1984- by George Orwell
Study Guide
Name: Eli Madison
1. The world within which Winston lives is replete with contradictions. For example a, major
tenet of the Party's philosophy is that War is Peace. Similarly, the Ministry of Love serves as,
what we would consider, a department of war. What role do these contradictions serve on a
grand scale? Discuss other contradictions inherent in the Party's philosophy. What role does
contradiction serve within the framework of Doublethink? How does Doublethink satisfy the
needs of The Party?
Throughout 1984 George Orwell makes clear that fact that the government in 1984 needs
doublethink to rule as well as it does, have the iron fist that it does. There are lots of places in the
book where this is made apparent. Doublethink makes it so someone can memorize something,
forget it, and then forget that that they forgot it. You can see this in O’Brien when Winston is
being tortured near the end of the book.
The government needs doublethink and all its contradictions to hold its grip on the people, but
they can’t do that without making the people dull and lifeless with constant propagandas and
sayings. People are not automatons, programmed only one way, but doublethink makes them
that. Katherine, Winston’s wife, shows that very well. If the people knew this, even people in the
inner Party would have felt betrayed. That would not be good for the government.
Thought and language are very important to humanity and civilization. If the government could
control that, they could control and manipulate people through a combination of constant
surveillance and changing both everyday thought and language. It is not hard to force someone
into one way of thinking, once they are forced into that, controlling the majority of the
population’s thought is easy. Newspeak is for controlling through language, doublethink is for
controlling thought and the alteration of history and records are controlled so that no one doubts
the government.
2. In the afterword, the commentator describes 1984 as "a warning." Indeed, throughout the text,
Orwell plants both subtle and overt warnings to the reader. What do you think are some of the
larger issues at hand here?
1984 is indeed a warning. Many dystopian novels show readers how life can be, how life is and
the true nature of mankind. The concept of hating something as a group in 1984 is very
interesting. When everyone thinks the same way, no one ever questions that it’s the right thing.
People need hope; it is one of the only things stronger than fear. When people are scared, when
they have something to lose, when they need hope, they are easy to influence. When someone is
different in a group, a minority, it makes the others in that group question their ideals and what
they believe. They try to find a better solution. Just because something is a minority doesn’t
mean that it is not there. One tiny minority can rule the world. Hitler and the Nazis started out as
a minority but they grew to be a very powerful group. Peer pressure is a force that can greatly
influence people.
3. Describe the role that O'Brien plays in Winston's life. Why do you think that initially, Winston
is drawn to O'Brien? Why does he implicitly trust him, despite the enormous dangers involved?
O’Brien is a powerful appearing person. It is hard to describe his role in Winston’s life. It is like
when Julia knew that Winston was different, that he was against the Party. O’Brien has an aura
to him where Winston, consciously or not, he knew O’Brien was different from everyday people.
Winston trusted O’Brien because of that fact. He unconsciously knew O’Brien was like him.
When people have a powerful leader, someone who can direct them well and when people
believe in the cause that they are fighting for, it’s not hard to believe that they can do anything.
4. Discuss the significance and nature of Winston's dreams. Deconstruct the dream wherein
O'Brien claims that they "shall meet in a place where there is no darkness" (page 22), and the
dream in which Winston's mother and sister disappear (page 26). What are the underpinnings of
these dreams? What deeper meanings do they hold? Why do you think the author devotes as
much time as he does to Winston's dreams?
Dreams are complicated things. They can reflect things that we want, that we’re scared of, of
things to come and things we all secretly hope for. Winston’s dreams are a reflection of all four
of these things. Where O’Brien says that they ‘shall meet in a place where there is no darkness’
Winston was unconsciously, even then, hoping for a better future. A future he knew had to come
someday. He hoped for O’Brien to be there with him, his strong leader. He met O’Brien in a
place where there were no secrets; there were only thought-criminals and people who had
committed ‘crimes’ against the Party. Winston wanted that amazing, unthinkable future, he was
scared of what he might have to sacrifice for it though and he never had the courage or strength
of O’Brien so he always had the fear of meeting in that prison.
When Winston’s mother and sister disappeared, a person could easily see that Winston’s hunger
for power and hope was unthinkable in his own mind. All he thought he wanted was food. There
are many deeper meanings to this dream. One of the most important ones is the love Winston
saw his mother give him and his sister. It shocked him. He needed to feel like he was in control
of his own life. When it went spinning into a black hole he desperately dug himself out,
scrambling with whatever he could to get back on top, to feel secure in his own mind. He loved
his mother and his sister but his need to feel in control drove them away and when he saw them
gone, he realized his mistakes. He realized the wrong ones though; he didn’t see the whole
picture. Feeling in control, he had the hope that someday things would get better. He still had
fear of what would happen on the road to getting to that better future. He wanted to feel safe, like
he could do what he wanted, he could be a kid, and nothing bad would happen. Unconsciously
though, he knew inside what he would have to sacrifice and what he would have to do.
5. On pages 147-148, Winston reflects on the omnipresence of The Party: "He thought of the
telescreen with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if you kept
your head you could still outwit them….Facts at any rate, could not be kept hidden. They could
be tracked down by inquiry, they could be squeezed out of you by torture. But if the object was
not to stay alive, but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make?" What, in essence, is
Winston saying about the lone individual in relation to The State? Does this contention remain
true throughout the novel?
The State, in 1984, is not the government. It’s the government and who they control with their
outrageous policies, weird contradictions and need of security and power. Therefore, there are
the rebels, the lone individuals and the State is the government and their cronies. What is it to be
human? To be human is to have faults, it is to make mistakes, to think, to plan, to want, to love,
to live, to hate, to be unique. It is to have emotion, to have free thought. Growing up as a kid,
people think, okay, I cannot say this out loud, but I can think it because they can never get inside
my head. How terrifying would it be to be a kid and know that people could get inside your
head? Exactly.
Winston was saying that if you could keep your head, the part of you that made you human, it
didn’t matter if people knew dates, facts, numbers, letters, sentences, it didn’t matter if you
maintained that part of you that made you you. That statement remains true throughout the book.
Winston did not lose that part of him that made him himself, he just couldn’t find it. Losing
something and not being able to find it is not the same thing. It may seem like the same thing, but
it’s not. Somewhere inside of him, that old rebel Winston, the Winston that loved the old Julia,
the Winston who, even though cowardly and afraid in his own way, gathered up enough strength
to fight, with everything that he was before the torture, will always be inside of him.
6. Early on in the novel, we learn of Winston's belief in the proles as a liberating force. What
accounts for Winston's almost blind faith in the proles? What are some of the characteristics of
the proles that, in Winston's eyes, make them the ultimate means for overthrowing Big Brother?
Winston has almost blind faith in the proles that they can overthrow the government and create a
better future because they can remain human. Everything about how life was like in the past,
oldspeak, human emotions, human ideas, human faults, it all lies in the proles. They can think
and if they ever got any reason to act, they could overthrow the government. The proles are often
not monitored by telescreens because the government thinks that they are too stupid or full of
unthought that they can’t ever be organized enough to overthrow Big Brother. This is a crucial
part of that fact that they can overthrow their government.
7. From her first appearance as "the dark-haired girl," through to the end of the novel, Julia is a
key figure in 1984. Trace the path of Julia in relation to Winston's life; in what ways does she
influence him? Did you trust her, initially? Overall, do you feel she had a positive or negative
impact upon him?
Throughout the novel, Julia is a key figure. Julia influences Winston a lot. She, in my opinion
was dangerous to him and his ideas. Even though Winston was reckless, crazy, a little bit of an
idiot and his plans weren’t thought through enough, he was willing to fight for the rebellion. He
really and truly wanted things to change. Julia was content breaking small rules, cursing the
name of the Party behind the scenes and living the limited life the Party set out for her. Winston
lived a valiant life, trying to rebel, fighting the torture, hoping for a better day, if Julia had taken
any of that away from him Winston he wouldn’t be the person he really was. He couldn’t have
been a good enough rebel. I never trusted Julia. She was never a good enough rebel in my
opinion. If she was anything like Winston, even though Winston was a fool, I would’ve trusted
her.
8. After his first formal meeting with O'Brien, Winston receives a book, ostensibly written by
Emmanuel Goldberg. In reading passages from this book, Winston is further enlightened as to
"how" the current society came into being. Focus on these passages, and in particular, on the
theory of the High, Middle and Low classes (page 179). If true, what does this theory hold for
the proles? Is Winston's plan for the proles now altered? Why or why not?
Emmanuel Goldstein’s book is wrong. It holds true elements, but some of it is wrong. It started
out good. It is true that the Middle class and the High class are always fighting for the top
position but then his book makes the Low class look like they never get anywhere. That they’re
just a bunch of incompetent, gullible fools. The proles in 1984 are the Low class. No one expects
anything from them. That is precisely why they are the key to overthrowing the government.
They are strong, they just don’t know it. If they could rally their forces, plan, think and fight
well, they would have the upper hand if push came to shove, more like fight came to war. If
Winston was too influenced by his hero, his ideas would have been changed and my opinion for
him would only lower. Winston is a great rebel, if he got more experience and been around more
people like himself, he would have been very valuable in a war.
9. Following his capture in Mr. Charrington's spare room, Winston undergoes a process of
"philosophical cleansing" and re-education against which he valiantly, but unsuccessfully fights.
Discuss Winston's "capitulation" at the hands of O'Brien. How is Winston brought to "love Big
Brother?" In sacrificing Julia, how has Winston, in essence, signaled his own end?
O’Brien, in the end, was someone a person would not want to meet in a dark alley, or anywhere
else for that matter. He was the person to have on your side. Without emotion, as a faceless
automaton, O’Brien was capable of unspeakable horrors. He broke Winston the classic way, with
fear and pain combined. When Winston sacrificed Julia, he betrayed her, but he also did
something much deeper, much worse, he lost sight of what made him human, what made him
himself.
10. In the final analysis, how accurate was Orwell in his vision of the future? In what ways does
our contemporary society compare to his idea of society in 1984? Are there examples in which
he was correct? What is most opposite? Do you see a potential for aspects of Orwell's "vision" to
come true?
I’d love to think that Orwell was just a crazy old dude who everyone knows is nuts. I’d love to
be able to believe that this is all fiction. It’s not, and I know it’s not. Orwell was not completely
accurate in his vision of the future, but he wasn’t completely wrong either. Even today, the
government still struggles with the idea of freedom of speech or subjects like that because it can
make them look weak, but it can also strengthen them, it can damage them severely, but it can
also bring them higher than they’ve ever been. So is photography and videotaping, but instead,
it’s the celebrities who are always being watched.
These things are the Jacks in a hand where you don’t have any face cards, wild cards in Uno and
Phase 10, a face card in a game of Egyptian Rat Screw. I don’t think everyone should be able to
go around willy-nilly saying whatever they want but freedom of speech is really important. This
is just one example of some things that are the same in our two different societies.
The thing that is probably the most opposite in our two societies is that being unique and having
different ideas is openly embraced. No person is an automaton, pre-programmed to say only
certain things. Everyone thinks differently, and all those ideas work together to make something
amazing. Einstein might’ve been posted as crazy, Low class, dangerous, but he changed the
world just the same. People aren’t afraid to say what they mean in the United States. Don’t
believe me? Go to a major street in a major city and ask the protesters you see there.
Orwell’s vision could come true. Like I said before, censorship makes no sense to me. I
understand the concept; I just think it’s kind of stupid. People shouldn’t know everything,
because some of it could be dangerous, but people have a right to know things. The first step
would be censorship. The second step would be everybody being monitored 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 12 months a year, 365 days of the year, sometimes more. The third step would be a
new language. The fourth step would be isolating people into groups. And so on, it would be
very easy. That’s why the concept of 1984 is so terrifying, and why it seems so real.
11. During his final encounter with O'Brien, Winston argues that, if all else fails, the inherent
nature of the individual—the "spirit of man"—is strong enough to undermine a society such as
that created by The Party. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Is Winston's belief
applicable to the world we live in today? Can you cite examples in our own recent history that
support or dismiss Winston's belief in the resiliency and righteousness of the human spirit?
I agree with Winston’s belief that no matter what happens, the “spirit of man” is strong enough
to undermine a society such as that created The Party. Anything mankind makes will have faults;
some of it just has more faults than others. Someday, someone in Winston’s—and our—societies
will make a change to the world, for better or for worse. The sense of “what’s right” and human
rights will always exist in the minds of humans. There will always be people who are willing to
fight for that belief and sense. It’s why we have laws against animal cruelty and why we have a
constitution stating the basic rights and rules of how things, especially humans, should be
treated.
Man will always fight for survival, it always be a basic instinct no matter how deep it is buried
within you. In some of the wars and ‘revolutions’ going on right now it is apparent that
something will have to change. After a revolution starts things just can’t ‘go back to the way they
used to be’. Something will have changed, that’s the whole idea and no matter how similar the
government is able to rebuild itself as, the people will someday revolt again because of similar
reasons as why they revolted before. Part of failure is trying the same thing over and over and
over again and thinking you’ll get a different result every single time.
It is amazing what one can accomplish when they’re pushed to their very limit, and beyond. Fear
doesn’t shut humans down, it wakes them up. When a person is awake, if you can act in spite of
fear than a person could have more power in themselves and more capability in a situation then
they’d ever think possible. There is fear, and then there is acting in spite of fear. If anyone would
ever want to see the capability and resilience of a human being when they’re awake and acting in
spite of fear or need to survive, just watch Animal Planet and the History Channel for a week.
It’ll really surprise them. Or they could take a friend who has never been within 20 yards of a
mountain before, take them to the top of the mountain and then ditch them.
12. Given Winston's own acknowledgment that he is under constant surveillance, and that it
would only be a matter of time before the Thought Police caught him, no one in his world could
be trusted. Prior to his capture, which character or characters did you envision as betraying
Winston? How did you foresee his ultimate demise? Did you, on the contrary, feel that by some
chance he would overcome the forces aligned against him, and fulfill his wish to conquer The
Party?
I envisioned five people as actually being capable of betraying Winston; they were Julia,
Parson’s kids and Mr. Charrington. I did not think it possible for Syme to betray Winston. He
was too much of a danger to the Party. If he was an agent of the Thought Police then that would
have meant the government would have acknowledged his presence already and he is too much
of a danger to the Party for them to tolerate him.
Mr. Charrington was too kind with letting Winston use his spare room. He was too accepting, too
something. If I had a spare room and someone I knew asked me if they could use it, I would still
have my suspicions as to why they couldn’t just use their own house. I branded him as a possible
threat from page 139, from when Julia and Winston began using Mr. Charrington’s spare room.
If he had a spare room he obviously wasn’t in dire need of extra money.
Julia was harder to figure out. She, on one hand, seemed to really love Winston and support the
ideas of the rebellion. On other hand, she was content with just breaking small rules and living
the unsatisfactory life that she lived. She seemed to try and dissuade Winston of his big ideas of
the Party but at the same time she pledged allegiance to O’Brien and the Brotherhood without
hesitation and she worked against the Party.
Parson’s kids were the easiest to suspect. They were so ready to fight against rebels of the Party,
so suspicious of others and so eager to help the Party. It was hard not to suspect them. I was
always wondering if they were following Winston around, looking for any chance to report him
and ready and willing to betray him when he slipped up.
I knew Winston couldn’t take down the Party himself. I knew he would probably get caught. As
much willpower and as much fight as he had inside of him, even with O’Brien and Julia by his
side, what O’Brien had said was true: “ ‘When you are finally caught, you will confess. This is
unavoidable.’ ” O’Brien knew that, in a society like the one in 1984, it would be impossible for a
typical rebel to stay undercover for very long. All the time though I was hoping that, by some
small odds, that with O’Brien and Julia’s help, Winston would be able to help overthrow the
rebellion for a long time.
13. Imagine yourself as Winston Smith at the beginning of 1984. What would you do to
undermine The Party? Knowing what you know now, how would you extricate yourself from the
fate that awaits you?
Imagining myself as Winston Smith at the beginning to 1984, I would’ve joined other rebels
right away as an act of undermining the Party. When rebelling, it’s easier to be a force to be
reckoned with when you are in a group. I would’ve started with O’Brien because I was almost
sure in the beginning that O’Brien was part of the rebellion. I would’ve done some research on
O’Brien, watched him for a while and then joined him if I thought he was part of the rebellion.
From there I would gain contacts with more rebels and convince more people to join, secretly
helping the proles to gain power and group together as part of the rebellion.
I would’ve built myself up into the Inner Party and made it so that the Party never suspected me
of being a rebel. I would never spend time with people like Syme, Parsons, Mr. Charrington or
anyone who I felt would betray me. Knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t try and take away the
fate that Winston was given. Trying to change your fate is a dangerous thing, and it only makes
your fate come true even more so than it was before. If you want proof, look in Greek
mythology.
I would fight as hard as I could for the rebellion and when I finally got caught, I would try to
escape. I would try to hold on to the part of me that made me me, the part that made me human,
the part that hated the Party, all of me, and try to get out of there. If I couldn’t get out of there I
would bring some people down with me, or at least I’d make things difficult for them. When I
finally couldn’t take it anymore, I would fight even harder. I would go down fighting for the
rebellion.