1984: WAR!!! (DAY TWO) Feraco Myth to Science Fiction 23 April 2009

What can O’Brien do with his telescreen that Winston – or any Outer Part member – cannot?

Why does Winston think to himself that “no emotion is pure” at the end of the second chapter?

What is Winston willing to do for the Brotherhood? What does Julia refuse to do, and how does Winston respond?

What is the terrible dream/memory that Winston has of his family? What was his family like?

What three groups of people have always existed in any society? What are their goals, and why are they irreconcilable?

How does Winston react before reading Julia’s message? What does he do with it after he reads it?

Why would the spoils from advanced technology and industrialization – progress! – threaten hierarchical society, even in one where power remained in the hands of relatively few?

Ultimately, how is the Party’s slogan “War is Peace” accurate?

Explain crimestop and blackwhite.

What does Orwell call “the secret of ruling”? 10. What does Orwell call “the secret of ruling”?

What’s Julia’s theory regarding the Party’s “sexual Puritanism”?

Why were the old tyrannical regimes “inefficient”?

Why does Julia believe one should “always yell with the crowd”?

What is the purpose of the war?

Why won’t the war ever end?

Describe the scene where O’Brien contacts Winston.

Which people are most rational about war, and why?

Why does Winston see the proles as “human beings”?

Describe the astonishing event that occurs at the end of Hate Week, as well as its consequences for Winston.

What is doublethink?

How did Ingsoc become both like and unlike Socialism?

What were the atomic wars of the 1950s like? What was their main consequence?

Which great fear of Winston’s is revealed in Chapter IV?

Winston is startled by one of the places he sees after meeting with Julia. What’s noteworthy about it?

Why does Winston say “We are the dead” at the end of Chapter III? Why does Julia disagree?

What are the two aims of the Party, and what are the two problems it perennially faces? 26. What are the two aims of the Party, and what are the two problems it perennially faces?

How does Julia’s message “change” Winston’s thoughts and actions?

Why can the proles be granted intellectual liberty while even a party member’s smallest deviation from orthodox thought will be crushed?

Who has “vanished” at the beginning of Chapter 5 – i.e., been vaporized? What’s the prevailing reaction to the disappearance? 29. Who has “vanished” at the beginning of Chapter 5 – i.e., been vaporized? What’s the prevailing reaction to the disappearance?

What does Winston wish he had done after showing Katharine the flowers? Why is/isn’t he sorry about his actions?

How can one continue producing goods without adding to a society’s “wealth”?

What is the “essence of oligarchical rule” Orwell names at the bottom of page 209, and how does this differ from more traditional assumptions regarding how power is transmitted?

What are the four ways that ruling groups can fall from power – and what is the single most important factor that determines whether they stay in power? Which of those “dangers” no longer exist – and which is the only one that remains necessary to “check”? 33. What are the four ways that ruling groups can fall from power – and what is the single most important factor that determines whether they stay in power? Which of those “dangers” no longer exist – and which is the only one that remains necessary to “check”?

Why does Orwell state that “while wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible”? Why does he state that in the present day, warfare has become a “purely internal affair” – and why is it simultaneously unreal and meaningful?

How is the mutability of the past related to double-think?

What happens to Winston and Julia at the end of Part Two? Who betrays them? 36. What happens to Winston and Julia at the end of Part Two? Who betrays them?