1984

Narendran Sairam August 25th, 2008 World Literature 1984 Log Chapter 1 PART I Summary: George Orwell starts 1984 with a man named Winston walking into a dilapidated apartment building called Victory Mansions in a dusty neighborhood. Winston goes past the elevator and takes stairs because he knows that the elevator never works. So he finishes the painful climb up the stairs with his varicose ulcer itching above his right ankle. At every landing he sees a poster of a man with a black mustache and piercing dark eyes with the caption “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” He enters his apartment and a machine called the “telescreen” is droning on about the production of 'pig iron'. Here the reader gets the first look at the power and influence of the Party on the lives of the people. This gadget is always “watching” and “listening” to the people in the room for any sign for Thought Crime or rebellion against the Party or against Big Brother. “You had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, ever movement scrutinized. (Page 3)” After showing the reader the state of an 'average' mans life, Orwell gives the reader and insight to the world at the time. The world is divide into 3 super continents- Eurasia, Eastasia and Oceania. London, the residence of Winston is located in Airstrip One, the land that used to be called England and is now part of the larger state of longer Oceania. Orwell then tells the reader about the totalitarian government of Airstrip One. Everything that happens in Airstrip One is coordinated by one of the four ministries. The ministry of truth, the work place of Winston, which alters records to meet the Party's past events so that no one is able to find a flaw in the system; the ministry of peace wages wars and make alliances which keep changing; the

ministry of Plenty planned the economic activities of airstrip one which in most cases resulted in scarcity of food and resources; and the ministry of love, which is dreaded by many, deals with torture and elimination of people that have commited thought crime. The ideas of the party are summed up in three phrases that only occur throughout the book and they are: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH After telling the reader about the present conditions of London through Winston's eyes, Orwell moves on to tell us about Winstons self. So for the reader knows that Winston is a tall, skinny guy of 39 whacks at the ministry of truth. But what they regard does not know about Winston is that he is very disturbed by the circumstances. He's unable to remember his past, he's unable to understand the present and he is unable to predict the future. Winstons moves to a part of his apartment that is out of the line of sight of the telescreen. He pulls out a diary and a pen from his briefcase and begins writing an entry into this newfound journal. He rapidly begins pouring out his feelings about the events of the previous day and then he suddenly stops and recalled send event that has a card this same day during the 2 minutes eight. He remembers two people whom he knows by sight but has never talked to enter the lunchroom. One is a dark haired girl and the other is a man from the party whom he recognizes as O'brien. He goes through the sequences of the day in order and when his thoughts return to his apparment, he realizes that he has scribbled 'DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER' over and over in his diary.He realizes that he has commited a crime of the worst kind- though crime. Orwell skilfully ends the part with a knock on Winston's door. Up Things to be Noted: This part gives the reader that kind of introduction to the world of Winston and Winston himself. It also introduces some of the themes of the book like psychological manupulation using the

telescreens. It introduces the reader to the idea of thought crime.“Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever . . . Sooner or later they were bound to get you.” One of the very important things that should be noticed about this part is Winstons reaction when he was realizes what he is the man whose diary is going to be fatal for him. He has become completely hopeless. He believes that no matter what he does he will have to face the ministry of love of some time or the other. He also realizes that he will be eliminated many of his friends and colleagues, who, according to the party never existed. PART II Summary: Winston hides the diary and fearfully opens the door, half expecting the Thought Police but is relieved to find Mrs. Parsons, his neighbor who needed help with her plumbing. Winston close to her house and while fixing the plumbing is tormented by her kids who are part of a program called the Junior Spies. The reader is told that Junior Spies is a program that trains children to spy on their parents and report them if they are guilty of thought crime. The children are angry at their mother because she refuses to let them attend a public and it is taking place at the park. Winston returns to his apartment and falls asleep. He dreams about a man's voice, which he believes is O'brien's, that says to him " We shall meet in a place where there's no darkness." Things to be Noted: This part emphasizes how different Winston is from his peers. The Junior Spies, a program, of which the Parson children are part of adds two the sense of no privacy or anything being sacred. PART III Summary:

Winston begins dreaming about his mother. He remembers that she disappeared when he was around ten or eleven years old. She is described to the reader as being a "tall, statuesque, rather silent

woman with slow movements and magnificent fair hair." He recalls a memory of his mom sitting with his sister and him stealing the new sister's share of the food. When he returns, he finds his house in rubbles and his mother and sister gone. He then dreams of the dark haired girl taking her clothes off and running towards him in a place he calls Golden Country. He wakes to a high pitched whistle, a signal for the officers to wake up and do a routine called the Physical Jerks. Winston halfheartedly does the exercises and lets his thoughts wander to the days of the past which are so shady and unclear at this moment in time. Suddenly a shrill voice calls to him from the telescreen and asks him to work a little harder. Things to be Noted: This part emphasizes the Party's control over the past. The ministry of Truth, Winston's workplace itself symbolizes this. Winston's hardship in remembering his own past also shows this. This part also shows how sexual relations ships are suppressed. The dream about the dark haired girl in the Golden Country symbolized as being an act of freedom shows this. PART IV Summary: Winston goes to work in the ministry of Truth where he is told to alter a speech made by the Big Brother in 1983 so that it agrees with the events. In this speech that Big Brother praises comrade Withers who had been recently vaporized for disloyalty. Since the praising of disloyal people by the Big Brother is unacceptable , Winston come up with an imaginary person, Comrade Oglivy and substitutes him for Comrade Withers (People are referred to as comrades now). Once finished with his work, Winston lets his thought drift to his surroundings. There he sees People working hard to change history, to make history and to fake history just so that the Party can keep its power forever without hardly breaking a sweat. Things to be Noticed: The theme of control over the past shows up a lot in this part. Winston himself is a part of this

process of continuously changing history to fit the demands of the constantly changing policies and ideals of the Party. This theme comes under the bigger theme of psychological manipulation where people are forced to change their beliefs through unbelievable change. PART V Summary: Winston goes to the canteen for his lunch that consists of pinkish Grey stew, a hunk of bread, a cube of cheese, a mug of milk less Victory Coffee, and one saccharine tablet. On the way he meets his friend Syme, a philologist or an expert in Newspeak(the official language of the Part), who works at the Research Department. They talk about the hanging the previous day and about the different uses and fact of Newspeak. During this conversation, the reader learns a lot about the Party's official language Newspeak through Syme. Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary reduces every year. According to Syme, Newspeak will make thought crime nearly impossible because there will be no words to express thoughts like rebellion, revolution, fighting back etc. Their conversation then moves to the future of the language and its influence on the Party. Throughout this conversation a thought lingers in the back of Winston's brain-"Syme will be vaporized for he is to intelligent to remain alive." Winston then meets Parsons, his neighbor. A conversation about the Hate week anf the Parsons' children ensues at the end of which the loud speaker announces a raise in the production of chocolate. He looks around and sees the dark haired girl staring at him. She quickly turns away when he loos into her eyes. A new fear rises in his head. He fears that the dark haired girl is a member of the Thought Police. Things to be Noticed: There does not seem to be any sense of friendship or companionship between two wellacquainted people like Syme and Winston or between Parsons and Winston. Everyone seems selfish and narrow minded. The theme of psychological manipulation is again portrayed here through the use

of Newspeak. PART VI Summary: Winston returns home and he writes an entry in his journal about his sexual experience with a prole prostitute. It seems to mean a lot to him. during this entry his thought turn to his wife. He does not know weather or not she exists. She had been a beautiful person with fair hair and splendid movements and her name was Kathrine. She had thought of sex as being a "duty to the Party" Winston see this affair not only as a way to unleash his desire but also as a way to defy the Party. He thinks this to be an act of rebellion. But this act of rebellion or the act of writing entries in his diary do not seem to reduce his hatred against the Party. Things to be Noticed: "Your worst enemy was your own nervous system. At any moment the tension inside you liable to translate itself into some visible symptom." This shows how the party used psychological manipulation to turn yourself against you. This part very importantly projects the suppressed sex issue. Winston writes that the woman ugly and old but he still did it with her. This shows how desperate he really is and how much his desires have been suppressed. PART VII Summary: Winston begins writing that hope of a rebellion, if any, will have to come from the proles because he believes that they are the people that are least affected by the government. The proles, the reader is told, also make up 85% of the population of Airstrip One. The reason Winston believes the proles have an advantage is because their past is not altered as much. The on who controls the past controls the present and since the proles have more control over their past they are more powerful. Winston tries to get and idea of history by looking into a children's history book. The Party

claims to have existed for a long time when Winston knows for a fact that it only existed for twenty four years. He found flaws in its historical facts that were later rectified but when he once found evidence of a lie, he immediately got rid of it so as to not be accused of thought crime. Winston believes that freedom is to be able to believe that 2+2=4."In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it." Things to be Noticed: This part strongly portrays the Party's control over the past and therefore the present. It shows Winston's helpless and hopeless nature. He tries to convince himself that there is going to be a rebellion and it will rise from among the proles. PART VIII Summary: Winston takes a walk and wander into the street of the proles where he enters a pub. There he meets an old man with whom he strikes a conversation to try and make him talk about the past. He wants to try and get as much information from him as possible but the old man memory is too vague and clumsy. His hopes for rebellion from the proles is a little hurt because he now begins to think that they will also begin forgetting their past and loose the advantage they have aver the Party. Winston leaves the pub and walks into the secondhand store where he brought the diary. He finds a coral and is greatly drawn by its beauty and texture but above all he is drawn by the age it comes from. He buys it from Mr. Charrington for four dollars. Mr. Charrington leads him to a room upstairs with no telescreen. On his way back home, he realizes that a party member has been following him. He hurries home. Things to be Noticed: This part, in a way balances Winston's hopes. The old man from the pub diminishes his hopes

while the proprietor of the antique shop, Mr. Charrington, increases his hopes. He is also sure that he will be caught and tortured in the ministry of Love for Thought Crime. He does not seem to have any hope what so ever for his survival. CHAPTER 2 PART I Summary: Winston resumes his normal life, if it could be called a normal life. One day at work when he is going to the restroom, he meets the dark haired girl with her arm in a sling. She slips and falls and as Winston helps her up, she passes him note that reads:I LOVE YOU. Winston is torn between believing her and forgetting all about the incident. Finally he decides to go and talk to her about it. He finds her one day at an empty lunch table in the canteen. They converse in whispers and she tells him where they are gong to meet next. During their next meeting in Victory Square, Winston is given direction to a remote area where they could meet and make love unhindered. Things to be Noticed: This sudden action on the girl's part causes Winston a great deal of surprise because he did not believe that Party members other than O'brien and himself were Thought criminals. But he is also tremendously overjoyed at this action of hers. PART II Summary: Winston does as directed and goes to the place that the girl told him to go. By this time he is completely convinced that the girl in not a spy. He meets her and they converse. He learns tht her name is Julia. They go into the woods and make love and strangely his experience is very similar the vision he had in his dream. He asks her if she has done this before and she accepts having done so. This overjoys him because this proves that there are more people like him.

Things to be Noticed: This part begins a series of love affairs between Julia and Winston. Now Winston has a companion and a friend whom he actually loves as opposed to just knows better than others. PART III Summary: Julia makes detailed plans for their leave. Over the next few weeks they have many meetings where they exchange each others experience. Julia tells Winston about living in a hostel with thirty other girls. Winston learns from Julia that she is not interested in a revolution but in just having fun and outwitting the Party. She then explains to Winston the reason for the channel of sex and sexual desires by the Party. Winston is happy in her company and thrilled with her knowledge. He opens up and tells her about his life. He tells her about his wife and her reluctance to have sex and their parting. He tells her about a walk he once took with his wife during which he was tempted to push her off a cliff but he decides that it did not really make a difference weather or not he pushed her off. Things to be Noticed: The suppression of sex is a theme that is portrayed in this part. For example Winston is shown as a victim of sexual frustration which leads him to think murderous thoughts against his own wife. PART IV Summary: Winston is a little agitated because he has not been able to meet with Julia for a few weeks now because they have both been busy in preparation for hate week. He rents the room above Mr. Charrington's shop for their next meeting. A few days later their meeting is arranged and Julia shows up with real bread and real coffee and real sugar. She also bring makeup along with her, which she puts on. Winston is appaled at her beauty and makes love to her.

That evening the couple encounter a rat. Winston who is afraid of rats more than anything else is horrified. Julia indifferently calms him and makes him some soothing coffee. Julia leaves leaving Winston to think about the future. Things to be Noticed: Winston's fear of rats is an important thing to notice. Later in the book it is used against him. Julia's indifferent character is also of great importance. So the reader has not been told what her weakness is so as far as the reader is concerned Julia is stronger that Winston, at least mentally.

PART V Summary: Syme disappeared just like Winston has predicted. The long awaited Hate Week arrives and all Party members work overtime to make sure everything is ready and perfect. The street are decorated with streamers. Speeches are made. Posters are put up. Phamplets are passed around. A new tune for the 'hate song' is made. Everyone is preoccupied with the hate week but even midst this busy schedule Winston was thinking of Julia and his affair with her. During their time in the room over Mr.Charrington's shop, where they now seldom met, they made love. They both know that this could not last long. A month or two was all they had left before they would be caught. When they were together they talked about various things and mostly they had the same views on different subjects. But overall Julius seemed to be less concerned about the world around her and more concerned about having fun. Things to be Noticed: Julia's character, here, again shows up as different in comparison to Winston's character. She seems more careless about the state of her life than Winston. She seems more concerned about beating the system than trying to understand it.

PART VI Summary: O'Brien makes contact with Winston. One day, O'Brien meets Winston in a corridor where he pretends to take interest in Winston's writing. He invites Winston to his house to see the new Newspeak dictionary. He asks Winston to come and pick it up at his house. Winston is overjoyed at this invitation. He realizes that he was right about O'Brien and he also realizes that this act will lead him to the ministry of Love. Things to be Noticed: The only thing that is important is the meeting with O' Brien. Even when Julia first came to him with the love note he thought twice about meeting her but this time he blindly decides to go to O'Brien's place. PART VII

Summary: Winston wakes up crying in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop after a dream about his mother. When Julie asks him what the matter was he tells her about the train. This triggers a series of memories about his parents and sister. He recalls how he warns stole his sister's chocolate and run away and when he returned his mother and sister had disappeared. He never saw them again. These memories increased his hate for the party which had robbed him of humane feelings. He returns the thoughts back to the room. Julia and Winston both agree that leaving the room and never seen each other again would be the best thing to do but they are not going to do that. Things to be Noticed: Winston's memories portray the theme of psychological manipulation. The way these memories makes him and inhumane, devoid of feelings shows that the Party's strategy is a successful one.

PART VIII Summary: Winston and Julia travel two O'Brien's apartment together. As the approach the address day notice the change in the neighborhood. Busy houses look nicer and more comfortable. The smell of fresh and real coffee is unmistakable. They reach O'Brien's house and are shown into his study. O'brien shocks both of them by turning off his telescreen. O'Brien calls Martin, his housekeeper and explains that himself and Martin are both part of the brotherhood. He leads Julia and Winston through an oath after which Julia leaves. O'Brien then promises Winston the book of the Brotherhood. Things to be Noticed: This entire encounter awfully suspicious. Al th event can be looked at in two different ways. In one way O'Brien is innocent and in another way O'Brien is a sly inner party official who is trying to trap Julia and Winston. PART IX Summary: Hate week make winston extremely and on top of that Oceania goes from being at war with Eurasia to being at peace with it and from being at peace with Eastasia to being at war with it. This piles a tremendous amount of work on Winston's workplace becasue they have to change the recods and details of the war. After a few days the work load reduces and Winston finally has time to read The Book in the room abve Mr. Charrington's shop. Winston reads through Goldstein's The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, which explains why the three supercontinents are always at war and how it helps them retain their power and hels them maintain a balance between the ruling class and the middle and lower class. Julia shows up as Winston reads and is pleased to hear the writings of the book read by Winston. Some time later Winston finds her asleep and falls asleep himself. Things to be Noticed:

Here again he difference between Julia and Winston are projected. While Winston is fully submerged into the book, Julia seem casual and indifferent as always. This casual way of her is intensified by her falling asleep while Winston reads the chapter. PART X Summary: Winston wakes up to the singing of the prole woman outside the window. He goes over to the window and looks at and admires her beauty. Meanwhile Julia wakes up and walks up to him. Both simultaneously say "We are dead" and from out of the darkness come a bone chilling reply "You are dead." Suddenly men clad in black clothes storm the room. Winston and Julia are beaten and Winston looses consciousness. Before he looses consciousness he realizes that Mr. Charrington is a member of the Thought Police. Things to be Noticed: The first thing the troops do when the storm the room is break the small glass paperweight. This signifies how much the Party hates the past and how much it does not want it to be around. CHAPTER 3 PART I Summary: Winston wakes up and not knowing where he is. But he believes that he is in the Ministry of Love. He's placed in a gleaming, white, windowless cell with four telescreens. They were four shelf like benches around the room. Winston realizes that he is extremely hungry and that it has been more than 24 hours since he had last eaten. He tries to make himself comfortable and be still at the same time. When he puts his hands in his pockets the telescreen yells out " 6079 Smith W! Hands out of pockets in the cells!" He settles down and watches many prisoners come and go. A woman who shares his last name enters. He begins hoping that O'Brien would help him in somewhere the other. He tries to distract

himself from the hunger and the pain in his stomach. There's a stamping of boots and a poet called Ampleforth is brought into the cell. Winston asks him how he was caught. And Ampleforth admits to have left their word 'God' and one of the translations of Ruyard Kipling's poetry. The telescreen commands them to stop talking. A little while later Ampleforth is taken to room 101. A new prisoner enters and Winston is surprised to find him to be Parsons. Parsons confesses that his children had turned him into the Thought Police. He is, in fact, proud of his children. Parsons is also removed. Many other prisoners come and go. Finally there's a march of boots and O'Brien enters. Winston is shocked beyond explanation. He realizes that O'Brien had been a member of the Thought Police all throughout. Things to be Noticed: There is this sense of mystery around this, so-called, Room 101. From the reactions of the other prisoners the reader might think of it has been a terrible place. This signifies the theme of psychological manipulation and how the Party uses it to strike fear of something into the people's hearts without even clarifying what that something is. PART II Summary: Winston finds himself tied down to a bed like structure. He looks around and fines O'brien and a man in a white coat. A long series of torture begins. He's beaten and bruised by man that are big and strong. He tries to stop them and to protect himself but in all avail. The beatings grow less frequent and they just become a threat. They make him confess that he was a religious fool lever, an admirer of capitalism, and a sexual pervert. He even confesses, under the pain and agony, that he murdered his wife. He decides that it's easier to confess even things that he hasn't done rather than suffer the pain. O'Brien suddenly comes into picture. He begins his task of making Winston perfect. Without a warning, with the flick of his hand, O'Brien causes extreme pain to Winston. He makes him confess all the flaws of the party that Winston had known. O'Brien and forces upon him the extreme if the idea of

doublethink. He makes Winston feel helpless. Here are a very important slogan is recited by a Winston: " who controls the pest controls the future; who controls the purse and controls the past," After this O'Brien goes into a lecture about existence of the past and the control of the present. O'Brien forces to Winston two see that two plus two is five. He even if it's enough damage that results in Winston not even being sure what two plus two is. Winston is brainwashed by O'Brien. He asks him any questions about the brotherhood and the mysterious room 101 but many are left unanswered. But Things to be Noticed: This is where the theme of control over the past is fully explained to the reader. O'Brien clearly explain to Winston, the way the Party controlled the people through the past. This is where the tactics of the Party are revealed to Winston. Who is Big Brother? What is the Brotherhood? Does the brotherhood exist? These are some of the question that Winston put to O'Brien. And its answers give the reader a better idea of the Government. PART III Summary: O'Brien begins venturing into the parties motives for doing these things. He asks Winston if he knows the motive. Winston loyally replies that the party's ultimate motive is the greater good. O'Brien denies this being the right answer and tortures Winston for the right answer. Finally, O'Brien gives it to him. O'Brien admits that the Party's motive is limitless and pure power. He explains to him the meaning of the Party's slogan "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY." O'Brien reveals to Winston the extent of the Parts power over the human mind. He tells him that the party could potentially make everyone believe that the world began with the humans. He tells him that, "The real power, the power we have to fight for night and day, is not power over things, but over men." He then explains to Winston why the party has been so successful, it is because the principles of the party are founded on hatred. Winston completely gives up hope. He had, in a sense, betrayed Julia. But to him all that matters is that he still

loves her. But Winston soon realizes that in the end nothing matters because you were going to get shot anyways. Things to be Noticed: Here are the psychological manipulation is revealed to us. The power over the minds of men is the ultimate power. This is the goal of the party. Not power over continents and control over money but power and control over the human mind. Once this had been achieved they could do anything. Here the answer to the question 'Why' is revealed to us. Winston tells the reader, through his diary, “ I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY.(pg 80)”

PART IV Summary: Winston is transferred income more comfortable place to live. He begins regaining his health. And his body regains its shape. He is still weak from all the torture but his body is getting back to normal quickly. One day he explodes his emotions and begins calling Julius name. He realizes that he still hates the party and big brother. He keeps yelling and he understands that this will probably result in torture by O'Brien. His hunch is right and O'Brien arrives with the guards and Winston is take to the legendary Room 101. Things to be Noticed: The fear of getting killed is still there in Winston's mind but his hate for the Party is still overwhelming. PART V Summary: Winston is taken to Room 101 and there O'Brien clasps his head to a chair. While he is in ther chair, O'Brien explains what is about to happen. He tells him that there will be a mask placed over his head and when a lever is pressed rat will be released into his face and will gnaw at it. He also reminds

Winston of his worst nightmare. Terrified Winston tries to calm himself and save himself but to no avail. He finally says:"Do it to her." At this statement, O'Brien stops and claims that Winston has been cured. Winston is released. Things to be Noticed: The theme of psychological manipulation is strongly portrayed in this part. The fact that O'Brien uses Winston's worst fear against him is proof of this. This is also the place where the bond of love between Julia and Winston is severed. He has betrayed Julia and stopped loving her once and for all. PART VI

Summary: Winston sits in the Chestnut Tree Cafe listening to the telescreen waiting for a special bulletin from the war front. His thought wander to Julia. They had met once after their encounter in the Ministry of Love. He did not feel anything for her anymore. He found her to be stiff and rejecting just like his wife. They arranged for them to meet again but they did not have anything in mind. Winston returns his thoughts to the present and realizes that the face big brother gave him a sense of peace and calm. Things to be Noticed: The grand finale of a master piece where Winston, the protagonist, a defeated man accepts his life as it is and decides to live without hope of freedom or slavery.