1984

 

By:George Orwell

SETTING

The novel is set in Oceania, a superstate that includes the continent of America and the British Isles. Most of the action takes place in London. The other setting is the village of Paddington, which is not very far from London. In addition, there are two other superstates with which Oceania is constantly at war. These states are Eurasia, which includes the entire northern region of Europe, and Eastasia. Authoritarian governments or oligarchies control all three superstates.

Written in 1949, the story is set in 1984, 35 years into the future. The novel attempts to give a picture of what modern society will look like. It is not a pleasant view, for the story is about the struggle of an individual to retain his human spirit, sanity, and freedom in the fiercely automated and strictly controlled society of Oceania.

Major Theme

The major theme is the horror of totalitarianism. The entire novel paints a horrifying picture of what a fanatical, state- controlled society can do to the individual.

Minor Theme

The minor theme is that love overcomes the feelings of alienation and loneliness. Both Winston and Julia are at first depicted as lonely, isolated, and miserable, a state of existence that Big Brother encourages. When Julia and Winston fall in love, they are bound together as allies, and their alienation vanishes. The fact that the couple falls in love and makes love becomes a political act against the Party, and they are both punished as a result of their love. Big Brother, however, does not succeed in destroying Winston’s feelings of love for Julia.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Winston Smith

The protagonist and main character of the novel. He is an intellectual middle aged man of 39 and a member of the Outer Party. He is also an honest man who questions and rebels against the lonely and insecure life, stripped of all human feelings, in the state of Oceania. He falls in love with Julia and is punished for the relationship with her.

Julia

A beautiful young girl of 26. Although a worker for the Party, she rebels against its ban on love and sex. She falls in love with Winston and looks towards him for emotional and physical companionship.

O’Brien

A shrewd, intelligent man who holds a high rank in the Inner Party. He comes across as a friend to Winston in the opening chapters of the novel. Later, he turns out to be the informer from the Party who turns Winston in and punishes him. He epitomizes the brute force and fanaticism of the Party.
Big Brother
The head of the Party Ingsoc. Though Big Brother does not exist in reality, his presence throughout the novel is overwhelming.

Minor Characters

Tom Parsons

A co-worker and neighbor to Winston. He is a stupid but loyal member of the Party. He is extremely proud of his children who spy on others and report them to the Police.

Syme

Winston’s friend who is working on the eleventh edition of the Newspeak dictionary at the Ministry of Truth. The Party puts him to death due to his blunt and frank nature.

Mr. Charrington

The owner of a small shop selling odds and ends and secondhand articles. He lets Winston and Julia use the top floor of his shop as their hideout. In the end, he reveals himself to be a member of the Thought Police.

Ampleforth

A poet who makes a brief appearance in the staff canteen. He also works at the Ministry of Truth.

Tillotson

A man with a fierce look, who works with Winston in the Records Department.

Rutherford

One of the prominent members of the party who is accused of plotting against the Ingsoc. He is punished, forced to confess, and disappears.

PART I

CHAPTERS 1 – 2

Summary

The first two chapters of the novel give a vivid description of the state of Oceania under an authoritarian, single-party rule. The main character, Winston Smith, is living in what used to be called London before the Revolution. It is clear to the reader that he is not supportive of the totalitarian government of Oceania.

In Chapters 1 and 2, Winston Smith is shown struggling to write a diary away from the prying eyes of the telescreen installed in his flat. He reminisces about the incident that has occurred in the Ministry of Truth, where Winston works in the records department. That morning, during the 2-minute hate session, Winston sees O’Brien, one of the top officials of the Inner Party. While everyone during the hate session was shouting and screaming at Goldstein, the enemy and traitor to Oceania, Winston pauses for a moment and turns. For perhaps a second or two, his eyes meet with O’Brien’s. Something in O’Brien’s eyes makes Winston think that, like him, O’Brien is not a loyal party member.

While writing his diary, Winston is suddenly interrupted by his neighbor, Mrs. Parsons, who asks him to help her fix a pipe in her kitchen. Relieved that it was not the police, Winston goes over to the Parsons’ flat, which is dirty and smelly. While leaving their flat, Winston is struck with a catapult by the Parsons’ youngest son; he also accuses Winston of being a traitor. This makes Winston rather uneasy and he wonders if he is really safe from the thought police.

CHAPTER 3

In Chapter 3, Winston is asleep, dreaming about his mother. He sees his mother and a baby sister sinking into a dark hole, probably a well. They are looking up at him while he stands there watching. Winston’s mother had disappeared when he was just 10 or 11 years old, but he has often dreamed of her. Next he dreams about a dark-haired girl in a beautiful countryside. In the dream, the dark-haired girl from his office throws her clothes aside and walks towards him. Her nakedness does not evoke any desire in him. Instead, what overwhelms him is the gesture. By her taking off her clothes, the girl seems to have destroyed the authority and control of the party. His dream is interrupted by the shrill whistle from the telescreen. It is the alarm to wake all office workers, which is sounded at 7:15 a.m. everyday. Winston drags himself out of his bed, totally naked, since he cannot afford pajamas. Each member of the Party receives only 3,000 coupons annually for clothes; a suit of pajamas costs 600 coupons. Winston can do without them.

Winston is in a bad shape physically, suffering from vericose ulcer. Each morning he wakes up with a violent coughing fit. This morning is no different, and for a few minutes, he is doubled up on his bed, coughing till he grasps for breath.

The telescreen calls everyone between the ages of 30 and 40 to get ready for the daily exercise workout. Winston is forced to get out of bed and join the exercise. Dressed in shorts and singlet, he wears an expression of grim enjoyment on his face, despite the pain in his chest.
During the ‘physical jerks,’ he thinks about Oceania’s current war with Eurasia. The party says that Eurasia has never been an ally of Oceania, but Winston recalls that about four years ago, Eurasia was, indeed, recognized as an ally. He also realizes that he is probably one of the only ones who remember the fact, for everybody is expected to accept whatever the party says or claims and forget everything else. It is also impossible to prove history since all written records are altered to the Party’s liking.

CHAPTER 4

Chapter 4 gives a detailed description of the work that Winston performs at the Ministry of Truth. His work, though extremely creative, is to falsify all historical facts to suit the party’s interests. His routine work requires him to regularly make changes in the five year plan and in the forecasts on production, to match the actual production taking place. Winston also makes changes in the speeches made by Big Brother and creates imaginary people, while erasing the names of people who had once lived but were ‘vaporised’ or killed by the party. All this is done to maintain the interests and reputation of the Ruling Party.

CHAPTERS 5 – 6

In these two chapters, Winston is shown trying to curb his natural instincts. He is relieved only when he goes to a prostitute. In chapter 5, the reader is introduced to Syme, who is working at the Ministry of Truth on the eleventh edition of the Newspeak dictionary. Syme meets Winston in the staff canteen, and they discuss the finer points of the new language, Newspeak, over lunch. Syme tells Winston that the new language has less words than the old language, for the Party has banned all the words that it thought not acceptable. Words like sex or words to express feelings have been eliminated.

The Party looks down upon sex. The process of reproduction is accomplished through artificial insemination or ‘art sem’ as it is called in the new language. Married couples are allowed to have sex, but it has become an act without joy. Winston’s recollections of his wife, who does not live with him anymore, bring back painful memories of his attempts to make love to her; he always felt as though he was having sex with a skeleton. His wife, like all other women in the new society, has been taught from her teens that sex and sexual desire is dirty; therefore, her reaction to any kind of physical overture is to stiffen up. She also fears that Big Brother is always watching via the telescreen.

CHAPTERS 7 – 8

Winston is still writing his diary secretly. He continues to contemplate the society created by the Party. The more he thinks about the encroachment on individual freedom, the lack of privacy, the loneliness, and the deliberate alteration of the past, the more he wonders if there is a way of overthrowing or weakening the Party.

The Party, through its massive propaganda machinery, spreads the idea that life in the new society is much better than it was before the revolution. In reality, the condition of the masses is bad. There is a scarcity of essential items, poorly paid jobs, and the overpowering smell of garbage everywhere. Yet, in Chapter 8, as Winston walks around in the dark streets where the ‘proles’ or the working class lives, he sees for himself that freedom, individual freedom and the human bonds of family, love, and affection, still remain intact.

Winston is convinced that if there is any hope for the future generation, it lies in the Proles. If they are made conscious, their collective strength can overthrow the Party. But what disturbs Winston is that due to the constant bombardment from the propaganda machinery, all memories, records, and details of life before the revolution are being erased. The propaganda is so pervasive that when the party claims that airplanes have been invented after the revolution, everyone accepts it. Though Winston knows how this lie is being spun and is accepted as the truth, he is unable to understand the motive behind it.

PART II

CHAPTERS 1 – 4

These chapters describe the love that blossoms between Julia and Winston. It happens quite suddenly. One day while walking in the corridor of the Ministry of Truth, Winston meets the dark-haired girl of his dreams. The girl stumbles, and as Winston tries to help her, she thrusts a note in his hand and walks away without a word. When he returns to his cubicle, Winston hides the note between some other papers so it will not be seen by prying eyes or screens. He then cautiously reads the contents of the note. In large handwriting, he finds three words, “I love you.” Winston can hardly believe his eyes.

After several failed attempts, Winston finally meets the girl in a crowded street, where she asks him to meet her at Paddington. To avoid suspicion, they travel by separate routes to the countryside. When they meet in Paddington, the girl leads Winston to a sheltered spot in the forest, where Winston learns more about her. Her name is Julia, and she is twenty-six years old. She has had several secret liaisons with other men, both young and old. Like Winston, she hates the party and its strict regulations.

Julia and Winston make love in the secret hideout. When they part, they leave separately. They continue to meet again, always at a different place, so as not to arouse suspicion. Each time, Julia does the planning and decides the location. After the intimacy of each meeting, Winston feels like a real human. The presence of Julia in his life has suddenly given Winston a reason to live; ironically, it also brings him closer to death.

Both Winston and Julia believe that they will soon be caught by the Thought Police, in spite of their extreme caution. In the meantime, they enjoy each other’s company, relish the freedom they have stolen, and grow to care for each other

CHAPTER 5

In this chapter Winston discovers that his friend Syme has suddenly disappeared, probably ‘vaporised’ by the Party as Winston has earlier predicted. Further, Winston discusses the workings of the Party with Julia. Though she is uninterested in the political views of the Party, she believes that if she follows all their small rules, she can easily break a bigger one from time to time. This is why she always puts on a show of participating in all the cultural activities of the Party. It is also why she believes she can break the rules of sexual misconduct.

Unlike Winston, Julia is not disturbed about the Party’s deliberate alteration and falsification of history and other facts. She accepts much of the propaganda, and even believes that Oceania has invented airplanes and has always been at war with Eurasia. In her practicality, her only concern is her immediate, personal freedom. Winston, on the other hand, is concerned about abstract ideas and dreams about a future that has freedom restored for everyone

CHAPTER 6 – 8

In these few, short chapters, O’Brien invites Winston to his flat, under the pretext of giving him the latest edition of the Newspeak dictionary. The invitation makes Winston all the more sure that O’Brien, the inner party member, belongs to Brotherhood, the secret organization working against the Party. In this image, he sees in O’Brien a ray of hope for the future.

Julia and Winston meet regularly above Mr.Charrington’s shop, which sells secondhand goods and odds and ends. It is located on a dark street in the part of the city where the proles reside. Confident that there are no telescreens here, Julia and Winston make it their permanent hiding place.

In Chapter 7, while sleeping next to Julia on the double bed above Mr.Charrington’s shop, Winston wakes up with tears in his eyes. He has had another dream of his childhood where he again watches his mother and his baby sister being sucked into something dark.

In Chapter 8, both Julia and Winston meet O’Brien at his luxurious flat. He tells them about the Brotherhood and initiates them into the group. During their meeting with O’Brien, Julia and Winston promise to lie, cheat, sabotage, kill, and everything possible to weaken Ingsoc.Julia and Winston leave O’Brien’s flat separately. Before Winston leaves, O’Brien informs him that the black book containing the principles of the Brotherhood will be sent to him secretly.

CHAPTERS 9 – 10

It is the end of the week-long celebration of hate. The targets of this celebration are all those who the Ingsoc claims to be traitors or a threat to the state of Oceania. After the celebration, really a mass frenzy against the traitors and the constant singing of the hate song, Winston goes to the secret hideout with the black book containing Goldstein’s principles for the Brotherhood. He reads first few chapters aloud to Julia. In these chapters, there is a description of how the superstates of Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia were created. The relationship between these three states and the purposes of constant war are also explained. Winston stops reading when he realizes that Julia has fallen asleep. For some time, Winston is contented lying peacefully next to Julia; then he also falls asleep.

Julia and Winston both wake up and stand at the window holding each other and listening to a fat woman singing a popular love song. While still at the window, a voice from somewhere behind them orders them to freeze. The Thought Police surround the entire shop, and both Julia and Winston are arrested. To Winston’s shock, the old man who owns the shop, Mr. Charrington, turns out to be in the Thought Police.

PART III

CHAPTERS 1 – 2

Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love, where he experiences brutality and brainwashing. O’Brien, who has really betrayed Winston, still pretends to be his friend. In reality, he is inflicting the torture, but convinces Winston that the pain comes from elsewhere. Winston is so brainwashed that he tells O’Brien everything, believing that this man has already thought all of his own thoughts. Winston even begins to love his tormentor and thanks him for his help. He begs for his own death in order to protect the Party; but death will not come easily. First, Winston must accept the Party beliefs. Then he must be set “free” to live with the knowledge that he will soon be killed, but never knowing when or how.

CHAPTER 3

Winston, still in the Ministry of Love, is totally wasted. O’Brien strips him and thrusts his body in front of a mirror. His emaciated and tortured appearance makes Winston shrink away in horror. O’Brien informs him that he has been brought to the Ministry of Love to ‘learn’, ‘understand,’ and ‘accept’ the ideas of the Party. When Winston tells O’Brien that the tyrannical rule of the Party cannot continue forever, O’Brien sneers at him. O’Brien announces that the Party will always reign supreme, and anyone who dares to question it will be destroyed.

When Winston argues about the natural rights of men, O’Brien tells him that there will be no more natural men. In other words, the party will exterminate any one who thinks for himself. Only those who accept the Party’s ideas unquestionably and mechanically will be allowed to live. Although Winston is made to confess his sins against the Party, he still believes that he cannot be made to stop loving Julia.

CHAPTER 4

Winston, broken in body and spirit, decides to accept the ideas of the party. As a result of his acceptance, he is moved to a better cell and given more food and clothes. He cleans himself and begins to put on weight. His physical wounds also begin to slowly heal; but he still bears emotional scars. Once, he wakes up screaming, “Julia! My love Julia!” He feels anxious about her whereabouts.

By the end of the chapter, Winston finally accepts whatever the party says. He is even convinced that 2 + 2 makes 5 and believes in the party’s slogans that “Freedom is Slavery.”

CHAPTER 5

Winston is imprisoned in Room 101 of the Ministry of Love, where he is made to experience the thing he thinks is most terrifying. For Winston, the most horrifying thing is rats; therefore, he is strapped to a chair in Room 101 and shown some huge, carnivorous rats in a nearby cage. With just a push of a lever, the cage door will open and the rats will be on him. Winston is so scared of the huge, hairy rodents just two meters away from him that he loses consciousness. When he regains his senses, the sight of the rats and the shrill screams from somewhere above make him scream in fright. He yells, “Do it to Julia, please …..not me,” for he knows that Julia is not scared of rats at all. The fear of rats makes Winston betray his beloved Julia.

O’Brien has been eagerly awaiting the moment when he sees that Winston’s spirit is broken. Before going to Room 101, Winston still had feelings for Julia; he had not totally accepted the Party, even though he verbally acknowledged the tenets of the Party. Finally, the cruel punishment of the rats has crushed Winston totally, to the point of insanity. He is a beaten man when he is released from Room 101.

CHAPTER 6

In this final chapter, Winston is released from the Ministry of Love because, according to the Party, he is healed of all his madness. The irony is that he has proven his sanity by renouncing himself. He has totally succumbed to Big Brother and the Party.

After he is set ‘free’, Winston knows that he will be killed by the Thought Police very soon. To keep himself occupied, he spends most of his time at the Chestnut Tree Café. He happens to meet Julia, who has drastically changed. Her beautiful face is marred by a long scar, which she tries to hide with her hair. They have a brief conversation and quickly part. After she leaves, Winston realizes that he still loves Julia.

When news of Oceania’s victory over Africa is announced on the telescreen, the crowd cheers and celebrates. In the midst of the noise and confusion, Winston is struck by a thought bullet. He dies looking at a poster of Big Brother, for whom Winston now feels a deep love and reverence.

1 comment:

  1. Your Summaries are always just the right balance thanks sooooooo much

    ReplyDelete