George Orwell S 1984
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George Orwell’s 1984
Book 1 Chapter 1
1. What is the first indication that this is not “our” time period?
2. What is ironic about the name of Winston’s apartment building and its appearance?
3. Describe the poster that is found on every landing and outside. Why make him “handsome?”
4. What is the caption and what is the purpose?
5. Describe Winston Smith.
6. Describe the telescreen and what it does.
7. What are two ways that people’s activities are monitored by the government?
8. How do the “thought police” work?
9. How would all this monitoring make you live?
10. Where does Winston work? Describe it.
11. Find evidence to support what happened in London to get them to where they are now.
12. Why do you think Winston can’t remember his childhood?
13. What are the slogans of the party? 14. Into what 4 ministries has the government been divided and with what are the ministries concerned?
15. What is ironic about the Ministry of Love?
16. How does life appear to be for people and why might there be “victory gin?”
17. What does his alcove allow Winston to be able to do that others can’t?
18. How is having a journal a “compromising possession?”
19. Winston means “from a friendly country:” and Smith is a very common last name. In what ways does Winston not fit his names?
20. Why won’t the government let people know the actual year?
21. What do the reactions to the movie tell you about society? 22. Explain the Two Minutes Hate. What purpose might it serve? How do people react to it?
23. What is the name of Goldstein’s underground network?
24. Why does Winston hate the dark-haired girl?
25. Why have an anti-sex league?
26. What keeps Winston “alive?”
27. What has he written in the notebook?
II.
1. Describe Winston’s neighbor using Orwell’s words.
2. Why is her husband, and all those like him, important to the Party?
3. What are the children disappointed they will miss? Why will they miss it? What does this say about society? Parental oversight?
4. How are all the children “horrible?” 5. Why are parents afraid of their own children?
6. Due to the victory in battle, what “bad news” is given?
7. What are the sacred principles of Ingsoc?
8. Reflect on “How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive?”
9. Why does Winston consider himself a “dead man” now?
10. How will Winston know if someone has read his journal? How could they?
III.
1. Explain Winston’s first dream.
2. What does he know is true about his dream?
3. How had his mother’s death been “tragic?” 4. How is his present different then when his mother died?
5. Who is in the second part of his dream?
6. What word is on his lips when he awakens? How might this connect to the description of the second dream?
7. How do you get clothes in this society? What does it tell us about Winston’s status?
8. How many years has it been since the world changed into what it is now?
9. What seemed to be responsible for the change?
10. What has been going on ever since? 11. Why can Winston remember that they used to be at war with Eastasia?
12. What does the party have the ability to do with the past? What is reality control?
13. What lie in the history books is Winston sure is a lie?
14. What do you think about mandatory physical activity for all the people? How might this be advantageous for society? 1984 Part One
IV.
1. How do you write in Winston’s society?
2. Why do you think people are encouraged to throw away all paper?
3. Why does Winston have to call up an earlier Times magazine news article?
4. What happens to all of the old magazines after information was changed in them?
5. Does the Ministry of Truth ever admit that they change this information?
6. Explain “Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain.”
7. What does the little sandy blonde woman in the cubicle next to Winston do for her job?
8. What kind of news is produced for the proletariat?
9. Why would they give the lower classes this sort of news?
10. What does Winston love?
11. Why?
12. What does it mean that Withers is categorized as an “unperson?”
13. What is interesting about the way Winston changes the Withers’ story
14. Explain, “It struck him as curious that you could create dead men, but not living ones.”
V.
1. Why might employees be allowed to buy Victory Gin during their lunch time? Do they get a choice as to the meal? 2. Why might the party make razor blades unobtainable?
3. What does Syme like so much about public hangings?
4. What effect does the gin have on Winston this time?
5. What does the eleventh edition of the dictionary essentially do?
6. What purpose will that serve?
7. Explain how you would say the opposite of “good” in Newspeak.
8. How would you say a stronger version of “good?”
9. A really stronger version of “good?”
10. What is the aim of Newspeak and why?
11. By 2050 what will happen to thinking?
12. What will happen to the great writers?
13. What Winston sure will happen to Stymie in the future?
14. Who hangs out at the Chestnut Street Café?
15. What is a “sub?”
16. What had Parsons’ daughter done when on her hike?
17 .How does Parson feel about what she did
18. Who is concerned about what happened to the man?
19. What is ironic about the people demonstrating about the raising of the chocolate ration to 20% a week?
20. What does Winston realize about people around him?
21. Why might his type of person flourish best under the domination of the party?
22. What commonality do the people have who Winston believes won’t ever be vaporized?
23. Why does the girl with the dark hair make Winston nervous? 24. What is “Facecrime?”
1984 VI.
1. How does Winston want to respond to his memory
2. Why did he feel badly for the man who had the facial tick?
3. What is the most deadly danger?
4. Who is Katharine?
5. What is the punishment for being found with a prostitute?
6. Why might the party encourage prostitution?
7. Why might BB prohibit party members from getting married?
8. What is the only purpose of married?
9. Why would the Party want to kill sexual instinct?
10. What had Winston discovered about his wife early on in their marriage?
11. On what condition would he have agreed to stay with her?
12. What had he seen in the lamplight when he was with the prostitute?
13. Why do you think the “therapy” of writing down his deed didn’t stop him from still desiring from screaming at the to of his lungs?
VII. 1. Why are the proles the only hope of destroying the Party?
2. Why is Winston disgusted at the women fighting over a saucepan?
3. Explain, “Until they become conscious they can never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.”
4. Why is no attempt made to indoctrinate the proles with the ideology of the Party? 5. What did most proles not even have in their homes?
6. What else are proles allowed to do?
7. How is the children’s history textbook an example of propaganda?
8. Once in his life Winston knew an actual falsehood. What was it.?
VIII.
1. What does Winston smell and what does it bring back?
2. What memory does it probably bring back from his “forgotten childhood?”
3. Why does the Party make communal recreation mandatory?
4. When is the only time a Party member is alone?
5. What interests Winston about the fact that a few proles are arguing about the lottery?
6. What was the purpose of the great purges?
7. How is life different for the proles than the Party?
8. How can this be allowed? Why isn’t the Party concerned?
9. What are some things the history books said it was like prior to the revolution?
10. What does Winston buy at the junkshop?
11. How is the second floor of the shop different from Winston’s apartment?
12. What is one thing that the Party did to the proles with the same “thoroughness” as to everyone else?
13. Why might Winston have decided to go back in a month and buy the picture of St. Clement’s Dane?
14. When he comes out of the junk shop, who is there?
15. What does Winston consider doing? 16. Why would people endure torture when they knew in the end they would be killed just he same?