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 well-

acquainted 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.