English Notes

1. A negative utopia is a place where life is not good and the government controls everything. In 1984, Big Brother controls everyone in Oceania. Most people don’t have enough food, and some are on the verge of starvation.

6. Winston Smith- Winston Churchill is what the first part of his name is. He’s someone who acts out against convention, like Winston Churchill. His last name, Smith, is a very common name for people in the world, perhaps implying that he is at least supposed to be average like everyone else. Winston has varicose veins, an ulcer on his ankle, rough skin, fair hair, he thinks out against Big Brother, likes his job for the most part, he’s in his late thirties.

Julia- Her name stands for Juliet from Shakespeare. She’s young and thinks that no big rebellion can happen. When Winston first sees her, he has a desire to rape or kill her. He hates her purity and wants to corrupt her. But then they meet and he realizes that she is not pure at all. Their relationship is the only rebellion she thinks they can have.

Mrs. Parsons- Dust in her wrinkles. Her name stands for a priest. About thirty, looks older, thin hair, crushed looking. She has been run over by life. She has bought into the party way of life.

Tom Parsons- His name means party son. He just blindly sort of follows the party like a son following a father. Tom is a fat, sweaty, vulgar person. He is too stupid to commit a crime against the Party. Parsons is very ugly and he thinks he has control of his kids, but they are smarter than him, so he really doesn’t.

Syme- He is very smart, and because of his intelligence, he must eventually be killed. He is very small, with dark eyes, thin dark face. He is vaporized. Syme is rewriting the new-speak dictionary, and is helping to make it impossible to commit thought crime by eliminating the words that would enable it.

Comrade Ogilvy- It is a Scottish name that means a high place. He is a made up by Winston. Ogilvy is a perfect member of the Party. He supposedly gives up all toys, except those that he would be able to use later in life as a member of the military, a drum, a machine gun, and a model helicopter. He was a member of all the right leagues, taking control of them at a young age. When he was in the Spies, he denounced his uncle to the thought police. He invented a new grenade that was more deadly. While being pursued by the enemy he weights his body down and leaps out of his plane to keep out of enemy hands. He believes that he has no time for women or sex. He’s a perfect party member.

Katharine- Winston’s wife. He really hates her. She is extremely loyal to the party and forces him to have sex every week in hope that she could become pregnant. He grows to hate this ritual. She was tall, fair-haired, and moved well. She was very stupid and followed the party without a question in her mind.

Obrien- He is a large, strong looking man, with a brutal face. He is head of the Thought Police. When Winston first sees him, he is drawn to Obrien. He is a representation of Big Brother.

Mr. Charrington- He’s very old and has a bowed body. He has grey hair, and an air of superior intelligence to the other proles. Charrington has a soft, less accented voice. He turns out to be a member of thought police, and actually turns in Winston and Julia.

Chinless man- Has a scrap of bread in jail, and when a starving man comes in, the chinless man feels guilty and so tries to give him the bread. He is told to drop the bread and then is brutally beaten.

Starving man- A man brought into the same cell as Winston. He is obviously starving to death but noone can help him.

Singing prole lady- She sings a song written by machines, and while it is not all that good of a song, she manages to make it sound good with her voice.

Old prole- Winston bought beer for him.

8. The purpose of Newspeak is to control people, and prevent them from being able to commit thought crime by limiting the ability to think because the words for thought crime don’t even exist.

11. Ministry of Love- Controls law and order

Ministry of Truth- Controls news, entertainment, education, and fine arts.

Ministry of Peace- Controls war

Ministry of plenty- Controls economic affairs.

Chapter 8-9

Book Two, Chapter 8—9

1. Contrast the living quarters and style of the Inner Party members with those of the Outer Party members and proles.

The Inner Party members have things that noone else does. O'Brien has servants and is able to shut his telescreen off. He also has good food and it seems that he also has more than enough of it unlike the Outer party and Proles. O'Brien also has alcohol that is actually enjoyable unlike Victory Gin.
2. How does O’Brien test Julia and Winston?

He asks them if they could ever betray each other for the sake of the Brotherhood.
3. What information does O’Brien give them about the Brotherhood?

He tells them that it is not an organization the way they think it is. Even the Goldstien couldn't give the names of everyone in it. Only a few people ever work together. It runs on ideas that can't be destroyed.
4. How will O’Brien get The Book to Winston?

Winston will go to work without his briefcase and a man will tap him on the shoulder and hand him one that looks like his and say he dropped it.


Book Two, Chapter 9

1. Why does Orwell include detailed passages from Goldstein’s Book in 1984?

So that we get a little better idea of the things the party is trying to crush. We also are given a better description of what the countries are like and how much land they have.
2. What three classes of people have always existed?

Low, Middle, High
3. In What ways have these three classes changed?

Now they are know as Proles, Outer Party members, and Inner Party members.
4. What is the purpose of war in the world of 1984?

It is to use up everything produced, so that things are still made but the standard of living is still low.
5. What are the two aims of the Party?

To discover what someone is thinking against their will, and to wage continuos war so not everybody can have a high standard of living.
6. What are the two problems with which the Party is concerned?

Keeping the classes of people seperated, and preventing people from thinking on their own.
7. Why do all three superpowers forbid their citizens from associating with foreigners?

They don't want the citizens to realize how similar they all are, they want them too hate each other so war is acceptable.
8. The governments of the three superpowers are alike in essence even though their forms of government have different names. Identify these similarities and explain why they exist?

Conditions of life are the same in all, they all have the same philosophy but different names for it, there is a worship of a all powerful leader, they all produce goods strictly for war.
9.. What is the real "war" fought in each of the three governments? Your answer will explain the party slogan, "War is Peace."

The real war is a fight with the average citizen to prevent him from gaining a higher standard of living. If this were to happen, that citizen would become too intelligent and would see the flaws with having people in power and would so overthrow them. The Party cannot accept this and so fights a war to use up any surplus of goods so as to stay in power,
10. What are the aims of the three groups?

To stay at war, so they can keep peace in their country.
11. What changes in the pattern occurred in the nineteenth century?

??
12. How did socialism change in the twentieth century?

It suddenly became about absolute power instead of equality.
13. Why are the rulers in the twentieth century better at maintaining power than earlier tyrants?

People have been wiped of the ability to think for themselves, it has become a crime, because of this there is no rebellion.
14. What are the four ways an elite group falls from power?

1. it is conquered from the outside
2. It rules the masses poorly so they rise up against it.
3. It lets the middle people become discontent so they rise up.
4. It becomes weak and loses the will to govern.
15. How does the Inner Party make certain it will not fall from power?

It creates an enemy to continuosly fight so that no one focuses their anger on the party, but rather at the enemy. Also it keeps people on the brink of starvation and makes their lives very uncomfortable, so that they are not able to relax and think.
16. How is a person’s class determined in the 1984 world?

It is determined by what class they are born into.
17. What is doublethink and what is its purpose to the ruling class?

Doublethink is the holding two ideas in your head that contradict one another and depending on the situation use one over the other. This allows the Party to say things to keep people oppressed, even if it is contradictory of something else they have said.
18. Why is the mutability of the past important to the ruling class?

So no one can look back at previous mistakes and see how to fix them.