Summarizer Chapter 7

Winston writes in his diary that any hope for revolution against the Party must come from the proles. He believes that the Party cannot be destroyed from within, and that even the Brotherhood, a legendary revolutionary group, lacks the wherewithal to defeat the mighty Thought Police. The proles, on the other hand make up eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, and could easily muster the strength and manpower to overcome the Police. However, the proles lead brutish, ignorant, animalistic lives, and lack both the energy and interest to revolt; most of them do not even understand that the Party is oppressing them.
Winston looks through a children’s history book to get a feeling for what has really happened in the world. The Party claims to have built ideal cities, but London, where Winston lives, is a wreck: the electricity seldom works, buildings decay, and people live in poverty and fear. Lacking a reliable official record, Winston does not know what to think about the past. The Party’s claims that it has increased the literacy rate, reduced the infant mortality rate, and given everyone better food and shelter could all be fantasy. Winston suspects that these claims are untrue, but he has no way to know for sure, since history has been written entirely by the Party.
Winston remembers an occasion when he caught the Party in a lie. In the mid-1960s, a cultural backlash caused the original leaders of the Revolution to be arrested. One day, Winston saw a few of these deposed leaders sitting at the Chestnut Tree Café, a gathering place for out-of-favor Party members. A song played—“Under the spreading chestnut tree / I sold you and you sold me”—and one of the Party members, Rutherford, began to weep. Winston never forgot the incident, and one day came upon a photograph that proved that the Party members had been in New York at the time that they were allegedly committing treason in Eurasia. Terrified, Winston destroyed the photograph, but it remains embedded in his memory as a concrete example of Party dishonesty.
Winston thinks of his writing in his diary as a kind of letter to O’Brien. Though Winston knows almost nothing about O’Brien beyond his name, he is sure that he detects a strain of independence and rebellion in him, a consciousness of oppression similar to Winston’s own. Thinking about the Party’s control of every record of the truth, Winston realizes that the Party requires its members to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears. He believes that true freedom lies in the ability to interpret reality as one perceives it, to be able to say “2 + 2 = 4.”

Literary Luminary Chapters 1-2

"His eyes refocused on the page. He discovered that while he sat helplessly musing he had also been writing , as though be automatic action. And it was no longer the same cramped awkward handwriting as before. His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals-

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

over and over again, filling half a page."

I choose this passage, because I thought this was a great example of foreshadowing. Showing that Winston clearly has a deep hatred for the government and that he will most likely turn against them.

Discussion Director, Chapters 1-2

Discussion Director

#1. Why do you think the Party chose to name each of their ministries, the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Peace, as opposite to their actual purposes? Do you think this is another form of brainwashing used to make the citizens of Oceania believe what the Party wants them to believe, much like the constant streaming of propaganda from the telescreens?

#2. What do you think is the meaning of the Party slogan War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength? Do you think this is a appropriate slogan for a oppressive government such as that of Oceania?

#3. What are your opinions of the Parson's children? Do you think they are a representation of a new generation of young citizens in Oceania? If so, has the Party succeeded in sculpting the people's minds to believe what they want them to believe?

#4. At the end of Chapter 2, Winston writes in his journal that his Thought Crime surely makes him a dead man. Do you think this is a rational fear? Or is the concept of Thought Crime more just a scare tactic used to make people restrain themselves from thinking negative thoughts of the Party for fear of a retribution that may never come?

Illustrator Part 2 Chapters 1-4

Illustrator:

Quote: "On it was written, in a large unformed handwriting: I love you." (pg. 90)

Image:

In the beginning of part 2, Winston is at work and at the top of his stack of papers, there is a note saying "I love you" from an anonymous person. He is thinking about it all day and it gives him something worth living for. He eventually learns that it's the dark haired girl who's been watching him. He later finds out her name is Julia, and is reluctant to share his urge for rebellion because he is still unsure of her true loyalty to him. Once they have their first sexual encounter, he is willing to share almost everything with her and soon finds out she likes to rebel as well, but he's still unsure if she would be willing to be a part of him getting the proles to rebel.

Literary Luminary, Chapter 8

Literary Luminary

Passage #1: "The face of Big Brother swam into his mind, displacing that of O'Brien. Just as he had done a few days earlier, he slid a coin out of his pocket and looked at it. The face gazed up at him, heavy, calm, protecting, but what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark mustache? Like a leaden knell the words came back at him.  War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." Page 104

In this passage, Orwell uses the literary device of personification to bring to life the true oppressive emotions of the Party through the facial details and expressions on the face of Big Brother on this coin in his pocket. This is the second time Winston finds himself looking at this coin, and I believe he carries it around with him as a constant reminder of what he is working so hard to defeat. He describes the look of Big Brother as heavy, calm and protecting, but follows up these claims with the question what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark mustache? This gives a powerful, almost mysterious feel to Big Brother, as Winston himself doesn't truly know what the Party is capable of.

Discussion Director Chapters 1-4 Part 2

Discussion Director:
1/2/11:

1. Winston seems to be gaining more and more trust for Julia. Do you think he is still cautious about how much he tells her?

2. Julia seems to be against the government, but do you think she will go far enough to help Winston get the Prole's help and cause a widespread revolution?

3. Do you think that since Winston has found a woman with similar beliefs as him that he is passionate about, he will lose sight of his main goal of starting a rebellion with the Proles?

4. Do you think Julia souds suspicious and is a secret agent or possibly a thought police? Will she destroy any chances of overthrowing the oppressive government?

5. Do you think that the paperweight is of great importance in the novel? Will it be the key to gaining the loyalty of the Proles?

Discussion Director Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Discussion Director:
2/2/11:

1. Do you think it's Suspicious that the old man in hte bar remembers only minute details from the past?

2. How do you think the government got everyone to forget about the past?

3. Why do you think Winston rented out the apartment if he already has his own apartment? do you think it's perhaps to get away from the telescreen and the thought police?

4. If the proles don't remember anything, how is ONE person going to convince them to rebel? And if he succeeds, how many people will be willing to rebel? 10? 20? millions?