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1984 Study Questions - PART ONE
1984 Study Questions - PART ONE
The Ministry of Truth: Minitrue is the propaganda arm of the State. Winston Smith
spends his daytime hours “correcting” historical records in Minitrue.
The Ministry of Love: Miniluv is a gigantic windowless building devoted to torture and
brutality. The home of the thought police, it is surrounded by a maze of barbed wire and
machinegun towers.
3. What does he remember about the big events in the past? Bombs? Past Wars?
He remembers countries names were different, there shape on the map was different.
Airstrip One was named England or Britian.
4. Explain the party slogan, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the
present controls the past.”
“Whatever the Party dictated as truth was true now and everlasting. It was quite simple.
All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality
control’, they called it; in Newspeak, ‘doublethink’.”
8. What special literature, music, and entertainment is produced for the proletariat
(proles)?
For the proles was produced a lower standard of rubbishy newspapers with nothing
except sports, crime, and astrology, sensational novelettes, films oozing with sex. And a
sub section called Pornosec, the lowest kind of pornography which no Party member
except those that worked on it could look at.
9. How does Winston feel about his work? What sort of “creativity” is involved?
Most of Winston’s work was tedious routine but in there were included tasks that were
difficult and intricate, delicate pieces of forgery in which Winston had nothing to guide
him but his knowledge of the principles of Ingsoc and an estimate of what the Party
would want him to say, requiring Winston to be detailed and imaginative.
2. What is revealed about Inner Party philosophy in the discussion between Winston and
Syme?
One of the key Inner Party philosophy’s is the true purpose behind Newspeak, the hole
aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought.
6. What are Winston’s feelings about the present time after he hears the cheerful
announcement on the telescreen?
Winston mentions after the announcement a feeling “Always in your stomach and in your
skin there was a sort of protest, a feeling that you had been cheated of something that you
had the right to.”
7. Winston predicts that certain people will be vaporized and that certain people will never
be vaporized. Who? Why?
Vaporized:
Syme, because he is too smart
O’Brien, he might think the same way as winston.
Winston, he keeps a diary.
Mrs. Parson, her own kids will probably turn her in.
Safe:
Mr. Parson, he isn’t very smart and is proud to live under the party.
Julia, Winston suspects he of working for the thought police.
The Parson children, they love the spies program they are apart of and the daughter has
already turnd someone into the police.
9. What do Winston’s memories about visiting a prostitute reveal about his attitudes
towards sex in Oceania?
Winston enjoys sexual activities but hasn’t been able to find a quality partner.
13. Winston suspects that the Party lies about progress made since the war. What Party
claims does he doubt?
That overall living conditions is better under the control of the party than it was
beforehand.
14. What is the story of Aaronson Jones and Rutherford?
They were men that were arrested, then they confessed to crimes they probably never did,
were released, and soon after were killed.
3. What does Winston think about after his conversation with the old man in the pub?
Winston now makes a serious attempt to find a connection with the past. Winston knows
that his actions mean certain torture and death, yet he continues to search, hoping that he
is not alone, that someone else feels as he does.
6. What does Winston think when he sees the dark-haired girl outside Mr. Charrington’s
shop?
Upon leaving the shop, Winston sees the dark-haired girl from the fiction department. He
is sure that she is following him and is a spy for the Thought Police. He also imagines
smashing her in the head with a cobblestone or the paperweight he has just purchased.
Winston does not remember ever really hearing church bells before.
END OF PART 1