B2:C10
What is there about the prole washerwoman that Winston admires?
He admires her strength and her endurance as she manages her life, a life filled with human emotions.
Twice, Winston says that he feels no love for Julia. He says as he sits waiting for them to come for him, that all he can feel is fear. Do you believe that what he says is true?
Answers will vary.
After the initial physical beatings, what happens to Winston?
O’Brien interrogates him with a machine that sends electrical shocks through Smith’s body; O’Brien is in charge of the questioning, decides when to stop, when Winston can eat, and, yet, “he was the protector, he was the inquisitor, he was the friend.” (Pg. 201)
The washerwoman again leads Winston to believe that sooner or later the proles will overthrow the government. Do you think they really will, or is this belief just Winston’s optimism?
Room 101, which is especially feared by the prisoners, appears to be an interrogation room.
What could they have in that room, do you suppose, that is so feared?
Answers will vary.
What are Winston’s feelings toward his interrogator?
Despite what O’Brien has done to him, Winston still feels that he and O’Brien have a bond that goes deeper than friendship and that O’Brien understands him.
What is the "place where there is no darkness"?
Room 101
Why is it appropriate that this chapter begins with the singing of the two verses?
The events seem to prove that their affair is a hopeless fancy and they will, in fact, be separated.
Who else does Winston find - presumably - in the Ministry of Love cells? What were their crimes?
Ampleforth - he allowed "God" in a Rudyard Kipling poem.
Parsons - "down with BB" in his sleep - daughter turned him in
O’Brien tells Winston that the object of the interrogation is not to get a confession, although Winston does that easily; nor is the object to punish, although he receives a great deal of punishment. What is the object of the interrogation?
O’Brien needs to get Winston to truly and fully believe in the Party’s version of reality. “Two plus Two equals five,” if the Party says so.
What is the frightening question Winston hesitates to ask? What is the literary term implied in the answer?
Winston asks what is inside Room 101. Since O’Brien explains that “everyone” understands what is there, it must be some kind of universal or personal torture room. The literary term is foreshadowing, since Winston seems destined to go to Room 101.
What might the shattering of the coral encased in the glass dome be symbolic of?
For Winston, the paperweight is an antique thing of beauty, which represents the tranquil life he and Julia have had in that room. That life is now also shattered.
When O’Brien arrives, he says to Winston, “You knew this, Winston...Don’t deceive yourself. You did know it–you have always known it.” (Pg. 197) What is O’Brien saying that Winston has always known?
O’Brien says Winston believes he (O’Brien) is a member of the Thought Police, and that Winston wanted to get caught.
Since there is a strong likelihood they are going to execute him anyway, Winston asks why they are going to the trouble of trying to change him. What answer does the interrogator give him?
Winston is “a flaw in the pattern...” The Party does not kill those who resist. “[W]e capture his inner mind, we reshape him....It is intolerable to us that erroneous thoughts should exist..." (Pg. 210)
What piece of "documentary evidence" does O'Brien reveal to Winston?
Photo of Jones, Aaronson, Rutherford
Although the reader may or may not be surprised by Mr. Charrington’s identity, why does it make perfect sense that he does turn out to be who he is?
Mr. Charrington’s shop is the ideal setup to trap a dissident or thought criminal, and it works. The Thought Police must be innocuous looking in order to do their job, and only when they find criminals can they show their true appearance.
Within the story - how does Orwell build suspense and fear around Room 101.
Bumstead
Smith is then told that if he is allowed to live, “[n]ever again will [he] be capable of ordinary human feelings. Everything will be dead inside [him]. Never again will [he] be capable of love, or friendship, or the joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. [He] will be hollow.” (Pg. 211) Do you think that Winston will accept life at that price?
Answers will vary.