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Connector Role for 1984, Chapter 1

1. How is Winston’s relationship with the other characters, such as O’Brien and the woman who follows him, reflect human nature and curiosity?

2. How does the concept of knowledge in 1984 relate to what is learned in Theory of Knowledge?

3. How does the process of changing facts relate to current events in our media presentation?

Winston’s relationship with all the characters throughout this first chapter follows a pattern of human nature - curiosity. With O’Brien, the mystery of what his “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” message means is frequently considered by Winston. He wonders if O’Brien is in favor or disfavor of the Party, and if his statement means a place not physically located, but at some point in time, when there is light because there is finally freedom. Similarly with the dark haired woman who follows him, he wonders if she is a member of the Thought Police, or if she’s just spying on him independently, and if not, how and why has she been near him so often? It is a part of human nature to be curious and seek out the answers to things that we question. In both of these situations, Winston’s curiosity allows his mind to drift and explore possibilities of what might play out later in his life and what has led him to where he is now. The more curious he becomes, the more he seeks to learn, causing him to go out of what he would’ve done in the past in order to try and find answers.

The concept of knowledge in 1984 is the main focus of Winston’s curiosity throughout this chapter. At Winston’s job, he is required to alter the ‘facts’ written in newspaper and published information in order for it to align with the goals of the Party, making their predictions turn out to be correct with what later happens, or completely removing a person who is removed from their society. This connects to what we have learned in our Theory of Knowledge class. In this class, we have begun to question why the things we call “facts” are believed to be true. We discussed how we know knowledge to be true, and how to decide whether or not we accept something to be knowledge? This question also is investigated by Winston towards the end of this chapter. After having gone through this process of ‘correcting’ history for so long, he says that “It might very well be that literally every word in the history books, even the things that one accepted without question, was pure fantasy.” As this ‘history’ is erased and “rewritten and rewritten until the original facts and dates no longer have the smallest significance. The past not only changed, but changed continuously.” To try and get a sense of what’s really true, he seeks the perspective of someone who was alive during the time before Big Brother and experienced it firsthand. But, as with the other retellings of history, it has been altered and restricted by age, and the memory of the old man he talks to.

The fact changing process of Winston’s job also connects to current events in the sense of how our media is presented to us. The same way Big Brother has the news tailored to fit what they want to be presented, our news is also tailored to highlight the details seen as significant by publishers. In any situation with opposing viewpoints, different publications will focus on different sides of the argument, closing you off completely from what one group sees to be true, and possibly what really happened by not getting a chance to hear the whole story. This is especially prevalent in politics, where one side will take a piece of information with some, if any, truth to it and manipulate it to their audience to gain support for themselves and take support away from their opposition. This becomes a problem, however, as it does with Winston, that we begin to question how we know what we are being fed is true, and if it isn’t true, why not?

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Connector Role for 1984, Chapter 2 Parts I and II

1. How do the settings from the first chapter contrast the settings of the beginning of the second chapter of 1984?

2. How does the comparison of humans to animals connect throughout these first two chapters?

The setting at the beginning of this book depicts a very ominous tone. The buildings are described as run down, and there are “Big Brother is watching you” signs plastered on walls, looking directly into your eyes. The Ministry buildings also follow this pattern, one of them having no windows, and being surrounded by “a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests.” This pattern of uncomforting setting occurs throughout, following suit in Winston’s cubicle, the lunchroom, Winston’s apartment, and places around the town, especially when he goes to where the Proles live. This is in stark contrast to the hopeful tone of the settings later on. In the second chapter, when Winston goes to meet Julia, there is summery weather, and some of the Proles are going on holiday - much more positively seeming than at the beginning. The place where he meets Julia is also more bright and alive than where they live, and he even feels out of place in this nature, knowing that he seems like he’s spent his entire life “indoors, with the sooty dust of London in the pores of his skin.” As they’re walking to their spot, there are bluebells, “sweetness of the air and the greenness of the leaves”, and “May sunshine”. The difference between the setting before and after he talks to Julia shows a sense of hope that he sees because of their interactions, as he thinks this union could be a way to destroy the Party from the inside out.

The comparison of humans to animals is an idea that is continuous throughout both the first and second chapters. In the first chapter, Goldstein’s face is said to have “resembled the face of a sheep, and the voice, too, had a sheeplike quality.” This comparison to a sheep having a bleating voice makes it seem like it’s annoying, going on and on with the same repetitive sound. Within the same scene, the sandy haired woman’s mouth “opening and shutting like that of a landed fish.” implies that she is yelling so passionately during the Two Minutes Hate that she is almost gasping for air. Also, when a landed fish opens and shuts their mouth, they’re not able to actually call out for help, and they don’t make much noise, similarly to how her doing this doesn’t actually say anything of importance as she’s opening and shutting her mouth. In the second chapter, the Eurasian prisoners are also compared to animals, saying “Foreigners, whether from Eurasia or from Eastasia, were a kind of strange animal.” The comparison of these people to animals is dehumanizing, reducing them to less value than a person has. This makes sense for both Goldstein and the Eurasian prisoners, as they’re supposed to be viewed as the enemies. Also, because Winston is conflicted, and subconsciously goes against Big Brother, seeing the sandy haired woman in support of them would cause him to see her as of less value because she’s also the enemy to him.

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TQE for 1984, Chapter 2 Parts III-V

T

I wonder how Winston and Julia are going to get caught. They both know and anticipate this coming to an end at some point, and because of the strength of the government, it can only be assumed that someone knows or is going to find out about them and report it. I wonder if they would care about being caught because they both know they’re going to be and seem okay with it before it has happened.

Q

Why do they both feel so comfortable sharing their anti Party beliefs with each other, especially after Winston knows what has happened between Julia and other men? What shifted in Winston’s mind to make him not only want to be with Julia to disobey the Party but just because he wants to be with her? Was it the idea of family and what life must have been like before? Why doesn’t Mr. Charrington care about what Winston and Julia are using the room for? Is Winston going to talk to O’Brien?

E

This made me realize that many of the people don’t support the Party, but that they all have their own reasons why and what they choose to believe. For example, Julia doesn’t think the wars are real and chooses not to feed into propaganda. But, she doesn’t concern herself with information perceived as “facts” because they don’t actually impact anything in her perception of reality. However, this is contradictory to Winston's thoughts, who has never thought of the propaganda being fake, but is extremely concerned about the past not existing because of the changing of information.

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TQE for 1984, Chapter 2 Parts VI-IX
T

I wonder how their relationship with O’Brien is going to progress. He “agreed” with Julia and Winston’s anti Party opinions, but wasn't passionate about it the same way they were. I also wonder how reading “The book” is going to influence Julia and Winston. From how far into it he got, he doesn't seem too interested, especially since it was just telling him how things came to be and reinforcing what he already knew, not telling him why.

Q

How do they feel so comfortable sharing their anti Party beliefs with O’Brien just because of the one interaction between them? Is the Brotherhood actually real? How do they intend to take down the Party, because at the moment all they theoretically do is make small changes, but there's never any unified uprising.

E

This made me realize that Winston and Julia should not be so trusting of people. Just because they have found trust in each other that they share the same opinions does not mean that everyone is going to share them. I feel like O’Brien is not going to help them further their involvement in the Brotherhood the way they want him to.

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Chapter 2 Ending

T

I wonder what’s going to happen to Winston and Julia now that they’ve been revealed. I also wonder if Mr. Charrington knows O'Brien and was working with him. It seems very coincidentally timed that right after their interaction with O’Brien and admitting they were anti Party that they should be taken in by the Thought Police, especially since Mr. Charrington must have known all along that they were anti Party because he knew what they were using the room for. I wonder if the Thought Police have been following Winston since he bought the journal from Mr. Charrington at the beginning of the book that he writes his anti Party thoughts in, and if they’ve detected them as well.

Q

Is Winston ever going to see Julia again? Why did they wait so long to take in Winston and Julia if they must have known about them for so long? How are they going to be treated after being discovered? Are Winston and Julia going to be punished differently? Is there a reason that the author timed it so that right after they got the book and started reading it that they were taken in? Are Winston and Julia going to admit to their relationship with each other? Are other proles members of the Thought Police? Did Mr. Charrington become suspicious at the start when Winston asked if there was no telescreen in the room above the shop?

E

This made me realize that Winston and Julia should not have been so quick to assume that they’d get away with everything. While this discovery of them came as a shock, they knew all along that this wouldn’t last forever and that they’d get caught eventually. The most major epiphany from this section was finding out Mr. Charrington was a member of the Thought Police. This made me realize that all throughout all the sneaking around to be together that they were doing, they weren’t really getting away with anything, and that there was at least someone watching them and keeping track of them this whole time.

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ch. 1

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ch. 2

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“What mattered was that the room above the junk shop should exist. To know that it was there, inviolate, was almost the same as being in it. The room was a world, a pocket of the past where extinct animals could walk.” Pg 133

Thoughts: Knowing that the room which was a pocket of time existed gave comfort to Winston. The room was an escape for him and helped him cope with his sad existence under the control of Big Brother. During this time when he would secretly escape to this pocket he became healthier and shows how the oppressive rule of big brother prevented Winstone from achieving happiness. After this he did not have to cope with gin and became healthier. He did not have as much resentment towards big brother and did not feel an urge to openly rebel.
Questions: Why did this time pocket take away Winstons strong resentment towards big brother and make him feel less urge to rebel? Was it his interactions between Julia that allowed him to feel happier? Were Winston and Julia bonding over the aspect of secrecy?
Epiphanies: Winston uses the pocket as an escape and the thought of being able to frequently go there and break away from the totalitarian rule allows him to be more ok with his life working at the ministry.

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"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past" Pg 44
Thoughts: Although this quote shows up more than once in this book it first appears on page 44. This quote alludes to the rewriting of history my the organization Big Brother in Oceania. It is said by Winston and is the Motto of the party. From this motto readers can grasp an understanding of the totalitarian nature of big brother that controls all ways of life.
Questions: How aware is Winston at this point of the made up tensions to scare people into supporting big brother?
Epiphanies: Different branches of the outer circle and workers for different departments of Big Brother are used to control the people under Big Brothers rule and use history to force people into believing Big Brother by rewriting it. The first part alludes to Winston making some change in the present which changes the future of big brother.

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How could this book be a satire of the totalitarian parallels between real life communist societies?

How does the author immerse readers directly into the setting?

First chapter opens with him at the ministry and it sets the scene and puts readers directly into the setting and establishes Winston's character and has an eerie tone.

The way the author chooses to write is very long to show Winston is having a battle within himself and is under constant fear that he is going to be caught by the thought police. The author chose to write in first person so that readers could get the perspective of his inner conflict.

The setting of the book sets the tone for the dystopian society and allows the reader to understand the suppressive nature of Big Brother.

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Does Julia have feelings for Winston or is the nature of their relationship purely based on the desire to rebel against Big Brother?

Is Julia using Winston for her own desire to fulfill her needs?

Does the Author use Winston and Julia's sexual relationship as a symbol of human nature and the need to go against the authoritarian nature of the regime to fulfill their needs? Is it a commentary on humans need for intimacy making Winston and Julia willing to risk their lives for it?

The author uses a more hopeful tone in part II with the newfound sense of purpose for Winston after discovering the Oasis in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop.

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pg. 156 -- "One knew it was all rubbish, so why let oneself be worried by it? She knew when to cheer and when to boo, and that was all one needed. If he persisted in talking of such subjects, she had a disconcerting habits of falling asleep"

Thoughts --
regardless of all the rebelliousness Julia seems to display, she could care less about the ideological aspect of going against Big Brother

Questions --
why is her understanding so shallow? Does she really only want physical pleasure and the feeling of being "corrupt"?

Epiphanies --
this "newer generation" that grew up completely under INGSOC is desensitized to the horrors of their life. They don't know how bad it is because they've known nothing better

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pg. 125 -- "His heart leapt. Scores of times she had done it; he wished it had been hundreds--thousands. Anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope."

thoughts --
Winston is actually happy that Julia has had  several partners before him. You would think that most men would not prefer someone who has had several partner but in this case Winston is overjoyed that Julia has been with "scores" of men.

questions --
I'm wondering if these other men were also full-fledged relationships or one-time meetings. Why don't they get found out? How does she find these other men, and what makes Winston different + is she seeking a new relationship?

epiphanies --
this "corruption" is enjoyed by both Winston and Julia because it supports their thoughts that INGSOC cannot control everyone and that they are committing a political act against Big Brother. How much of this is hatred vs. genuine physical + Romantic desire between two people?