Nineteen Eighty-Four: Part I

Question 1

What was Winston’s first act of Rebellion?

Answer 1

He bought a diary. It’s not inherently illegal but what you could write in it makes it illegal; an act of thoughtcrime.

Question 2

Why does Winston hate the Black haired girl?

Answer 2

He can’t smash n’ dash. She’s part of the JASL (Junior Anti-sex league).

Question 3

Why does Winston appreciate O’Brien?

Answer 3

Because he believes that O’brien isn’t completely ‘Orthodox’ and that he holds some resentment and skepticism to the power of the party.

Question 4

What event do they do for two minutes?

Answer 4

The Two minute hate. They all scream fanatically at Emmanuel Goldstein (a traitor/outlaw). They hate him.

Question 5

What did Winston unconsciously write in his diary?

Answer 5

‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER’ x 4.

Question 6

Why were Parsons children disappointed?

Answer 6

They couldn’t witness the public executions at town square.

Question 7

Why were all of the children savage in those days? What horrible thing were they often encouraged to do?

Answer 7

They were savage because they were sellouts.

They were encouraged by the party to snitch on their parents of loved ones to the TP (thought police) if they believed they were actively committing thoughtcrime.

Question 8

What did O’Brien say to Winston in his dream in 1977?

Answer 8

“We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness”

(Foreshadowing. Lil’ bro is heading to the Ministry of Love).

Question 9

What bad news followed the good news of the military victory?

Answer 9

Chocolate rationnes are decreasing to 20g from 30g.

Question 10

What happened to Winston’s parents?

Answer 10

They either got captured or killed during the Great Purge

Question 11

What sad realization struck Winston as he considered his mother’s death?

Answer 11

He reflects on the fact that she died out of love and sacrifice for Winston.

Question 12

What impresses Winston about the girl in his dreams? What word does he have on his lips when he awakes?

Answer 12

She stripped down like without hesitation (foreshadowing), but in a very fluent motion.

He woke-up saying Shakespeare which is odd because Shakespeare existed prior to the Party’s rise to power.

Question 13

What activity was Winston forced to participate in after waking up?

Answer 13

He did Physical Jerks. For the first time in years he touched his toes without bending his knees.

Question 14

What’s the party slogan and what does it mean?

“He who-“

Answer 14

“He who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past”.

This essentially means that if you control information from the past you can control the future and if you control information in the present day, you can control information from the past.

It relates to war in the two states because the Party is at war with Eurasia, meaning they always WERE at war with Eurasia. If they can control the information of who they were at war with at some point, they control the information that future generations will have access to.

Question 15

What’s doublethink?

Answer 15

Doublethink is when you hold two contradictory beliefs/ideas at the same time.

“War is peace, Ignorance is strength. freedom is slavery” are all beliefs Party members are required to believe without giving a second thought and contradicting them.

Question 16

What is Winston’s job and how might have this led him to his abnormally rebellious thoughts?

Answer 16

He is a rectifier at the Ministry of Truth (lies). Due to him beign constantly exposed to contradictory information and him being forced to switch the information, it may lead to him holding contradictory thoughts about the information he has, which leads to rebellious thoughts.

Question 17

What did MOT do to people who were vapourized?

Answer 17

Removed any evidence of them existing from anything and everything.

This was a maneuver that Stalin used often during his reign.

Question 18

What is Syme’s chief job with regard to language? What is the purpose of Newspeak?

Answer 18

He is a philologist. His job is to help author the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak dictionary.

The whole purpose was to eradicate words the party deemed unnecessary and replacing them with simpler words (like Doubleplus good instead of excellent).

By doing this, you would control and limit the words people can think thus reducing if not stopping their ability to have rebellious thoughts.

“Orthodoxy means not thinking - not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness” - Syme.

Question 19

What does Winston think will happen to Syme?

Answer 19

He thinks he’s gonna get deleted/Vapourized because he’s too smart and the Party takes super intelligent people as a threat to their power.

Question 20

What did Parsons daughter do that made Parsons proud?

Answer 20

She followed a stranger to a town and reported him to the TP because she believed he was a spy. All this because the presumed foreigner was where foreign footwear.

Question 21

What was ironic about the announcement of the chocolate rations?

Answer 21

They portrayed it in a way that it was increasing as opposed to decreasing.

Question 22

What spooks Winston and makes him wonder if his facial features were under control?

Answer 22

Facecrime - Essentially when facial features show emotions of discontent and disapproval of the party. The greatest weakness to a person is their CNS.

Question 23

What did Parsons two kids do?

Answer 23

Lit grandma’s skirt on fire cuz she wrapping some sausages in a poster of B.B.

Question 24

What was the only recognized way a couple could get married in Oceania?

Answer 24

If they only did it with the goal of having kids.

If they are doing it based on Physical attraction, it was a no-go.

I think the party wants to kill the Sex instinct because of people spend less time having Sex, they will be less tired and more productive and utilize that energy in their work. Sex makes you happy, if you have Sex why should one care about the party.

Question 25

Why did Winston and Katharine separate. What was his opinion of her?

Answer 25

They separated because one of them (or both) were infertile and couldn’t produce kids.

He found her stupid, naive and very Orthodox in nature.

Question 26

What does Winston remember about the prostitute towards the end?

Answer 26

He gave backshots to Grandma. It turns out she looked young but when she was put under the lights she was older (around 50).

But hey, he did the act with her regardless which takes serious guts.

He’s probably writing it down to remember the mistakes in the past. People often write things down as a method of giving themselves closure. He’s probably doing this as a way of putting it to rest.

Question 27

Why does hope lay in the Proles?

Answer 27

Proles make up 80% of the population of Oceania. If they all collectively rose against the Party, they could overthrow the party.

Question 28

What did the party think about the proles?

Answer 28

They considered them to be dumb animals who posed no threat to the Party and as a result, had no care for them whatsoever. They were truly free regardless of their financial standing.

Question 29

What is the only evidence that life was better prior to the revolution?

Answer 29

The only evidence lay in the fragmented memories he and other people who were born prior to the revolt still hold in memory.

Question 30

What did Winston noticed about Aaronson and Rutherford at the cafe with Jones?

Answer 30

They had broken noses and were teary eyed.

They were afterwards re-arrested by the party on charges of conspiracy.

Question 31

“I understand how, I do not understand why”.

Answer 31

Winston says this because he understands how the party operates but he doesn’t know why they operate in the way they do. He doesn’t understand their motives.

Question 32

What does Winston do in Chapter 8 that’s dangerous?

The Individualistic Experience

Answer 32

Ditches community involvement to go for a walk; an act of Ownlife where one places the individualistic experience above the party.

It’s dangerous because you’re essentially giving the finger to the party and saying you don’t need them, which is thoughtcrime.

Question 33

What were the proles happy about considering what happened seconds beforehand?

Answer 33

They were happy for the upcoming lottery, yet unfazed given a rocket bomb (missile) exploded a few hundred metres away from them.

Question 34

What idea cheers Winston up after leaving the Antique shop?

Answer 34

He got a paperweight but he also might be able to live upstairs for a while.

This makes him happy because it will allow him to have peace from the Telescreens and all the propaganda he’s subject to everyday. It will allow him to relive what life was like prior to 1984.W

Question 35

What terrifies Winston after leaving?

Leaving Charrington’s shop for the first time

Answer 35

He bumped into Julia after he left. He believed she was a spy so he wanted to bash her skull in with his paperweight and diddle her.

It leaves him pretty upset and anxious.