1984 Background
This is the name of the official language of Oceania, designed to diminish the range of thought.
What is Newspeak?
He is the "Commander of the Brotherhood" whose face appears on the screen during the Two Minutes Hate to incite rage.
Who is Emmanuel Goldstein?
Winston observes that the Party’s power relies on this mental process: the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
What is doublethink?
In Book 1, Winston believes the "Dark-Haired Girl" is actually a member of the Thought Police.
True
(He is terrified of her and thinks she is spying on him).
“Down with Big Brother.”
Writer: Winston.
Context: He writes this repeatedly in his diary while sitting in the alcove of his apartment.
This is the name of the setting Winston lives in, which was once known as Great Britain before the revolution.
What is Airstrip One?
This character is the "intelligent" Newspeak researcher who explains to Winston that the ultimate goal of the language is to make Thoughtcrime impossible.
Who is Syme?
This is the specific Newspeak term for the "essential" crime of having an improper expression on your face (e.g., looking incredulous when a victory is announced).
What is facecrime?
After writing "Down with Big Brother," Winston is struck by a sudden sense of relief and believes he has successfully hidden his crime from the Thought Police.
Answer: FALSE.
Explanation: He is immediately seized by a "panic-stricken" feeling. He realizes that even if he never writes another word, the mere act of starting the diary means he has already committed the "essential crime" and is essentially a dead man.
“They’re disappointed because they couldn’t go to see the hanging, that’s what it is.”
Speaker: Tom Parsons.
Context: He is explaining to Winston why his children are acting so aggressively and "viciously."
These are the three slogans of the Party, often seen on posters featuring Big Brother.
What are "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength"?
Winston recalls this "shadowy" man who was a member of the Inner Party and was "vaporized" long ago, but Winston briefly held a photograph proving he, along with Jones and Aaronson, was innocent of treason.
Who is Rutherford?
When Winston enters the pub, he notices that the room is filled with a "sour" smell and the proles are playing a game that is the only thing they seem to take seriously. What is this game, which Winston notes the Party uses to keep them distracted? What does Winston know about the "big prizes"?
Answer: What is The Lottery? (Bonus point: Winston notes that the "big prizes" are actually imaginary and the winners are fictional, designed to give the proles a false sense of hope).
While wandering the prole district, Winston witnesses a "riot" over a shortage of cooking pots, which reinforces his belief that the proles will eventually use their anger to overthrow the Party.
FALSE.
While he sees the "riot," it actually makes him depressed. He realizes they are capable of incredible "force" and "energy," but only for trivial things like saucepans—they lack the political consciousness to direct that anger at the Party.
"I arst you civil enough. You told me as you’d got a pint pot in your ’and. Well then! ’Ow can you ’ave a pint pot in your ’and when there ain't no such thing as a pint?"
Speaker: The Old Prole (Old Man in the pub).
The Context: Winston has followed this old man into a "frowsy" pub in the slums, hoping to ask him if life was better before the Party. Instead of talking about freedom or tyranny, the old man gets into a heated, circular argument with the barman about the Metric System. There was a switch from the Imperial system (pints) to the Metric system (litres).
According to the documentary transcript, Orwell’s time working for this organization during WWII—where he wrote "propaganda" to be broadcasted to India—served as the direct inspiration for the Ministry of Truth.
What is the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)?
This character, a fellow employee at the Ministry, is a "tiny creature" with very long arms who is tasked with deleting the names of "unpersons" from the written record.
Who is Tillotson?
Winston recalls a specific moment from the 1960s involving a photograph of three men: Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford. What did this photograph prove that contradicted the Party’s official history?
HINT: Where were they originally?
That they were in New York at the same time the Party claimed they were on Eurasian soil committing treason.
In Book 1, Winston finds evidence that the Party’s "Three Slogans" (War is Peace, etc.) were actually stolen from a 1930s political manifesto.
FALSE.
While Winston searches for the truth about the past, he never finds a specific "source" for the slogans. To the citizens of 1984, the slogans are presented as eternal truths with no origin point. The Party's control is so absolute that the concept of "plagiarism" or "origin" is irrelevant.
“We’re getting the language into its final shape—the shape it’s going to have when nobody can speak anything else.”
Speaker: Syme.
Context: Explaining the philosophy of Newspeak to Winston during lunch at the Ministry.
According to the documentary transcript, Orwell’s experiences in this war influenced his fear of totalitarianism and "police states."
What is Spanish Civil War?
Winston reflects on a specific memory of a "party hero" he once created for a news article. This fictional man, who was a "total abstainer" and never married, served as the "perfect" replacement for a vaporized official.
Who is Comrade Ogilvy?
Winston finds a scrap of a children's rhyme about "St. Clement's Dane" and "Old Bailey" in his head. What is the final, ominous line of that rhyme?
What is "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head"?
Winston admits that he once had the opportunity to push his wife, Katharine, off a cliff during a nature walk but decided against it because "the Party would have known."
TRUE.
This is a chilling detail from Chapter 3/4. Winston reflects on his marriage and the sheer hatred he felt for Katharine’s "frozen" devotion to the Party, admitting that his only regret about the cliff incident was that he didn't do it.
"Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's!"
Speaker: Mr. Charrington.
Context: He is showing Winston the upstairs room in the antique shop and recites this fragment of a forgotten nursery rhyme.