Characters & Relationships
This character is Winston's co-worker at the Ministry of Truth and writes Newspeak dictionaries.
Who is Syme?
This location is where Winston lives and works.
What is Airstrip One?
This language is designed to eliminate thoughtcrime by restricting vocabulary.
What is Newspeak?
This activity that Winston engages in represents his small act of rebellion.
What is writing in his diary?
"Big Brother is watching you" reinforces this type of Party control.
What is surveillance?
Winston suspects this woman of being a spy but later sees her as a symbol of rebellion.
Who is Julia?
The system where individuals spy on each other, reinforcing Party loyalty and control.
What is the Thought Police?
The term for holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously, a concept essential for Party loyalty.
What is doublethink?
This act of loyalty involves destroying all evidence of unapproved historical records.
What is vaporizing?
Winston's recollection of this phrase captures the Party's control over reality: "Who controls the past controls the future..."
What is "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past"?
This character is Winston's wife, whom he remembers with disgust.
Who is Katharine?
This device constantly surveils citizens, even in their homes.
What is the telescreen?
This term in Newspeak means the reality of the Party's control and the acceptance of altered truths.
What is reality control?
This object in Mr. Charrington's shop symbolizes Winston's yearning for the past.
What is the paperweight?
This phrase, part of the Party's slogan, describes the paradoxical nature of the Party's rule.
What is: "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.
Winston feels a strange connection with this older man, whom he believes might understand life before the Party's rule.
Who is the old man in the pub?
The Ministry responsible for lies, propaganda, and altering history.
What is the Ministry of Truth?
A crime that involves unspoken rebellious thoughts against the Party.
What is thoughtcrime?
The symbol representing totalitarian control and omnipresence, appearing in propaganda throughout Oceania.
What is Big Brother?
Winston writes, "If there is hope, it lies in the _____," referring to the oppressed class.
What is the proles?
This character is a prominent symbol of Party authority and omnipresence, appearing on posters and telescreens.
Who is Big Brother?
The three countries constantly at war in 1984.
What are Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia?
A type of language meant to simplify complex ideas to restrict critical thought and individuality.
What is duckspeak?
This location symbolizes freedom from the Party's surveillance.
What is the room above Mr. Charrington's shop?
Winston acknowledges his deep-seated resentment toward the party by writing this.
What is "Down with Big Brother."