
19. I figured that 1984 would be a very boring book. While some parts of it are, there are some parts that I find very interesting. It makes me wonder what it would feel like to live in a society with this kind of government. It makes me really grateful that I live in the country that I do, and grateful that I have privacy. I've enjoyed the book so far because it really makes you wonder. I also like it because I don't think it's like any book I've ever read.
George Orwell died at a pretty young age, but he had
accomplished a lot in his short life. He had really
been able to convay what he had to say well, expecially
in the times of depression. He was never afraid to say
what he felt. He was influenced in his writings by
polotics. He asessest the situation at the time and
developed what could happen and wrote about it, a
warning perhaps. He had used a lot of detailing in his
writings and really brought you into the story and made
you think.
2. It is ironic because it is called Victory Mansions,
indicating that it is a grand place. A top of the line
building so to say, but it is just a run down
appartment building in lower Oceania.
1.A run down apartment building, a dark feeling. At the
first part of the stairs there was a poster saying "big
brother is watching"
2.Humans need there privacy, we need our time alone to
be able to think. If we had every one open with
eachother, everyone would be the same. Our privacy
describes some what of our personalities.
3.Winston Smith has an illeagal diary, in which he
writes his beliefs. He writes over and over "down with
big brother." He thinks "wrongly" twoards "big brother"
whome he is basicly suppose to worship.
4.Winston's room is small and dull. In the room there
is a giant telescreen taking up most of the space. He
has his space on the other side of the room where he
writes in his diary.
5. He writes "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" This is
problamatic because he is afraid and worried about what
the thought police will do to him if they find out what
he was writing.
6. The parties can control and influence people in many
ways. They control what they think and dictate what
they do and what they say. The fear of being Vaporized
keeps everyone in line for the most part.
7.Big Brother is one man and a party. It's saying that
they always know what you are up to and always know
what you are doing. It strikes fear when they see "big
brother is watching"
8. The "Two Minutes of Hate" is basicly a way to
brainwash people. They have to listen to Goldstien and
hear about the war on the telescreen. It is designed to
manipulate everyones hatred.
9. Being Vaporized is to basicly loose your identity.
It earases your complete life, nothing is left of you.
When someone is vaporized it is often because they
commited a thought crime.
10.
A)O'Brien is a heavy man and wears glasses. He is part
of the ministry of truth and is part of the inner
party.
B)The Parson family live in the same apartment building
as Winston. Mr. Parson works at the ministry of truth
also. Mrs. Parson looked older than what she really
was, they had two children who could turn them into the
thought police at any given time.
C)The Dark-haired girl she worked in the fiction
department of the ministry of truth. Winston always had
this strange feeling about her, like she was a spy,
like she was part of the thought police.
D)
11)Katherine was Winston's wife, they were only
together about 15 months.
12)
A)Double Think is thinking one thing but doing the
opposite.
B)Newspeak, words that keep getting smaller and
smaller.
C)Duck Speak, speaking without thinking
D)Thought crime is to think differently than what they
are told to think. To be differently to have an
oppinion.
13)His job is to remake all the London times to erase
certain parts.
14)Its a place where they can think freely and discuss
they're ideas and opinions.
15)
-War is Peace
-Freedom is Slavery
-Ignorance is Strength
16)A place where Winston stumbled upon and found his
diary. Found unique things, it is significant because
those things are from the past and most have been left
behind.
17)He hired a prostitute because they wanted to take
away the pleasure of having sex. He would not give in
so he just decided to go ahead and fine a prostitute.
18)Proles are the people in the working class. It is
separated by those in the inner party and outter party.
Rich and poor.
1. George Orwell, or Eric Blair’s life set the pace for his extremely political books. The events of the time, as well as his own personal views on government helped to give George a solid understanding of government and it’s motives. One of his earlier short stories- Shooting an Elephant- also shows his state of mind and many of the opinions that are reflected in his later book, 1984.
In his lifetime, George Orwell saw many things that would change the world. Orwell lived through the political struggle of both World Wars, as well as serving in the Spanish Civil War, serving in Burma- which exposed him to imperialism-, the American Great Depression, and experiencing all kinds of controlling governments when his job in the military took him to different countries. These components helped to sharpen his political views, as well as provided him with an in-depth understanding of the political processes of different types of government.
Orwell’s short story, Shooting an Elephant, is a semi-autobiographical essay about his stay with the military, in Burma. He tells in detail about the treatment of the Burmese people, because of the imperialist government in Burma. The Burmese are treated like animals by their government, as well as the military sent to protect them. Orwell sees that the Burmese are poor and starving, but the government leaders are rich. In the imperialist government that Orwell sees, there is no lower, middle, and upper class people like there are in a traditional society. The upper class government controls the extremely lower class people, treating them very cruelly.
In the beginning of Shooting an Elephant, Orwell is in the opinion that the Burmese people are being treated just as they deserve. He thinks that they are beneath him, and that he is superior to the people. But as the story goes on, and Orwell is forced to shoot a rampaging elephant while the people from the near by village watch, he changes his opinion. In the essay, Orwell shows the reader his feelings at the time, and also the feelings of a soldier in Burma, the consequences of imperialism and dictatorships, and what it took for Orwell to change his opinion of oppressive governments.
Orwell’s travels showed him the injustices of imperialism and dictatorships, which sparked the book he is most famous for, 1984. 1984 is a dystopian novel, in which Orwell plays out the effects of a totalitarian government. A totalitarian government is similar or the same as many or the dictatorships Orwell saw while in the British military. All his hatred of political injustices, as well as the crimes he saw committed by the governments of different countries, set the background for 1984, and is reflected in Shooting an Elephant.
In 1984, Orwell is trying to show people what he believes are the motives, consequences, and inner workings of totalitarianism. All the world events and things happening in Orwell’s time affected the set and plot of this particular dystopian novel. In 1984, Orwell brings together all the world events of his time, and tries to show people what could happen if all these events were not corrected.
2. The name of Winston’s apartment building- Victory Mansions- is ironic because in reality, though the place is named as a mansion, it is really a dump. The paint was peeling off the wall, the elevator almost never worked, and everything always smelled like boiled cabbage and old rags. To live in a place called Victory Mansions, you would think that the apartment you lived in would luxurious, but it is not. That is why it is ironic, because it is the exact opposite of what would be expected.
This could be an indicator that things are not always what they seem in Ociania, either. In Oceania, the government wants everyone to believe that they have it better when Big Brother is ruling them, than when they were “free”, but in all reality, they do not. The fact that things are not what they seem in Victory Mansion parallels what the situation is in Oceania.
3. Winston Smith buys a diary and writes in it. Winston writes things that are considered against the Party, and that express individual thought, which is considered illegal by the party.
4. Winston’s room is small and grimy, just like the rest of the apartment building. On the right hand wall, there is a telescreen taking up the majority of the walls. Across from the telescreen, is a window, and to the left is a small alcove in which Winston sits to write his diary entries. On one of the walls there is a couch, an on the other, there is a doorway to a kitchen.
5. In his diary Winston DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, and then in a panic, what he thinks the thought police will do to him when they catch him writing in his diary. This is problematic because to even think, let alone write down something against Big Brother means certain vaporization and death.
6. The Party controls people in many ways. It controls what they say, and ultimately think, by restricting the language with Newspeak. Anyone who does anything, says anything, or thinks anything against the Party is also immediately vaporized. The threat of vaporization mainly keeps the people of Oceania in line. When someone is vaporized, then they do not simply die, but is as if they had never existed in the first place. The government erases everything about the past of that person, so they do not only kill, but the Party erases people.
7. Big Bother is an individual person, but he is also the collective mind of the Party. In the sense that he is a person, he is the leader of all Oceania. He is their dictator, and sole ruler. But in the sense that he is a collective mind, he is every Party member thinking the same thing and watching each other.
8. During the Two Minutes Hate, Party members gather in a room with a telescreen to hear the teachings of Goldstein, and what is happening in the war, and to abuse both. The people are worked into frenzy. They hate Goldstein and the war, but because they are so angry, their hatred can shift from one object to another. The Two Minutes Hate is designed to keep the Party members hating members of the resistance, or Brotherhood.
9. When someone is vaporized, they not only disappear, but they cease to exist. It is like they never existed. All records, lists, photos, ect. are erased or corrected, so it is like that person was never even born.
10.a. O’Brian is an Inner Party member, with an obscure post in the Inner Party that Winston doesn’t entirely grasp. He is a burly, thick man with a course, brutal face, with “a trick of resettling his spectacles on his nose which was curiously disarming,” Winston feels a special connection with him. O’Brian has an air of being someone Winston can talk to.
b. The Parson family is a family that lives in the same building with Winston. Mr. Parson works at the Ministry of Truth, in a different department than Winston. The Parson family has two children that are members of the Spies.
c. The dark haired girl is a young woman who also works for the Party, in the Fiction Department. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, as indicated by the sash that Winston sees tied around her waist. She is about twenty-seven, with thick, dark hair, and freckles. Winston takes an immediate dislike to her.
d. Comrade Withers is a man that was vaporized after he had disgraced Big Brother. Winston, along with a few others are put on the task of rewriting a newspaper article that will make it seem as if Comrade Withers had never existed, and Big Brother never disgraced.
11. Katherine was Winston’s wife, who left him not too long after their marriage. He never heard from her again, but believes she is still alive.
12.a. Double Think is the act of saying something, while enforcing the exact opposite.
b. Newspeak is the language adopted by Oceania over Oldspeak. Newspeak limits the meanings of words, what can be said, and ultimately, what is thought.
c. Duckspeak is a double speak word. In definition it means to quack like a duck, but the fact that it is good or bad, depends on the opinions being “quacked.”
d. Thought Crime is the act of thinking something against the Party.
13. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. He rewrites pieces of history and records to correspond with the wishes of the Party.
14. The Chestnut Café is mentioned as a song lyric played on the telescreen. This scrap of song is played in between one of the many bulletins the Party gives out.
15. The three slogans for the Party are, War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is strength.
16. The antique shop is the place where Winston buys his diary. It is unique because it sell things that are entirely useless, but from the past. Usually the Party obliterates everything pertaining to the past, in the shop, Winston feels like the past is still alive.
17. Winston has sex with a very old prostitute in a motel. He repeats this ritual every few years or so, and one encounter results in Winston marrying his wife, Katherine. Soon after their marriage, Katherine leaves Winston. This is relevant to the story, because it is a piece to the past, and in a world where the past is irrelevant, every piece is important. This is also important because in helps to shape Winston’s character, and personality.
18. The Proles are the masses, ruled by the Party. They are given more freedom, but kept ignorant of their past, to prevent a rebellion. The Outer party are not the leaders of the Party, but the workers that keep the Party alive. They are better off than the Proles, but are still very poor. The inner Party are the party leaders. To the Proles and outer Party, the Inner Party rule under Big Brother, but the inner Party is really Big Brother. They watch and rule over the Proles, and outer Party as Big Brother.
19. I think that the novel is very politically charged and well written. 1984 explores concepts that we, living in a democracy, we never even consider. Though 1984is a reasonably good book, it is not one that I would never read.
1. George Orwell, or Eric Blair’s life set the pace for his extremely political books. The events of the time, as well as his own personal views on government helped to give George a solid understanding of government and it’s motives. One of his earlier short stories- Shooting an Elephant- also shows his state of mind and many of the opinions that are reflected in his later book, 1984.
In his lifetime, George Orwell saw many things that would change the world. Orwell lived through the political struggle of both World Wars, as well as serving in the Spanish Civil War, serving in Burma- which exposed him to imperialism-, the American Great Depression, and experiencing all kinds of controlling governments when his job in the military took him to different countries. These components helped to sharpen his political views, as well as provided him with an in-depth understanding of the political processes of different types of government.
Orwell’s short story, Shooting an Elephant, is a semi-autobiographical essay about his stay with the military, in Burma. He tells in detail about the treatment of the Burmese people, because of the imperialist government in Burma. The Burmese are treated like animals by their government, as well as the military sent to protect them. Orwell sees that the Burmese are poor and starving, but the government leaders are rich. In the imperialist government that Orwell sees, there is no lower, middle, and upper class people like there are in a traditional society. The upper class government controls the extremely lower class people, treating them very cruelly.
In the beginning of Shooting an Elephant, Orwell is in the opinion that the Burmese people are being treated just as they deserve. He thinks that they are beneath him, and that he is superior to the people. But as the story goes on, and Orwell is forced to shoot a rampaging elephant while the people from the near by village watch, he changes his opinion. In the essay, Orwell shows the reader his feelings at the time, and also the feelings of a soldier in Burma, the consequences of imperialism and dictatorships, and what it took for Orwell to change his opinion of oppressive governments.
Orwell’s travels showed him the injustices of imperialism and dictatorships, which sparked the book he is most famous for, 1984. 1984 is a dystopian novel, in which Orwell plays out the effects of a totalitarian government. A totalitarian government is similar or the same as many or the dictatorships Orwell saw while in the British military. All his hatred of political injustices, as well as the crimes he saw committed by the governments of different countries, set the background for 1984, and is reflected in Shooting an Elephant.
In 1984, Orwell is trying to show people what he believes are the motives, consequences, and inner workings of totalitarianism. All the world events and things happening in Orwell’s time affected the set and plot of this particular dystopian novel. In 1984, Orwell brings together all the world events of his time, and tries to show people what could happen if all these events were not corrected.
2. The name of Winston’s apartment building- Victory Mansions- is ironic because in reality, though the place is named as a mansion, it is really a dump. The paint was peeling off the wall, the elevator almost never worked, and everything always smelled like boiled cabbage and old rags. To live in a place called Victory Mansions, you would think that the apartment you lived in would luxurious, but it is not. That is why it is ironic, because it is the exact opposite of what would be expected.
This could be an indicator that things are not always what they seem in Ociania, either. In Oceania, the government wants everyone to believe that they have it better when Big Brother is ruling them, than when they were “free”, but in all reality, they do not. The fact that things are not what they seem in Victory Mansion parallels what the situation is in Oceania.
3. Winston Smith buys a diary and writes in it. Winston writes things that are considered against the Party, and that express individual thought, which is considered illegal by the party.
4. Winston’s room is small and grimy, just like the rest of the apartment building. On the right hand wall, there is a telescreen taking up the majority of the walls. Across from the telescreen, is a window, and to the left is a small alcove in which Winston sits to write his diary entries. On one of the walls there is a couch, an on the other, there is a doorway to a kitchen.
5. In his diary Winston DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, and then in a panic, what he thinks the thought police will do to him when they catch him writing in his diary. This is problematic because to even think, let alone write down something against Big Brother means certain vaporization and death.
6. The Party controls people in many ways. It controls what they say, and ultimately think, by restricting the language with Newspeak. Anyone who does anything, says anything, or thinks anything against the Party is also immediately vaporized. The threat of vaporization mainly keeps the people of Oceania in line. When someone is vaporized, then they do not simply die, but is as if they had never existed in the first place. The government erases everything about the past of that person, so they do not only kill, but the Party erases people.
7. Big Bother is an individual person, but he is also the collective mind of the Party. In the sense that he is a person, he is the leader of all Oceania. He is their dictator, and sole ruler. But in the sense that he is a collective mind, he is every Party member thinking the same thing and watching each other.
8. During the Two Minutes Hate, Party members gather in a room with a telescreen to hear the teachings of Goldstein, and what is happening in the war, and to abuse both. The people are worked into frenzy. They hate Goldstein and the war, but because they are so angry, their hatred can shift from one object to another. The Two Minutes Hate is designed to keep the Party members hating members of the resistance, or Brotherhood.
9. When someone is vaporized, they not only disappear, but they cease to exist. It is like they never existed. All records, lists, photos, ect. are erased or corrected, so it is like that person was never even born.
10.a. O’Brian is an Inner Party member, with an obscure post in the Inner Party that Winston doesn’t entirely grasp. He is a burly, thick man with a course, brutal face, with “a trick of resettling his spectacles on his nose which was curiously disarming,” Winston feels a special connection with him. O’Brian has an air of being someone Winston can talk to.
b. The Parson family is a family that lives in the same building with Winston. Mr. Parson works at the Ministry of Truth, in a different department than Winston. The Parson family has two children that are members of the Spies.
c. The dark haired girl is a young woman who also works for the Party, in the Fiction Department. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, as indicated by the sash that Winston sees tied around her waist. She is about twenty-seven, with thick, dark hair, and freckles. Winston takes an immediate dislike to her.
d. Comrade Withers is a man that was vaporized after he had disgraced Big Brother. Winston, along with a few others are put on the task of rewriting a newspaper article that will make it seem as if Comrade Withers had never existed, and Big Brother never disgraced.
11. Katherine was Winston’s wife, who left him not too long after their marriage. He never heard from her again, but believes she is still alive.
12.a. Double Think is the act of saying something, while enforcing the exact opposite.
b. Newspeak is the language adopted by Oceania over Oldspeak. Newspeak limits the meanings of words, what can be said, and ultimately, what is thought.
c. Duckspeak is a double speak word. In definition it means to quack like a duck, but the fact that it is good or bad, depends on the opinions being “quacked.”
d. Thought Crime is the act of thinking something against the Party.
13. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. He rewrites pieces of history and records to correspond with the wishes of the Party.
14. The Chestnut Café is mentioned as a song lyric played on the telescreen. This scrap of song is played in between one of the many bulletins the Party gives out.
15. The three slogans for the Party are, War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is strength.
16. The antique shop is the place where Winston buys his diary. It is unique because it sell things that are entirely useless, but from the past. Usually the Party obliterates everything pertaining to the past, in the shop, Winston feels like the past is still alive.
17. Winston has sex with a very old prostitute in a motel. He repeats this ritual every few years or so, and one encounter results in Winston marrying his wife, Katherine. Soon after their marriage, Katherine leaves Winston. This is relevant to the story, because it is a piece to the past, and in a world where the past is irrelevant, every piece is important. This is also important because in helps to shape Winston’s character, and personality.
18. The Proles are the masses, ruled by the Party. They are given more freedom, but kept ignorant of their past, to prevent a rebellion. The Outer party are not the leaders of the Party, but the workers that keep the Party alive. They are better off than the Proles, but are still very poor. The inner Party are the party leaders. To the Proles and outer Party, the Inner Party rule under Big Brother, but the inner Party is really Big Brother. They watch and rule over the Proles, and outer Party as Big Brother.
19. I think that the novel is very politically charged and well written. 1984 explores concepts that we, living in a democracy, we never even consider. Though 1984is a reasonably good book, it is not one that I would never read.
Kala Brown
11-20-08
Mr.Parsons
2nd Period
1) What is propaganda? Propaganda is the thoughts, images, and symbols that are able to persuade a group of people to think in certain way. The main reason for propaganda is for people to think of a message that is said unto them, very easily to understand. Once they read the message they comprehend what is trying to be brought out. They don't want everyone to question the message trying to make it a challenge. It has many ways to tell how it is used and the different types of it. As I researched I found that there is three different types of propaganda. Those three types are known as White, Black and Grey propaganda. White propaganda generally comes from an openly identified source. It has methods of persuasion, with things like public relations techniques and one-sided presentation of a diagreement. Black Propaganda is saying that it is from one source of information, when it is relly from another one. Then the last type is grey propaganda. This is something that has nothing to identify itself, or the person who wrote it. One of the biggest things is making the enemies believe falsehoods. It was used as a very good weapon in war long ago. It was used towards the enemy and also to create hatred against a special group. This was because it helped create a false image, and information in their minds. They would use special words, or say things that the enemy was responsible for things, when they never did. In the novel 1984 propaganda played a big role. In this time they were making everyone believe that they were being contolled, by what they done, said or even read. One of the sayings was "Who controls the present controlls the past." This meant that the goverenment, or Big brother was responsible for what was happening. In the book, Winston said, "To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone- to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone." It's kind of like saying that the government makes all the rules, can change them at anytime, and that everyone has to go by them for their own freedom.
2) The dark-haired girl’s message that she gave said “I Love You.” At first he thought that it was some kind of political meaning. She must have been part of the thought police just as he suspected before, and she was giving him the paper for the thoughtpolice. The letter might have been telling him an order to commit suicide, a trap of some description, a threat, or even a summons. When he read what he really said, he was stunned, and had to read it over to make sure that the words were really there.
3) He said that it was a physical problem that had to be solved: how to get in touch with the girl and arrange a meeting. He no longer considered the possibility that she might be laying a trap for him. He knew this because of her unmistakable agitation when she handed him the note. The thing that worried him the most was that if he didn't get in touch with her soon then she would quickly change her mind. But the physical difficulty of meeting was enormous.
4) Winston and the girl had made plans to meet at Victory Square, but where going to wait and talk to one another when people had gathered around. Winston had showed up five minutes after the hour and the girl had still not appeared. He started to get that feeling that she wasn’t coming she had back out. As he was walking towards the St. Martins Church, he noticed her standing at the base of the monument pretending to read a sign. He wouldn’t go near her until a few others gathered around, because there was telescreens everywhere. Suddenly everyone seemed to be running across the square, and was shouting remarks that a convoy of Eurasians prisoners was passing. A long line of trucks with wooden faced guards armed with submachine guns standing upright in each corner, were passing down the street.
5) Julia got her first gift for Winston at the Black Market. It was chocolate bar that was dark and skinny. It had an unusual smell; it was a different type of chocolate.
6) The second meeting place planned was the Belfry of a ruined church in an almost deserted stretch of country. Thirty years earlier this was where an atomic bomb had fallen. It was another hiding place that Julia had known of. It was a very dangerous place to be at, but was a good hiding place once found.
7) "Talking by installments" was a type of conversation that Julia normally used, and what she liked to call it. It was how they communicated to one another. Also was a way of talking to each other without having to move their lips.
8) Julia viewed life as if it quite simple. She liked breaking the rules, because if you wanted to have a good time then that was what you had to do. She liked to think that it was natural that they should want to rob you of your pleasures as that you should want to avoid of being caught.
9). What changes have taken place in Winston's life as compared to our first view of him?
Throughout the novel Winston changes himself as the more we read of him. In the beginning he was like a worrywart, always being scared that someone was watching his every move. Then when he met Julia his thought about things changed. He was willing to do whatever it took just so that he could be with Julia.
10) Brotherhood was a reality, there still remained the difficulty of finding ones way into it. He had told Julia of the strange intimacy that existed between him and O'Brien and the impulse he sometimes felt when he was in the presence of O'Brien.
11) He told her the story of what happened to his friends. People were always being killed of all the time. He tried to make her understand that killing wasn't an exceptional case. The things that had happened the day before had already been abolished, or had been done away with. Nothing exists except an endless present that in which the Party is always right. She said that she wasn't ready to take risks against things with the Party.
12) Winston first spoke with O'Brien was when he walking down the long corridor, almost where Julia had slipped the note to him. O'Brien had made a small cough, evidently as a prelude to speaking to him.
13) The memories that Winston's dream brought up was that he believed that he had murdered his mother. He remembered his childhood life after his father had left. Then it was just he, his mother and his baby sister. They had spent most of their time in underground shelters hiding from the air raids in Tube Stations.
14. What admissions did Winston make to O'Brien?
Some admissions that Winston made to O'Brien were that he hated the Party. He didn't like the way that they had done things. So him and Julia decided that they wanted to join brotherhood, so they drank the wine and was put into brotherhood.
15. There were many great difficulties that were contained in being a member of the brotherhood. To be in this meant that you was up and ready into doing whatever it took, or asked to do. Whether it meant being ready to commit suicide, or crime, or even changing your identity so that you wouldn't be found if something bad had happened. By willing to do this, meant that you were doing this for your own freedom.
16. What caused the great flurry of activity at the ministry of truth during hate week?
During the middle of Hate Week, Oceania had switched enemies and allies in the war that was going on at that time. At a rally, the speaker who was talking decided that Oceania was not at war with Eurasia, or had ever been to war with them. Then he later on said that Oceania had been at war with Eastasia all this time.
17. "The book", was written by Goldstein. Winston thought that this book must have been Goldstein's last message. The future belonged to the proles.
18) The word totalitarian in the dictionary means designating of, or characteristics of a government or a state in which one political group maintains complete control and illegalizes all others. Then regime means like a political or ruling system, which helps control things. For example a totalitarian government is out to control not just all the economic and political matters but also to control the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population, erasing the distinction between state and society. As part of the citizens duty and job to their country or state main concern of the community. Also the goal of the state to have the society that they have now be turned into a better, more perfect society. A totalitarian regime has many characteristics. Some of them are things like the existence of an ideology that talks about all aspects of life, it also outlines the final goal, and a single big sized party in which the people gather around with energy, and give support. A party like this is normally led or run by a dictator. A dictator is someone who is the ruler, and also has absolute power and authority over everything in their country. A really good example of a dictator is Adolf Hitler. Germany was ruled under his power from the year of 1933 until the year 1945. He was only one ruler out of Eighty-eight. In the novel 1984, totalitarian regime was also used. The ruler in this type of case was Big Brother or the government. They controlled everything that it's people done. They would watch them by using surveillance cameras, telescreens and thought police. In order for the people to do what they wanted to for privacy, they had to come up with their plan, to work around big brothers plans. For them to do what they want, they would have sneak around just to break a few rules. By having big brother control things, they have to come up with different schemes, to inform. They use techniques such as computerization of information, and they use billboards to get the word out. They do this so that they can make countries totalitarian societies. They both are compared to one another because they both a ran by someone who decides and makes all the rules for the liberty of their life’s, or freedom. But they have to be careful with what they do because they know that they are being watched.
1.Read the biography of George Orwell at the following link: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.htmlOnce you have done so, read the semi-biographical Orwell short story "Shooting an Elephant" at the following link: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/When you have completed these two readings, you will begin to understand the political backdrop for Orwell's writing.Write a 300+ word response to the two readings linking them to your first impressions of 1984.
George Orwell may not have had a long life but I feel that he accomplished many things. In the life that he lived, he experienced many different ways of life and truly got to see the world up close. HE was very bright which gave him many advantages and took him to many different places where he studied. He saw firsthand many different systems of government, and the effects that they brought. He lived through and overcame great hardships in his writing during the times such as The Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Great Depression. With him living through this and still managing, you can see how the complexity of his life ties into some of his deeper novels such as 1984.As his many characters convey, I feel that George Orwell is a brave and strong powered guy. There were many points in his life when he was in poverty or even homeless, but through it all he stayed strong and continued writing the truth. It wasn’t until his novel Animal Farm that George Orwell became financially stable in his writings. In his short story Shooting an Elephant, his character is far from happy about having to kill such a creature as an elephant. Yet he knows that he has to do it because it’s what the people want. In 1984, the main character Winston is constricted and not able to think freely, yet he stays strong in his opinions and writes the truth in his diary. I feel that all in all George Orwell is a man of rebellion and in his many writings, his characters are unhappy with the government and the state that they are in. Winston is unhappy with the party and feels the need to go against it. In Shooting an Elephant, the character hates his job and what the government stands for. I think that this roots back to George Orwells many different governments and his unsatisfaction in them.
2. How is the name of Winston's apartment ironic? How might it indicate that things are not always what they seem in Oceania?
Winston lives in Victory Mansions, although the name leads on, Winston's apartment is far from luxurious. Its in bad condition with a terrible odor, paint peeling from the walls with posters tacked from them. This is a prime example of how things in Oceania aren't always what they seem.
1. Describe the opening setting.
The story begins on a bright, cold day in April. Winston hurries into Victory Mansions trying to escape the dusty wind. Upon entering, the hallways smell like boiled cabbage and old rug mats. Everywhere he looked the eyes of Big Brother seemed to be following him from the posters.
2. Privacy is something that seems to be missing from the opening of the novel. Why is privacy so important to the human existence? Do you have privacy in your life?
In the novel, Winston is always watched by telescreens and the Thought Police. The book says, “Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed---no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic meters inside your skull.” Humans need privacy. People need to have their own possessions and thoughts. Without them, you have no purpose or feeling and you might as well not exist. Thankfully, I do have privacy in my life. I have my own room, my own things, and I can think freely and share or choose not to share my thoughts whenever I want.
3. What does Winston Smith do that is illegal?
Winston unconciously scribbles, "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER", repeatedly in his book, and officially committed a thought crime. Any malice towards the government is considered punishable by jail or worse. But because of the layout of his room and telescreen, he avoids the thought police.
4. What does his room look like?
His room is very empty, and quite bleak. It doesn’t seem welcoming what so ever, definitely not a place you would hangout in your spare time. It’s very small, and his telescreen is placed in an awkward place. The position the telescreen is in allows Winston to sit beside it, and not be seen.
5. What does Winston write in his diary? Why is this problematic?
Winston writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” repeatedly. He also writes down things that are punishable by death. He commits thought crime by saying things that are against the government. Thought crimes are punishable by death.
6. What are some ways in which the party controls the people in the story?
They put telescreens in peoples house to limit all of the privacy they then change all of the past in the ministry of truth to there likings and if anyone goes against them they vaporize them where they erase them like they where never born.
7. Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is the government as a whole.
8. What does one do during 2 minutes of hate?
Enters a room with a giant telescreen, there the rebel leader is demonized making the people present grow very angry at him. Eventually one is consumed by unrelenting rage and begins to shout and throw thing at the telescreen.
9. What does it mean to be vaporized?
Erasing all forms of existence within you. You forget everything and nobody remembers you.
10. Who are the following? Describe them in detail:
a. O'Brien-
A member of the inner party, a member who’s post was so high and discreet Winston new very little about it. He is a large, charming man with a big burly face and glasses. Winston thinks highly of O’Brien, even hoping that maybe, just maybe he too questions the power of Big Brother.
b. Parson Family-
The Parson family is a small family who reside in the flat down the hall from Winston. Mrs. Parson is described in the book as a woman of about 30, who appears much older than she is. It is even rumored that dust can be found in the creases that line her face. She seems to be frail and have no control over her children. Mr. Parson, though he is not present when the family is first introduced in the novel, is described as a large, ignorant man who is very good with his hands. A great repair man.
c. dark-haired girl-
Mentioned in the story worked in the fiction department of the ministry of truth. Winston had an instant hatred against her, because he thought that she was a member from the thought police. He also thought that she was following him, and kept her eye on him. He believed that she was trying to get him to mess up.
d. Comrade Withers-
A former inner party member. He was found guilty of going against Big Brother, so he was vaporized for his so called crime.
11. Who is Katherine? What happened to her?
Katherine was Winston wife. They were together for 11 months
12. Define the following:
a. Double Think-
Holding to contradictory beliefs about something.
b. Newspeak-
The official language of Oceania
c. Duck Speak-
To speak or act without thinking before doing so.
d. Thought Crime-
A thought that consists of a crime, and by crime it means anything that could be issued as a threat to Big Brother.
13. What is Winston Smith's job? What exactly does he do?
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth's Record Department where he is a Propaganda Officer. He works with a machine that destroys documents. He than updates them with Big Brothers orders and Party records to match the new developments.
14. In what context is the Chestnut Tree Cafe mentioned?
The Chestnut Tree Café is mentioned in the context of a song lyric. The lyric would be played in between the bulletins the party gives out.
15. What are the slogans of the party?
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
16. What is the antique shop and why is it unique?
The old antique shop was called a secondhand store. This is where Winston bought his diary and bought a clear glass paperweight with a pink coral center from Mr. Charrington, the proprietor. This is where he leads Winston up to a room with no telelscreen and shows him a print of the St. Clement’s Church looks down from the wall, saying the old rhyme: “Oranges and lemons, say the bell of St. Clement’s. You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martin’s.
17. Describe Winston Smith's encounter with the prostitute. Why is this relevant to the story?
The Party has very harsh hatred against sex, so one must just fantasize about it. So, Winston gets a prostitute and has sex with her. Winston says that the prole prostitute was old and ugly, but he went through the sex act anyways. This is relevant to the story because he is going against the Party, which means that he is threatening himself to get vaporized.
18. What are proles? Inner Party? Outer Party?
Proles are the common people, they are not considered Party members.
The inner party is the upper class.
The outer-party is the middle class.
19. Describe your reaction to the novel after reading the first Book.
It makes me realize how great it is to be an american and have freedom. I now value even the smaller things like being able to think what you want without being vaporized. I also Am able to value more the privileges of privacy and democracy. I think that Gorge Orwell has written a great book. He is very insightful about how power can corrupt peoples hearts. I would never want to imagine a world like the one in George Orwells book.
1.George Orwell was a strong man and very smart in his time. He lived life rough at times and even got shot in the neck. He overcame the Spanish the world war, and his life. In school he was really smart because he got schoolarships for the greater colleges and schools. However in some times in his life he experienced povery, sometimes homeless, or doing intinerant work. He is the same in life and in the book for he both was in the middle class. In the short story “Shooting an Elephant,” he is very brave as in the book 1984 due to he did some things he knew was breaking the law, like writing the diary, but he was brave enough to do the acts he did in both of the stories. He was also courageous on keeping on his hunt for the elephant. He also had a hard life because his father worked for the Opium Department of Civil Service and in his childhood for five years after he was one in 1903 he did not see him until again in 1907. In both the book and in his real life he did not live in the best conditions. This is also like the short story the setting is not in the most high oppurtunities. In each way he created account of dictator ship in which you kind of have to defend for themselves.The book 1984 first seemed like he was a high position in the government, living in Victory Mansions and stuff. Then to find out he was pretty much runned by, as well as the rest of them, Big Brother and he done a few things in spite of the law that if caught he could be put to death. Plus the place he lived in was an old apartment house with problems and messed up in structural damage.
2.Where he lived was called Victory Mansions. However it was ironic because the apartment housing was a run down place full of broken down walls and ceilings. It wasn’t a nice place.
1.In the opening setting Winston goes to his place called Victory Mansions in which you wold think would be high class and beautifully made. In which to find ot the building was the complete opposite.He also worked for one of the government parties.
2.Privacy is missing due to Big Brothers in which is the thought police. They will take you to jail for things that shold be private such as writing a diary. Privacy is important for human existence because it makes us all unique and special. For if we thought and did the same things we would blend in and be the same. I have privacy to a certain extent in my life.
3.He bought a book from a regular store, in which party members aren’t allowed seen in. Then he starts a diary in which if caught by Big Brother can cost him his life.
4.His room is in Victory Mansions. That is an old building, so his room probably has structural problems and seems dark and gloomy.
5.He is wanting to write about the future in which is partly impossible and he wants to write about then to. Such as with his life and Big Brother. He also writes about the government and things that the people should not know.
6.The party controls the people by Big Brother. The city has signs up all around saying “Big Brother is Watching YOU,” to remind them. They are overly controling the people in their daily lives even the private parts.
7.Big Brother is the thought police and puts people to jail or death if they did something not right or against them or the laws. He works for the government. Such as Winstin writing a diary would be a wrong against the thought police.
8.In the two minutes of hate a telescreen comes down and they talk about the opinions and views of the government and whats going on with the people.
9.Vaporized is to be put to jail for doing something illegal.
10. a. O’brien works in the inner party for the Ministry of Truth.
b.Parson family is a family of four in which their father works in the Ministry of Truth and a stay at home mother and two children.
c.the dark haired girl works in the fiction section and Winston believes worked with the printing machines for the stuff on her hands. She is twenty-seven.
d. Comrade Withers is also a member of the inner party and received the second class award.
11.Katherine is Winstin’s ex-wife. They got divorced because she didn’t like to have sex.
12.a.doublethink is a word that has two contradictory meanings. Here it is applied to a party member, is basically the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in ones mind and accepting them both.
b.newspeak is a language that Orwell used in the book, basic idea is removing all shades of meaning from language.
c.duckspeak is a newspeak term meaning to speak without thinking.
d.thought crime is disapproved thoughts from the governments way.
13.He is in the outer party of the Ministry of Truth. In which is the middle class.He works for the record department of Minitrue, “rectifying” records to make them confirm Big Brother’s recent pronouncements.
14.The Chestnut Tree Café is a place where people meet. They talk, share ideas, and discuss. It is pretty much a free place.
15.War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength
16.The antique shop is a store that sells unique and usually one of a kind items, like Winstin’s book. They sell things from the past and some stuff may be very valuable.
17.The prostitute is there for Winstin loves to have sex. The party is against sex and is a rebellion also against the party.
18.That is the social classes. The proles take up much of it at the bottom. Then the outer party is like the middle class. Then the inner party as the high class with big brother on top.
19. I personally don’t like this type of government where one person or group dictate over the rest. Plus they even want let them think or talk the way they want. Just by writing a diary he could be put to death and that isn’t a country or group I’d like to be apart of. Where they watch your every move. There is no privacy what so ever.
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