1984 Part 1 Lit Circles

Megan → Vocab/Summarizer
Marnie → Discussion Leader
Annalie → Connector/Passage Finder

Discussion:
1. Are there ways in which government or the private sector intrudes upon the
privacy of U.S. citizens? What are some of these ways? Did Orwell predict our
current situation with the NSA and the government “monitoring” US and
foreign citizens? While our government says it is for protection, is there
evidence that that might not be completely true? What does it make you think,
feel, wonder, worry about?

U.S citizens are constantly monitored since the enactment of the Patriot
Act around 9/11. This act enables the government to monitor online
activity to detect possible acts of terrorism aimed towards the US within
the country and internationally with little interference. Although this is a
matter of national security, it causes one to question the motives of the
government, as no one truly knows how much about us the government
or governmental agencies such as Homeland Security, NSA, or CIA know
about us, or how much personal information these agencies have access
to. The Patriot Act does violate the 4th amendment of illegal search and
seizure as these governmental agencies only operate on a broad assertion
that you or persons related to you are involved in an ongoing
investigation. Meaning, the government can search through your travel
patterns, purchases, financial records, medical histories, or anything else
that leaves a trail on a broad assertion and not probable cause.

2. This book was published in 1949, right after WWII and the beginning of the Cold
War between the Western powers (Europe & the US) and the Eastern powers
(Soviet Union & China), discuss the historical context of the book. Does this
book still have historical significance? How so?
 This book was published in a time where fear controlled the world. In a
time where the world was still recovering from the horrors of WWII and
the Holocaust, and where the USA was stepping into the Cold War. The
Cold War was a time of great fear where no one knew what was
happening, when something would happen, or if something would even
happen. Similarly to the life of Winston, people in Cold War America
lived day-to-day life in fear of the unknown.

3. What are the Party mottos? What is unusual about them? Do we still see
governments use mottos? Why? What are the dangers of such mottos? Can
you think of any mottos of governments/elections/etc. from recent memory that
seem like they would fit in with this story?

“Then the face of Big Brother faded away again, and instead the three
slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM
IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (16). These mottos in a sense
brainwash the citizens of Oceania into the beliefs of the party. This can
be seen in modern day society as uninformed americans follow a party
and conform to its beliefs without much knowledge as to the true intents
of the party or their true beliefs.

4. Who is Big Brother and what is the significance of his name? What does this
make you think, feel, wonder? Are there real world connections between Big
Brother and our world?

The term big brother can be put into the familial context, meaning
someone that watches over you to make sure you are safe. What is
interesting about it is that the party has used Big Brother to constantly
monitor the citizens of Oceania without the citizens explicitly knowing or
understanding the full extent of what is occurring. This can also be
related to today’s society with unconstitutional legislation such as the
Patriot Act that allows the government to monitor citizens on a broad
assertion, violating our rights as US citizens. Big Brother can also be seen
in the context as the older you are, the wiser you are. So, Big Brother is
wiser and knows what is best for you.
 5. How do the Parsons’ children behave? Why is Mrs. Parsons nervous around
them. What is a child hero? Is this a historical allusion? What is it? Do we still
see this today where children are encouraged or asked to “spy” on their
parents/families?

“...for hardly a week passed in which the Times did not carry a paragraph
describing how some eavesdropping little sneak -- “child hero” was the
phrase generally used -- had overheard some compromising remark and
denounced his parents to the Thought Police” (25). Mrs Parsons is
nervous around her own children as they are junior spies for the
Thought Police, actively accusing their neighbors of committing thought
crimes. In schools today, administration is actively engaged in the home
lives of students, as they want to ensure the emotional and physical
safety and security of every student. However, schools can be too quick
to act or judge a situation and can falsely investigate families of
wrongdoings. I have taken many surveys in my time as a student and
most of them ask about my home life and my relationships with my
parents. I also get asked these questions when I go to the doctor and fill
out a questionnaire. Society has asked kids to ‘’spy’’ on their parents for
fear of kids not being raised to a standard of perfection.

Connections:
● Text to World → Snowden scandal and monitoring of information in
comparison to Big Brother constantly monitoring
○ PG 5/6
○ “Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as
sight went.”
○ The Snowden scandal involved Snowden releasing information about the
government’s monitoring of US citizens, and was reminiscent of the
monitoring that Big Brother does on it’s people. Big Brother uses the
telescreens to monitor the people, because those screens record and
transmit both audio and visual feeds to Big Brother. When Winston
begins to write in his journal, he moves to the corner of the room where
there is an alcove so that Big Brother cannot see him while he illegally
 writes in his journal. However, this constant monitoring that Big Brother
does on people was similar to the monitoring the government was doing
through our devices, such as our phones, at the time of the infodump
from Snowden.
● Text to World → McCarthyism is similar to the probing that Big
Brother does in order to find thought crimes
○ PG 24
○ “Another year, two years, and they [her children] would be watching her
night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy.”
○ “...frightened of their own children.”
○ During the era of McCarthy, the push to ferret out Soviet spies in the US
was so strong that people turned on each other, and began to become
suspicious of everyone, even people they knew well. McCarthy created a
fear that resulted in everyone searching for spies, just like Big Brother
uses fear to weaponize children. Big Brother recruits children to spy on
people around them, for what better way to spy into the home than to
recruit the children? No one can trust anyone; parents cannot even trust
their own children in the world of Big Brother. This is very similar to the
panic created by the McCarthy era.
Passage Findings:
(are under the discussion questions that they suported)
Vocab:
1. Derided (p. 15)-express contempt for; ridicule
2. Palimpsest (p.38)- a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the
original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which
traces remain
3. Sanguine (p. 4)- optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or
difficult situation
4. Nebulous (p. 10)- (of a concept or idea) unclear, vague, or ill-defined
5. Urbane (p. 12)- (of a person, especially a man) suave, courteous, and refined in
manner.
6. Clandestinely (p. 14) -in a secretive and illicit way

Summary:
 Winston Smith, the main character lives in a dystopian London in the year 1984.
Big Brother is the government and he has control over everyone’s lives by
indoctrinating his people and listening in on them through their televisions. Winston’s
job is to change past articles that were published by the government in order for the
government to feed their people with the information that complies with what the
government needs at that time. Winston begins to feel a reject towards Big Brother
and believes that others might feel the same way but is prohibited from acting upon
these thoughts in fear of being killed for “thoughtcrime”. Instead, Winston gets a diary
and begins to write down stories and information that proves that Big Brother is
manipulating them.