Winston Smith Character Analysis in 1984

The protagonist of the novel, a 39-year-old Outer Party functionary who privately rebels against the Party's totalitarian rule. Frail, intellectual, and fatalistic, Winston works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth rewriting news articles to conform with the Party's current version of history. Winston perceives that the Party's ultimate goal is to gain absolute mastery over the citizens of Oceania by controlling access to the past and—more diabolically—controlling the minds of its subjects. Orwell uses Winston's habit of introspection and self-analysis to explore the opposition between external and internal reality, and between individualism and collective identity. Convinced that he cannot escape punishment for his disloyalty, Winston nonetheless seeks to understand the motives behind the Party's oppressive policies, and takes considerable personal risks not only to experience forbidden feelings and relationships but to contact others who share his skepticism and desire to rebel against Ingsoc (English Socialism).

Winston Smith Quotes in 1984

The 1984 quotes below are all either spoken by Winston Smith or refer to Winston Smith. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon

There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any given individual wire was guesswork. It was conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. 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, every movement scrutinized.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 3

Explanation and Analysis:

In Winston’s apartment—as in homes, businesses, and public squares throughout Oceania, where Winston lives—there’s a wall-mounted device called a telescreen. These screens have a dual purpose: they constantly broadcast government propaganda, and they allow the Thought Police (the Oceanic secret police) to surveil everything that English Socialist (Ingsoc) Party members say and do.1984 is a commentary on the dangers of totalitarian regimes such those of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, the latter of which Orwell witnessed firsthand during the Spanish Civil War. This passage specifically speaks to how authoritarian dictatorships like the Ingsoc Party withhold information in order to suppress Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores a

The thing that [Winston] was about to do was to open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced-labor camp.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 6

Explanation and Analysis:

Prior to the events of 1984, Winston purchased a vintage diary from a junk shop in a seedy part of town. Formerly common items like diaries and pens have all but disappeared from Oceania over the past half-century since the Ingsoc Party came into power. This is no accident: one of the ways in which the Party upholds its totalitarian regime is by forbidding free expression through writing, so items like paper and writing utensils have been widely confiscated. This is because any form of individuality or independent thought—even something as innocuous as keeping a private diary—is seen as an Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus

[…] Winston succeeded in transferring his hatred from the face on the screen to the dark-haired girl behind him. Vivid, beautiful hallucinations flashed through his mind. He would flog her to death with a rubber truncheon. He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like Saint Sebastian. He would ravish her and cut her throat at the moment of climax. Better than before, moreover, he realized why it was that he hated her. He hated her because she was young and pretty and sexless, because he wanted to go to bed with her and would never do so, because round her sweet supple waist, which seemed to ask you to encircle it with your arm, there was only the odious scarlet sash, aggressive symbol of chastity.

Related Characters: Winston Smith, Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 15

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote takes place during the Two Minutes Hate, a daily practice during which Oceania’s Outer Party members must watch a film depicting enemies of the state and outwardly express hatred as they do so. Suddenly, while everyone else rails against the political dissidents featured onscreen, Winston finds his hatred shifting to his coworker Julia, the “dark-haired girl” who’s sitting behind him.Winston’s fantasies of hurting Julia are notably tinged with sexuality: Julia is naked when he shoots her with arrows, and he’s raping Julia when he slits her throat. Orwell intentionally associates violence with sex here—the confusing and rather unsettling Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam

Nobody heard what Big Brother was saying. It was merely a few words of encouragement, the sort of words that are uttered in the din of battle, not distinguishable individually but restoring confidence by the fact of being spoken. 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

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Related Symbols: Big Brother

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

As the Two Minutes Hate draws to a close, the film that Winston and his coworkers are watching (which bashes enemies of the state) gives way to a different form of propaganda. Big Brother, the presumed leader of Oceania’s Ingsoc Party, gives a vague message of encouragement, and then the Party’s slogans appear on the screen.Big Brother symbolizes the mixture of paternalism and fear that the Oceanic government uses to suppress its citizens. As his name suggests, he’s a brotherly or fatherly figure who “restor[es] confidence,” so brainwashed members of the Outer Party are inclined to trust him. But his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum.

It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, 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.

Related Characters: Parsons, Mrs. Parsons, Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 24

Explanation and Analysis:

When Winston goes over to his neighbors’ apartment to fix their kitchen sink, he’s disturbed by how the Parsons’ son and daughter behave: they’re playing a game in which they pretend to be the Thought Police and threaten to torture and execute enemies of the state. The Parsons’ children are members of the Spies, an organization that trains kids to monitor their parents and turn them in for “thoughtcrime.” (To be accused of thoughtcrime means to merely be suspected of harboring seditious beliefs—a person doesn’t have to outwardly express or act on these beliefs to be deemed guilty.) The Spies Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit vo

To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget, whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word "doublethink" involved the use of doublethink.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 35

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston describes the concept of "doublethink," a style of consciousness that the Party demands all citizens adopt. Doublethink involves believing two contradictory things at the same time. One major example of doublethink comes in the form of the slogans of the ministries: "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength." Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth also involves doublethink; he must delete any evidence that contradicts the Party's new version of the truth, while at the same time erasing his own awareness that he has changed anything. The "ultimate subtlety" that Winston mentions refers to the fact Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur labori

“Who controls the past,” ran the Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 34

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, while Winston does his mandatory morning exercises, he reflects on one of the Ingsoc Party’s slogans. Winston knows that Oceania (the “superstate” where he lives) was allied with Eurasia (another superstate) just a few years ago—yet the Party is adamant that this was never the case, and that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia. This contradiction proves that the Party can control how people perceive reality: by altering the truth of the past, they alter what’s true in the present and what will be true in the future, and vice versa.Even though Outer Party members like Winston Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similiqu

The process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound tracks, cartoons, photographs—to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every predication made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 39

Explanation and Analysis:

Here Winston describes the tasks he performs at his job at the Ministry of Truth: "rectifying" cultural and historical records so that they don't contradict the Party's current version of truth, which is constantly changing. This role is particularly thankless for a number of reasons. Firstly, because all of the work is done in secret, Winston will never receive any acknowledgment or credit for what he does. Indeed, doing his job well means making it impossible to "prove that any falsification has taken place." Furthermore, he is constantly undoing his own work; every time he changes a record, he knows Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit

Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 40

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston works as a Records Department clerk in the Ministry of Truth, a government agency whose role is to produce propaganda and censor information. His job is to alter old newspaper articles and photographs in accordance with whatever the Ingsoc Party deems factual—in essence, history is “scraped clean” of people whom the Party has “unpersoned” (executed) and “reinscribed” to add or omit details as the government sees fit.The very fact that Winston’s role exists poses the question of whether or not objective truth still exists in the world of the novel—and, more generally, if objective truth is at all compatible Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae ear

There was a whole chain of separate departments dealing with proletarian literature, music, drama, and entertainment generally. Here were produced rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing except sport, crime, and astrology, sensational five-cent novelettes, films oozing with sex, and sentimental songs which were composed entirely by mechanical means on a special kind of kaleidoscope known as a versificator. There was even a whole sub-section—Pornosec, it was called in Newspeak—engaged in producing the lowest kind of pornography, which was sent out in sealed packets and which no Party member, other than those who worked on it, was permitted to look at.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

The Ministry of Truth, the government agency where Winston works, is responsible for producing propaganda for the lower classes. “Proletariat” is a Marxist term that refers to the working class, so Orwell’s use of it here indicates that Oceanic society follows the class hierarchy that Karl Marx theorized in his Manifesto of the Communist Party. The Inner Ingsoc Party of the novel represents the upper ruling class, the Outer Party represents the bourgeoisie or middle class, and the proletariat (“proles”) represent the working class.The Party clearly views the proles as simple-minded, since the type of content produced for the proles—such Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impe

“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. […] Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It’s merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won’t be any need even for that. The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.”

Related Characters: Syme (speaker), Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 52

Explanation and Analysis:

During their lunch break at the Ministry of Truth, Winston’s coworker Syme waxes on about the purpose of Newspeak—the Ingsoc Party’s pared-down version of the English language that restricts vocabulary and thereby limits people’s freedom of thought. Syme’s job is to compile words for the newest edition of the Newspeak dictionary; he’s notably intelligent, so the fact that even he vehemently supports limitations on language speaks to how effective the Party’s censorship is. Syme seems to believe that he’s performing a beneficial service for society: narrowing people’s “range of consciousness” so that “thoughtcrime” (the offense of merely thinking thoughts that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid ist

Tacitly the Party was even inclined to encourage prostitution, as an outlet for instincts which could not be altogether suppressed. Mere debauchery did not matter very much, so long as it was furtive and joyless, and only involved the women of a submerged and despised class. The unforgivable crime was promiscuity between Party members.

Related Characters: Winston Smith, Katharine

Page Number and Citation: 65

Explanation and Analysis:

As Winston thinks back on his sexual experiences—his failed marriage to Katharine and his lone visit to a prostitute—he reflects on the Party’s outlook on sex. While Outer Party members are openly discouraged from any sexual activity other than intercourse for procreation, it’s an unspoken rule that having sex with working-class or poor prostitutes is an acceptable “outlet for instincts which could not altogether be suppressed.” This is further proof that the Party uses sex as a means of manipulation: members are forbidden from having casual sex with one another specifically to prevent them from growing too close and potentially Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non

It was as though some huge force were pressing down upon you—something that penetrated inside your skull, battering against your brain, frightening you out of your beliefs, persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses. In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Symbols: Big Brother

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 80

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston has been staring at a picture of Big Brother on the cover of a children's book, reflecting on the way that the Party controls his thoughts. He describes the pressure to conform to Party ideology at the expense of his own logic as a kind of physical force, so powerful that it could lead him to believe that 2+2=5. Indeed, this statement accurately foreshadows the moment when O'Brien eventually does convince Winston through torture that 2+2=5 at the end of the novel.In this passage, Orwell conveys the idea that reality control is even more horrifying than death. Perhaps because Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. C

Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.

That, [Winston] reflected, might almost have been a transcription from one of the Party textbooks. The Party claimed, of course, to have liberated the proles from bondage. […] But simultaneously, true to the principles of doublethink, the Party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the application of a few simple rules.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 70

Explanation and Analysis:

As Winston writes in his diary, he remembers witnessing two proletarian women fighting in the street over a saucepan. He laments that proles won’t fight over more important things, reflecting that they’ll never rebel against the status quo until they become conscious of their oppression—yet conversely, they won’t rebel until they become conscious. The Ingsoc Party, of which Winston is an Outer member, claims to have freed the proles from slavery. Yet Winston recognizes that this sentiment can’t be true—otherwise, the Party wouldn’t oppress proles “like animals” or spread the idea that their class is naturally inferior.Believing these two contradictory Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qu

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

Related Characters: Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, Winston is writing in his diary and thinking about the methods that the Ingsoc Party uses to controls reality. He believes it’s inevitable that the Party will one day announce that two plus two equals five, as this is consistent with the Party’s agenda of making itself the arbiter of truth. The Party isn’t so much concerned with redefining mathematics as it is with destabilizing the very notion of objective truth. By erasing a fact as basic as two plus two equals four, they ensure that more complex truths (such as historical events or an individual’s very existence) cannot Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligend

And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested.

Related Characters: Winston Smith, The Old Prole Man

Page Number and Citation: 93

Explanation and Analysis:

As Winston tries to have a conversation with an old proletarian man in a bar, he’s frustrated to realize how fleeting and fragile people’s memories are compared to the Ingsoc Party’s monopolistic control of the historical narrative. The proles are generally apolitical, so theoretically the old man could provide Winston (an Outer Party member) with an unbiased version of what life was like before the Revolution that catapulted the Party into power. But the man isn’t able to tell Winston anything substantive about his past—he only remembers irrelevant details. Winston recognizes that ordinary people tend to remember small things about Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima por

What appealed to [Winston] about it was not so much its beauty as the air it seemed to possess of belonging to an age quite different from the present one. The soft, rainwatery glass was not like any glass that he had ever seen. The thing was doubly attractive because of its apparent uselessness, though he could guess that it must once have been intended as a paperweight. It was very heavy in his pocket, but fortunately it did not make much of a bulge. It was a queer thing, even a compromising thing, for a Party member to have in his possession. Anything old, and for that matter anything beautiful, was always vaguely suspect.

Related Characters: Mr. Charrington, Winston Smith

Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight

Page Number and Citation: 95-96

Explanation and Analysis:

One evening, Winston is wandering around London when he stumbles on the same junk shop where he bought his diary. The shop, run by an old man named Mr. Charrington, is full of old and largely useless objects—most notably the glass paperweight described here, which Winston buys for a few dollars. The paperweight symbolizes the past, as the type of craftsmanship required to produce it belongs to a bygone era. It doesn’t have a practical purpose, given that hardly anyone in Oceania writes with a pen and paper anymore. For Winston, its value lies in its aesthetic beauty, a quality Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis

In the old days, he thought, a man looked at a girl's body and saw that it was desirable, and that was the end of the story. But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 126

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston and Julia have just had sex, and Winston reflects on his feelings of desire for Julia and how these are inflected with the fear and hatred he constantly feels as a result of living under the Party. Because the Party controls citizens' actions and even emotions, simply the private act of expressing love and desire is subversive. However, although Winston is able to overcome the sadistic, violent urges he at first feels toward Julia, the Party still plays a role in their romantic encounter; indeed, what in a free society would be an ordinary private act becomes a major Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet do

That was above all what [Winston] wanted to hear. Not merely the love of one person, but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces.

Related Characters: Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl, Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 126

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston goes to meet Julia in an agreed-upon clearing in the countryside, far away from the Party’s surveillance. Here, Julia strips off her clothes and tells Winston that she abhors purity and goodness and that she loves the act of sex, which is what prompts the above quote.This passage characterizes Julia as an ally to Winston’s cause of quietly rebelling against the Party. Her attitude here surprises Winston because Julia is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, which promotes the Party’s agenda of enforced chastity. The Party uses sex as a tool for manipulation: it forbids sex between Party Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam

There was a direct, intimate connection between chastity and political orthodoxy. For how could the fear, the hatred, and the lunatic credulity which the Party needed in its members be kept at the right pitch, except by bottling down some powerful instinct and using it as a driving force? The sex impulse was dangerous to the Party, and the Party had turned it to account.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 133

Explanation and Analysis:

Julia has explained to Winston how the Party utilizes sexual repression as a way of creating and harnessing frustrated energy that can then be directed toward the Party's own political ends. Winston agrees, and muses that if left uncontrolled, sexuality would be a direct threat to the Party. Once again, Orwell shows that characters in the world of 1984are not able to understand their own thoughts and feelings except in relation to the Party: every act, thought, and emotion is instantly categorized as either orthodox or subversive. This passage is also significant because of its wider implications beyond the issue Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio

He turned over towards the light and lay gazing into the glass paperweight. The inexhaustibly interesting thing was not the fragment of coral but the interior of the glass itself. There was such a depth of it, and yet it was almost as transparent as air. It was as though the surface of the glass had been the arch of the sky, enclosing a tiny world with its atmosphere complete. He had the feeling that he could get inside it, and that in fact he was inside it, along with the mahogany bed and the gateleg table and the clock and the steel engraving and the paperweight itself. The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 147

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston and Julia have secretly met in the room above Mr. Charrington's junk shop, enjoying the forbidden pleasures of black market food, spontaneous singing, and time together away from the surveillance of the Party. At the end of this scene, Winston stares at the antique glass paperweight he has bought, marveling at its beauty and complexity. Under the Party, all production has become purely functional, and thus craftsmanship no longer exists and beautiful objects are (literally) relics of the past.Winston's fascination with the paperweight is moving, and the level of detail in this description betrays the way in which citizens Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitat

Now that [Winston and Julia] had a secure hiding place, almost a home, it did not even seem a hardship that they could only meet infrequently and for a couple of hours at a time. What mattered was that the room over 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. Mr. Charrington, thought Winston, was another extinct animal.

Related Characters: Mr. Charrington, Winston Smith, Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight

Related Literary Devices:

Explanation and Analysis:

Mr. Charrington, the proprietor of the junk shop where Winston bought his diary and glass paperweight, allows Winston and Julia to rent out a spare bedroom above the shop. Here, Winston and Julia are able to secretly meet and have sex. Although the room is rundown and pest-ridden, and Winston and Julia can only “meet infrequently,” the mere existence of the junk shop is what matters to Winston. This is to say that the underlying principle that the room represents—privacy and peace of mind away from the Party’s surveillance—is more important than the particulars of the room or of Winston Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatu

The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account, while at the same time robbing you of all power over the material world. When once you were in the grip of the Party, what you felt or did not feel, what you did or refrained from doing, made literally no difference. Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 164

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston has told Julia that he has spent his entire life feeling guilty for his mother's death, an emotional revelation that was only made possible through the time he and Julia have spent alone in the rented room. Having made this confession, Winston feels resentful of the way that the Party has made his emotions insignificant, while also robbing him of any structural power within the Party itself. The statement "what you did or refrained from doing, made no difference. Whatever happened you vanished" emphasizes the fact that individual identity is completely dissolved in the world of1984. It is impossible Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequunt

They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, an embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself. The proles, it suddenly occurred to [Winston], had remained in this condition. They were not loyal to a party or a country or an idea, they were loyal to one another. For the first time in his life he did not despise the proles or think of them merely as an inert force which would one day spring to life and regenerate the world. The proles had stayed human.

Related Characters: Winston's Mother, Winston Smith, Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Page Number and Citation: 150

Explanation and Analysis:

As Winston reflects on his mother’s innate kindness and maternal instincts, he thinks that before the Ingsoc Party came into power, people used to be “governed by private loyalties which they did not question.” He realizes that the proles still live this way: they find meaning in their connections to one another, not in any ideology or political affiliation. Prior to this, Winston bought into the Party’s narrative that the proles are an inferior class—though he held onto a vague hope that they’d one day “spring to life and regenerate the world” by rising up en masse against the Party. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi sol

The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.

Related Characters: O'Brien, Emmanuel Goldstein, Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 207

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage appears in The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, Emmanuel Goldstein’s book that O’Brien arranges for to Winston to read. Goldstein leads the Brotherhood, a dissident anti-Party organization, and his book accordingly outlines and critiques the Party’s ideology.The idea that “masses never revolt of their own accord” dashes Winston’s ongoing hope that the proles (the working class that constitutes the “masses” in Oceania) will rise up of their own accord and overthrow the Party. Rather, the Outer Party would have to be the instigating force behind such a rebellion, enlisting the proles’ support to overthrow the Inner Party. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta

The blissful feeling of being alone with the forbidden book, in a room with no telescreen, had not worn off. […] The book fascinated [Winston], or more exactly it reassured him. In a sense it told him nothing that was new, but that was part of the attraction. It said what he would have said, if it had been possible for him to set his scattered thoughts in order. It was the product of a mind similar to his own, but enormously more powerful, more systematic, less fear-ridden. The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.

Related Characters: Emmanuel Goldstein, Winston Smith, Mr. Charrington

Page Number and Citation: 199

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote occurs as Winston reads Emmanuel Goldstein’s book in his rented room above Mr. Charrington’s junk shop. The observation of how “blissful” it feels to “be alone with the forbidden book, in a room with no telescreen” is metafictional (which means that it references its own fictional quality), in that Orwell’s audience is reading a book that contains Winston reading his own book. When 1984 was first published, Orwell’s readership would have been primarily British and North American and thus would have enjoyed the right to read virtually any literature they wanted. His audience is thus meant to identify Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praes

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

Related Characters: Emmanuel Goldstein, Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 214

Explanation and Analysis:

As Winston is reading Goldstein’s book, he comes across this definition of the Newspeak word “doublethink.” In essence, engaging in doublethink means that Party members must commit actions that they know are dishonest or illogical (such as altering the historical record, as Winston is required to do at work) while simultaneously convincing themselves that those actions did not occur. Just after this, Goldstein points out that successful doublethink means that Party members must actually “remember the events in the desired manner.” In order words, it isn’t enough to hold contradictory thoughts—rather, it’s necessary to truly believe in the Party’s false Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa

If there was hope, it lay in the proles! Without having read to the end of the book, he knew that that must be Goldstein's final message. The future belonged to the proles. And could he be sure that when their time came the world they constructed would not be just as alien to him, Winston Smith, as the world of the Party? Yes, because at the least it would be a world of sanity. Where there is equality there can be sanity. Sooner or later it would happen, strength would change into consciousness. The proles were immortal; you could not doubt it when you looked at that valiant figure in the yard. In the end their awakening would come. And until that happened, though it might be a thousand years, they would stay alive against all the odds, like birds, passing on from body to body the vitality which the Party did not share and could not kill.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Red-Armed Prole Woman

Page Number and Citation: 220

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston and Julia have admitted they are doomed, and meanwhile have been watching the red-armed prole woman singing; it is in this moment that Winston realizes that in contrast to himself, Julia, and other members of the Outer Party, the proles still have enough energy and freedom to overthrow the regime. He considers that the proles might not realize this for a long time––perhaps even a thousand years––and that even when it does eventually happen, it would create a world that he might not personally feel comfortable in. However, he decides it would be worth it because there would at Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur labo

There was another crash. Someone had picked up the glass paperweight from the table and smashed it to pieces on the hearthstone. The fragment of coral, a tiny crinkle of pink like a sugar rosebud from a cake, rolled across the mat. How small, thought Winston, how small it always was!

Related Characters: Winston Smith, Mr. Charrington, Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl

Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight

Page Number and Citation: 223

Explanation and Analysis:

As the Thought Police raid Winston and Julia’s room above Mr. Charrington’s shop, one of the officers smashes Winston’s glass paperweight. Throughout the novel, the paperweight has symbolized Winston and Julia’s relationship: like the beautiful piece of coral encased in glass, Winston’s and Julia’s bond has been safely concealed in their rented room—until now. Winston marvels at “how small [the coral] always was,” which is to say that the glass distorted his perception of it. This parallels his view of himself and Julia: up until this point, he viewed their relationship as a more formidable act of resistance against the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetu

“We shall crush you down to the point from which there is no coming back. Things will happen to you from which you could not recover, if you lived a thousand years. Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.”

Related Characters: O'Brien (speaker), Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 256

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston has been imprisoned for an indeterminate amount of time—perhaps years—at the Ministry of Love, where he’s been relentlessly beaten and tortured. Just prior to this, O’Brien (who’s directing the punishment) explained to Winston that the Ministry tortures prisoners not so they’ll reluctantly submit or obey, but so the prisoners undergo such a thorough physical and psychological change that they truly “convert” to the Party’s ideology. Here, O’Brien takes this a step further and tells Winston that he will be irrevocably dehumanized by what’s going to happen to him—never again will he be able to experience any of human life’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore

[Winston] knew in advance what O’Brien would say: that the Party did not seek power for its own ends, but only for the good of the majority. That it sought power because men in the mass were frail, cowardly creatures who could not endure liberty or face the truth, and must be ruled over and systematically deceived by others who were stronger than themselves. That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better. That the Party was the eternal guardian of the weak, a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come, sacrificing its own happiness to that of others.

Related Characters: O'Brien, Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 262

Explanation and Analysis:

While Winston is being tortured in the Ministry of Love, O’Brien asks him if he knows how and why the Party maintains power. Given the propaganda that Winston has been exposed to as an Outer Party member, he believes that the above quote is the answer O’Brien is looking for. The Inner Party (the upper ruling class) puts forth the narrative that they seek power “for the good of the majority” by portraying the Outer Party (the middle class) and especially the proles (the working class) as inherently inferior—“frail, cowardly creatures” who need a strong ruler. By characterizing itself as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tene

“But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”

Related Characters: O'Brien (speaker), Winston Smith

Page Number and Citation: 267

Explanation and Analysis:

As O’Brien continues to expose the Party’s ideology to Winston, he tells him that exerting power requires making others suffer—not merely making them obey. O’Brien openly admits that the Party is trying to create a dystopia (the opposite of a utopia, or ideal society) in which foundational aspects of the human experience—love, curiosity, joy—will be eradicated. This furthers Orwell’s indictment of totalitarian governments like the Party as regimes that are entirely motivated by “the intoxication of power” rather than what that power could enable. They are concerned only with gaining and maintaining unchallenged tyranny over others, not with using their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaqu

To die hating them, that was freedom.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Symbols: Big Brother

Page Number and Citation: 281

Explanation and Analysis:

After months of torture, Winston has accepted the Party's control over reality and over his own mind. However, he still dreams of the past, of his mother, and of Julia, and has awoken realizing that despite the fact that he has accepted doublethink, he still loves Julia and thus his emotions are still free from the Party's control. He realizes that he wants to die hating the Party and Big Brother, because even if the Party controls every other aspect of his life, this hatred will prove that he died a person with at least a tiny modicum of dignity Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati.

And then—no, it was not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. Too late, perhaps too late. But he had suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment—one body that he could thrust between himself and the rats. And he was shouting frantically, over and over.

“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”

Related Characters: Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl, Winston Smith, O'Brien

Page Number and Citation: 286

Explanation and Analysis:

In Room 101, the most notoriously terrifying torture chamber in the Ministry of Love, O’Brien threatens to unleash hungry rats (Winston’s greatest fear) onto Winston’s face. Just before O’Brien releases the rats, Winston realizes that “there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment”: Julia. After Winston betrays Julia, begging O’Brien to torture her instead of Winston himself, O’Brien shuts the cage rather than opening it—indicating that Winston has “passed” the exercise. This outcome, it seems, is the point of the Room 101. The goal wasn’t merely to torture Winston, but to drive Winston to betray his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta

"They can't get inside you," she had said. But they could get inside you. "What happens to you here is forever," O'Brien had said. That was a true word. There were things, your own acts, from which you could never recover. Something was killed in your breast; burnt out, cauterized out.

Related Characters: O'Brien (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl (speaker), Winston Smith (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 290

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston has been released from the Ministry of Love, having successfully been tortured into accepting and obeying the Party. He is now an alcoholic and is drinking gin in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, recalling a moment when Julia had told him that no matter what the Party did, "they can't get inside you." Of course, Winston's time being tortured in the Ministry of Love disproves this fact, something he now understands. The horror of Room 101 lies in the fact that, when faced with their greatest fear, a person will betray everything that is meaningful to them, thereby losing their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita d

"Sometimes," she said, "they threaten you with something—something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, ‘Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself, and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."
"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.
"And after that, you don't feel the same towards the other person any longer." — "No," he said, "you don't feel the same."

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 292

Explanation and Analysis:

Winston has run into Julia, and they have both confessed that they betrayed each other while being tortured in Room 101. Julia admits that this moment of betrayal represents a total loss of one's sense of self, reflecting Winston's earlier thoughts in the Chestnut Tree Cafe. Even though this betrayal is induced by the worst form of torture, it is not possible for either Julia or Winston to forgive themselves. They are haunted by the memory of their own selfishness in the face of torture, a selfishness that then results in total obedience to the Party. This highlights a paradox Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore.

He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker)

Related Symbols: Big Brother

Page Number and Citation: 298

Explanation and Analysis:

In the final paragraph of the main narrative, Winston is drunk from gin at the Chestnut Tree Cafe and gazes lovingly at a picture of Big Brother. He regrets all the time he spent struggling against the Party, and feels relieved that he now accepts the Party and loves Big Brother. The two exclamations beginning with "O" use over-the-top poetic language to convey Winston's drunkenness, and this impression, along with his total surrender to the Party, highlight the fact that he is not the same person as he was at the beginning of the novel. His ability to think and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia

Winston Smith Character Timeline in 1984

The timeline below shows where the character Winston Smith appears in 1984. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

As the clocks strike thirteen on a day in April, Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the Outer Party, climbs the stairs to his flat in... (full context)

...the electricity that powers the elevator has been turned off in preparation for Hate Week, Winston, who is 39 years old, frail, fair-haired and wearing a blue Party uniform, slowly climbs... (full context)

As he enters the flat, Winston hears a voice reading a list of figures about the production of pig iron. It... (full context)

The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon

Gazing through his window at the rows of rotting and bombed-out buildings, Winston can't remember whether London has always looked this way. He is distracted by the sight... (full context)

Controlling his facial expression, Winston faces the telescreen. By leaving work early he has missed his opportunity to eat in... (full context)

Sitting in an alcove out of sight of the telescreen, Winston takes out a penholder and nib, a bottle of ink, and a blank book. Since... (full context)

Feeling nervous, Winston begins writing in the diary about a film he had seen the previous evening in... (full context)

...the Two Minutes Hate, O'Brien, a charismatic Inner Party member whose body language suggests to Winston that he secretly hates the Party, had entered the Records Department with an attractive dark-haired... (full context)

...telescreen broadcasted a story about Emmanuel Goldstein, a former Party leader and now its scapegoat. Winston experienced conflicting feelings of hate toward Goldstein on one hand and the Party on the... (full context)

...telescreen along with the Party slogans: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Winston's eyes met O'Brien's, and it seemed to Winston that O'Brien was sending him a silent... (full context)

In the apartment, Winston finds he has been writing "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" repeatedly in the diary. He realizes... (full context)

Carelessly leaving the diary open on the table, Winston opens the door. It is a neighbor, Mrs. Parsons, who wants Winston to help unblock... (full context)

Back in his flat, Winston remembers a dream he once had in which someone in a dark room said to... (full context)

Winston wonders why he's keeping the diary, since it's doubtful that it will survive him when,... (full context)

Winston wakes from a dream of his mother, who was vaporized when he was a boy,... (full context)

...with dark hair comes toward him, taking off her clothes with a careless gesture that Winston admires. He awakens with the word "Shakespeare" on his lips to an ear-splitting whistle from... (full context)

Struggling through compulsory morning exercises, Winston tries to remember a time when Oceania hasn't been at war, and fails. Instead, he... (full context)

Winston decides that the Party's ability to change the past by controlling not only the media,... (full context)

At that moment the telescreen screams at him to pay attention, and Winston realizes that his facial expressions are betraying his loathing of the Party. (full context)

At work, Winston rewrites news articles so that they reflect the Party's current version of history, a task... (full context)

Winston considers his colleagues, a secretive man named Tillotson, a woman with sandy hair whose job... (full context)

Winston sets to work rewriting an article about an Inner Party member who has been vaporized,... (full context)

In the canteen at lunch, Winston talks with Syme, a linguist who is working on the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak... (full context)

Winston becomes aware of a man speaking to a girl at a table to his left... (full context)

Parsons, Winston's pudgy, sweaty neighbor, sits down at their table. Syme studies a column of words on... (full context)

...demonstrating in the streets in gratitude to Big Brother for having raised the chocolate ration. Winston is appalled that doublethink has made it possible for people to swallow obvious lies: No... (full context)

As the quacking voice of the man at the next table continues, Winston thinks to himself that Mrs. Parsons will one day be denounced by her children and... (full context)

Winston writes in his diary about an encounter he had with an aging prole prostitute in... (full context)

...are not allowed to feel or express desire for each other, encounters with prostitutes are Winston's only sexual outlet. Desire, too, is thoughtcrime. Winston confesses in the diary that the prostitute... (full context)

Still writing in his diary, Winston records his belief that the Party will be overthrown by the proles, who make up... (full context)

From a children's textbook, Winston copies out a passage describing capitalism. He can't tell how much of the passage is... (full context)

Winston recalls finding a photograph eleven years earlier of three men—Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford—former leaders of... (full context)

Winston is mystified by the Party's reasons for continuously falsifying the past, and horrified that what... (full context)

Winston becomes aware that he is writing the diary to O'Brien. Though conscious of his own... (full context)

Instead of going to the Community Center, Winston wanders through prole neighborhoods. He is fearful because he knows the Party disapproves of ownlife,... (full context)

Winston passes by a group of proles who are standing outside a pub and arguing about... (full context)

Winston follows an old man into another pub, intending to ask him about life before the... (full context)

Next, Winston finds himself outside the junk shop where he had bought the diary. The owner, an... (full context)

Winston leaves, planning to return in a month's time to buy the print, learn the rest... (full context)

Convinced that the girl is spying on him, Winston considers smashing her skull with a cobblestone. Full of dread, he hurries home, drinks some... (full context)

Four days later, at work, as Winston is walking past the dark-haired girl, she suddenly falls. As he is helping her up... (full context)

Later, Winston sees the girl in the lunchroom but can't bring himself to speak to her. Finally,... (full context)

...convoy of Eurasian prisoners. As they stand together watching the event, the girl whispers to Winston directions to a location in the countryside outside of London, near a dead tree. As... (full context)

Winston meets the girl at the agreed-upon place, then follows her to a deserted clearing. They... (full context)

They walk into the open and Winston recognizes the pasture that he has dreamed of—the Golden Country. A thrush sings in a... (full context)

Julia and Winston travel back to London separately, by different routes. But before they leave they arrange to... (full context)

For several weeks Julia and Winston meet at irregular times in the streets of London, but do not return to the... (full context)

One night they have sex in an abandoned church. While In the church, Julia tells Winston about herself. She is 26, lives in a hostel with 30 other girls, and works... (full context)

Winston, in turn, tells Julia about a time when he was on a community hike with... (full context)

After a month, Winston decides to rent the room above Mr. Charrington's junk shop as a place in which... (full context)

...on the black market. They listen to the prole woman singing a popular song, and Winston realizes he has never heard a member of the Party singing alone and spontaneously. Julia... (full context)

Afterward, as they look at the picture of the church on the wall, Winston speaks the first line of the nursery rhyme he learned. Julia, to his surprise, provides... (full context)

...a heat wave grips the city, the city is consumed by preparations for Hate Week. Winston embellishes articles that are to be quoted in speeches while Julia produces atrocity pamphlets. As... (full context)

Winston and Julia continue to meet in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop. Winston stops drinking... (full context)

Winston tells Julia about his suspicion that O'Brien is, like them, an enemy of the Party.... (full context)

One day, O'Brien stops Winston in the hallway at work and makes a reference to the vanished Syme. Because referring... (full context)

Winston feels that he is on a path that started on the day he had his... (full context)

One morning a while later, Winston wakes up in tears. He is in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop with Julia,... (full context)

Winston says he hates the Party because it has persuaded people that their feelings and impulses... (full context)

Winston warns Julia that if she continues to see him she will die. He tells her... (full context)

Winston and Julia go to O'Brien's luxurious apartment, where O'Brien's servant, Martin, admits them into a... (full context)

Winston confesses that he and Julia are enemies of the Party and adulterers. O'Brien serves Julia... (full context)

O'Brien tells Winston that the Brotherhood is real and that Emmanuel Goldstein is alive. He then asks Winston... (full context)

O'Brien promises to send Winston a book that teaches the true nature of their society and how it can be... (full context)

As he is leaving, Winston asks O'Brien if they will meet again "in the place where there is no darkness."... (full context)

...is, and has always been, at war with Eastasia, and that Eurasia is an ally. Winston has to work long hours to rectify all of the now obsolete references to Oceania's... (full context)

At last the workers are given a day off. Winston goes to the room above Mr. Charrington's shop and begins reading the book while he... (full context)

Winston turns to Chapter 3, "War Is Peace," which is a description of the permanent state... (full context)

Winston insists that Julia listen as he reads to her. Returning to Chapter 1, "Ignorance Is... (full context)

Winston notices that Julia is sleeping. Although he still has not learned the ultimate secret—he understands... (full context)

Winston wakes to the singing of the prole woman in the courtyard. He and Julia watch... (full context)

Although the clock reads nine, Winston suspects that he and Julia have slept through the night. Mr. Charrington enters the room,... (full context)

Winston is first taken to a holding pen occupied by common criminals as well as political... (full context)

Next Winston is taken to a cell in the Ministry of Love. It is the place where... (full context)

A man with a skull-like face, whom Winston realizes is dying of starvation, is brought in. A fat, chinless prisoner named Bumstead offers... (full context)

Alone in the cell and delirious with thirst and hunger, Winston thinks of Julia and wonders if she is suffering. O'Brien enters and Winston naïvely exclaims,... (full context)

Winston awakes, immobilized and lying on his back, with O'Brien peering down at him. He has... (full context)

O'Brien turns a dial and Winston receives a painful electric shock. The needle is at 40; O'Brien tells him he will... (full context)

O'Brien holds up four fingers and asks Winston how many he sees. Four, says Winston. If the Party says there are five, says... (full context)

Finally, after more torture, Winston gives O'Brien the answers he wants: that Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia,... (full context)

O'Brien gives Winston permission to ask him some questions. Winston asks what has happened to Julia. O'Brien says... (full context)

After weeks of further torture, O'Brien tells Winston that there are three stages—learning, understanding, and acceptance—and that he is about to enter upon... (full context)

Trying to say what he thinks O'Brien wants to hear, Winston replies that the Party seeks power for the good of the majority. O'Brien shocks him... (full context)

Winston insists that the spirit of Man will defeat the Party. O'Brien tells Winston that he... (full context)

O'Brien says that Winston has been completely beaten, broken, degraded. Winston protests that there is one degradation he has... (full context)

Weeks or months pass. Winston is tortured less often and moved to a more comfortable room. He puts on weight... (full context)

One night, Winston dreams of the Golden Country and wakes up crying out for Julia, loving her more... (full context)

O'Brien walks into the cell and says Winston has made intellectual but not emotional progress. He asks Winston what his true feelings are... (full context)

Room 101 is deep underground. Once inside, Winston is immobilized and strapped to a chair. O'Brien tells him that Room 101 contains "the... (full context)

Winston, now released from prison, has become an alcoholic. He has been given a job editing... (full context)

...well. They parted, agreeing to meet again but with no intent to actually do so. Winston, deeply ashamed, returned to the café to drink. (full context)

Winston hears a melody and the lyrics "Under the spreading chestnut tree / I sold you... (full context)

Winston Smith Character Analysis

Winston Smith Quotes in 1984

Book 1, Chapter 1 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 2 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 3 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 5 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 6 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 7 Quotes

Book 1, Chapter 8 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 2 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 3 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 4 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 5 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 7 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 9 Quotes

Book 2, Chapter 10 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 2 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 3 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 4 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 5 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 6 Quotes

Winston Smith Character Timeline in 1984