Nineteen Eighty-Four
The destruction of humanity:
Chapter 5
Focus: How does the Party destroy language and thus
control thought?
Who are the Proles?
 Relates to the word “Proletariat”
 Defined as: a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for
wages
 In 1984:
 the ‘proles’ are the rejects of the party.
 Orwell's society in 1984 is made up of 3 classes: the Inner Party, the Outer Party,
and the proles.
 The slogan of the Party concerning this 3rd, reject class is that "Proles and
animals are free." They are not put under the rigorous monitoring that other
members of the Party are. This is because they are thought to not have enough
intelligence to stand up to the Party. Their only purpose in society is to work and
breed.
 The proles are kept "happy" by lotteries, silly songs, and pornography.
 Winston reveals later in the novel, that "if there is hope, it lies with the proles."
This is because he feels they are the only ones who have been able to keep their
individuality and humanity. Sadly, Winstron soon learns that the proles will never
revolt because they will never need to. They have all they need from life - food,
shelter, "entertainment".
Destruction of language
WRITE THIS DOWN…
“When the internal crisis of the totalitarian system grows so
deep that it becomes clear to everyone, and when more and more
people learn to speak their own language and reject the hollow,
mendacious language of the powers that be, it means that
freedom is remarkably close, if not directly within reach.”
Vaclav Havel (Czech Playwright and President of Czechoslovakia
(1989-92)
VOCAB: Mendacious: untruthful, misleading
Guided Questions
(15mins to complete)
 You should by now have read chapter five.
 Answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Describe the setting of this chapter.
What are you first impressions of Syme? (pp51-54)
What is the definition of Newspeak? How does it differ from
Oldspeak? (pg. 53-55)
Why is the Party so determined to adopt Newspeak as the main means
of expression in Oceania? (pg. 55)
What does Orthodoxy is unconsciousness mean? (p.58)

6.
(Orthodoxy: accepted view/belief)
Why does Winston think Syme will be vaporised? What does Winston
say Syme lacks? (p56-58)
The destruction of words
Key Quote…
“In your heart you’d prefer to stick to
Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of
meaning.You don’t grasp
the beauty of the destruction of words. Do
you know that Newspeak is the only
language in the world whose vocabulary
gets smaller every year?” p.55
Syme
The destruction of words…
 Orwell believed that the decline of language ultimately has
political and economic consequences.
 Language can used be a weapon.
 Newspeak is a language created to control thought and
action.
 When language is corrupted, thought is contaminated.
More Questions and quotes!!
If only you could just discuss and take notes?!
Read pp. 64-66 Answer the following
Questions ( You have 15mins):
1. Why does Winston think that Syme will be vaporised but
Parsons will not? Provide quotes to support your response.

(‘neat handwriting of the illiterate’ (p59))
‘Our new, happy life’ recurred several times’ – link to
propaganda (p61)
3. ‘Always in your stomach and in your skin…’ (p62) What does
this reveal about Winston? How does it make him different?
4. What is ‘facecrime’? (p66)
5. Find the quote from this chapter that reminds us of the
constant fear in the world of 1984.
2.
Homework
 Read chapter 6 (pp. 66-72)
 Create a summary of this chapter (what happens, who is in it
etc)
 Get you notes/understanding up to date a Practice SAC is
coming…
Revision
 Look over your notes.
 Explain three ways that the Party attempts to destroy
humanity. Use a quote for each one.
 Write a list of factors that allow Winston to maintain his
identity.