1984 Mini-Oral By Anam Rahman Block 2-3

Question- What proof of the Party’s lies had Winston once held in his hands in 1973?

Quick Answer- When at work, Winston receives an old photograph of the 3 convicted criminals: Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford. The picture is part of an article which shows the men at a convention in New York on the same day that they were supposedly in Siberia giving Eurasian agents (Oceania’s enemy) military secrets. This is concrete evidence that the Party lies and that it has tricked the men into confessing crimes that they have not committed.

Context- This part of the novel takes place when : Winston is thinking about the Proles and all of the freedoms that they possess. He writes in his diary “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they rebel they cannot become conscious.” page 70 (beginning of chapter 7 in part 1). Winston is reading the children’s history textbook, that he borrowed from Mrs. Parsons, and is copying a part of it in his diary, which talked about how people’s lives were before the Revolution had begun. This led him to thinking what if all of it was a lie and it brought back the memory of the photograph that he had once held in his hands in 1973.

Close Reading- This takes place when Winston sees the three men at the Chestnut Tree Café. Page 77 (middle of chapter 7 part 1).

Close Reading- this is immediately after Winston receives the picture through the pneumatic tube at work. White and Blue Book- page 78 (middle of chapter 7 in part 1)

Close Reading- This takes place after he throws the picture and way and is back to the present day. He questioned if the Party’s control might be getting weaker. Page 79 (end of chapter 7 part 1).

Diction- A jeering or yellow note is a mocking, harsh, rude, disturbing, and loud noise. Page 77 (middle of chapter 7 part 1).

Passage Connection 1- Winston writes in his diary “I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY.”, Page 80 (end of chapter 7 part 1), after having the memory of the photograph. He understood how the Party came to be in power, but he did not understand why the Party wanted power and to change the past. This part is connected to the future conversation that Winston has with O’Brien at the Ministry of Love, after he gets captured. During the conversation O’Brien says “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake.” page 263 (beginning of chapter 3 part 3).

Passage Connection 2- Towards the beginning of this passage Winston writes in his diary, “If there is hope it lies in the Proles.” page 69 (beginning of chapter 7 part 1). By saying this he meant forming a rebellion to overthrow the Party and to find out more about the past. Later on in the novel Winston buys a glass paperweight from the same store that he bough this diary from, claiming that it belonged to the past (page 95 middle of chapter 8 part 1). He also meets an old Prole man at a bar, who remembers some of his life before the Revolution, but wasn’t very productive when it came to answering Winston’s questions (page 87-93 middle of chapter 8 part 1).

Literary Device- “Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me: There lie they, and here lie we Under the spreading chestnut tree.” page 77 (beginning of chapter 7 part 1). This song, that Winston heard when at the café and saw the three men, symbolizes the Party’s powers. The spreading tree represents the Party gaining more power and control of people. “I sold you and you sold me…” portrays betrayal among each other (citizens or between Winston and Julia). “There lie they” depicts the Proles and their freedoms away from the Party and “here lie we Under the spreading chestnut tree.” stands for the people living under the Party’s rule.

Theme- Everyone can tell a lie, but not everyone can see the truth Theme- Everyone can tell a lie, but not everyone can see the truth. “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” - Abraham Lincoln

Author’s Purpose- “ Political language Author’s Purpose- “ Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” –George Orwell. The reason that Orwell included the memory of the photograph is to show that no matter how controlling the government may be, there will always be flaws and that erasing the past is impossible, even for Big Brother.