BOOK2 C H A P T E R 5
Character Analysis Winston : Winston works as a clerk in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth where his job is to rewrite historical documents Syne : Syne is one of Winston's coworkers at the Ministry of Truth. He works in the Research Department of the Ministry and currently his job is to develop the Party's Dictionary's. As Winston predicted earlier Syme has been vaporized.
Character Analysis Julia : A beautiful dark haired girl who Winston has a affair with. Julia could not share her ideas of organized rebellion against the Party. Mr. Charrington : An old man who runs a secondhand store in the prole district. He supports Winston with the party and his relationship with Julia. Mr. Charrington is a member of the thought police.
Newspeak / Vocabulary Labyrinthine : a complicated combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to finds one's way to reach the exit. (maze) In the labyrinthine Ministry the windowless, air conditioned rooms kept their normal temperature. Indignation : a strong displeasure at something considered, offensive, insulting or base. (righteous anger) The whole population of the neighborhood turned out for a long, trailing funeral which went on for hours and was in effect an indignation meeting.
Proles : Proles is the working class of Oceania. The Party spends less time watching / controlling the proles because they are not worth it. Winston thinks the change in the society will come from them. Late at night, when the crowds of the rowdy proles roamed the streets, the town had a curious febrile air.
Literary Elements “Mr. Parson was in his native element and as happy as a lark.” This sentence is a simile and it describes how Mr. Parson the fat and sweaty guy is happy, innocent or good-natured mischief (a prank)
Discussion Questions 1.What is pictured on the new poster appearing all over London? A) The new poster which was all over London with no caption represented the figure of a Eurasian soldier, three to four meters high who had a Mongolian face and a submachine gun that pointed from his hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster the gun seemed to be pointed straight at you. These caption-less posters were outnumbering the portraits of Big Brother.
Discussion Questions 2. How does Winston concern about the room over Mr. Charrington’s shop? A. Winston feels safe and comfortable in the room which he rented from Mr. Charrington. He feels safe because there does not appear to be a telescreen here, which means that he can not be observed by the Thought Police. Later, he uses this room to have an affair with Julia. 3. Who organizes the squads of volunteers for the Hate week ? A. The Parsons organize the squads of volunteers for the Hate week to stitch banners, paint posters, hang flagstaffs on the roofs etc.
Chapter Summary As Winston had predicted earlier, one day his colleague Syme disappeared. He vanished and ceased to have existed. This brought the precariousness of their own position closer to Winston and Julia, but they persisted in living for the moment. Even if they could not actually be together a lot, the very fact that the room above the shop existed was consoling in itself. Meanwhile, the preparations for Hate Week were going ahead at full steam. A special Hate song had been composed and was played through the telescreens continuously. Parsons was going all out to ensure a magnificent participation by his building in Hate Week. Julia and Winston tried to insulate themselves in their room, they talked to the shop owner and treasured the memories of the past he dredged up. But while this went on, they both knew that it could not last. Sometimes they had fantasies of escape where they would cheat the Party and get married or run away and live disguised as proles. They even considered suicide at times. But none of these options were real, only the moment, despite its inexorable movement towards doom seemed to have any solidity.
Chapter Summary Winston found that the one area of his interest in which Julia could not share was the idea of organized rebellion against the Party. She was not affected by the story of Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford. She did not mind as he did about the fact that history was being falsified daily. As for Goldstein and the Brotherhood, she went to sleep when Winston tried to discuss them. It did not matter to her whether they were fighting Eurasia or Eastasia, in fact she doubted whether there was a war at all, the Party probably dropped the bombs itself to control the people. The only thing Julia was willing to accept was Winston’s intuitive feeling that O’Brien was an Anti-Party person as an individual. But she refused to believe that he could head any organized activity against the Party and frankly told Winston that she was concerned about themselves rather than about future generations.
Chapter Analysis By being vaporized Syme becomes “unperson” stripped from his identity. We are reminded of Julia's earlier remarks on the effects of sexual privation as the frenzy over the Hate week accelerates. The poster of the Eurasian soldier seems to tease / mock Big Brother. Winston and Julia are dreaming about escaping even though freedom is unlikely. Winston remains curious about the existence of an underground Brotherhood. Julia believes that Goldstein and the war are both creation of the party, to cause patriotism. Julia remembers nothing the Revolution and she does not realize that only four years ago Oceania had a war with Eastasia.