Book 3 Chapter 4-6

"His mind grew more active. He sat down on the plank bed, his back against the wall and the slate on his kneed, and set to work deliberately at the task of re-educating himself" (276).

As I was reading this part of the chapter I started to realize how little by little Winston started to give up on himself. After every few passages you can see how Winston is starting to give in and love Big Brother. It made me feel kind of bad, knowing that Winston always had this view in his mind where he would change and rebel towards the type of system that they live in. I think that this specific passage relates to the story because it shows that no matter what thought crime you have done, the party and the thought police will always find a way to make you "sane" again.



"Anything could be true. The so-called laws of nature were nonsense. The law of gravity was nonsense. The law of gravity was nonsense. "If I wished," O'Brien had said, "I could float off this floor like a soap bubble" (278).

At this part of the chapter, I was just feeling like Winston is now gone. He has been brainwashed by O'Brien and that the Winston we knew in the beginning of the story has vanished and been taken place by this person who admires and loves his party, as well as  Big Brother. I think that by reading this passage we now know the power and determinacy that the thought police hold. We can tell that they will hold you inside of those rooms for as long as it takes for you to be "cured" and all the stuff that they keep telling you inside of those rooms are clearly very effective with torture being involved. This passage relates to the story because we now see why there was so little rebel within the party, we know that those people who even had the slightest idea of rebel would be caught by the thought police, cured, and then killed.

"Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother" (298).

It was kind of sad knowing that Winston felt some sort of hope on rebelling against the party with the help of O'Brien, but then he ends up getting nothing done, except getting himself killed. This last passage of the chapter shows how O'Brien successfully "cured" Winston and had him killed once he realized that Winston loved Big Brother and no longer had any hate towards him. Before this passage it showed how he would put those thoughts that he used to have away and learn how to ignore them and not make them relevant to his life. It seems that once his thinking was taken care of, O'Brien made him live a part of his life where he loved Big Brother and then killed him once his love for Big Brother was confirmed.

Book 3 Chapter 1-3

"The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakenly four" (250).

When I first read this part of the passage, it was kind of frustrating to read at first knowing that Winston was saying the right answer and being punished for saying the right answer. O'Brien also kept increasing the amount of pain that Winston felt every time he answered the question "incorrectly". The pain that would be inflicted into Winston was so strong that it even made him forget why he was being punished and what he was trying to figure out.I disagree with the view that O'Brien has with all the people that are captured and brought to the thought police. O'Brien states that he is doing Winston a favor by making him "sane". He is also forcing him to be a whole new person who would fill in the requirements that are expected from a party member.

"No! Not merely to extract your confession, nor to punish you. Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured? (253)

I thought that the passage was kind of weird to understand at first because I was wondering what is the point of going through all that trouble if O'Brien is going to end up killing him, and Winston was wondering the same thing. O'Brien states that Winston must be cured first before he is killed and I just found this pointless because either way he is still going to end up dead. I disagree with the actions that O'Brien and the thought police do in order to cure their "sick" people. It doesn't really make sense to torture them and inject stuff into them so they can convert them and capture their minds into the system that they currently live in because once they are converted they end up dead. This passage relates to the story as a whole because it shows the reader the real reason of why all these people are captured and taken to be cured.

"You are rotting away," he said; "you are falling to pieces. What are you? A bag of filth. Now turn round and look into that mirror again. Do you see that thing facing you?" (272)

When I first read the passage that described Winston's physical appearance, I thought that the conditions in which they have him are very inhuman and that a person in that type of condition should not keep on getting tortured and mistreated. Not only are the conditions that Winston is in, horrible, but the way that O'Brien describes Winston and how he makes fun of him even when he is in constant pain is horrible for any person. O'Brien keeps on torturing Winston and claims that he is not responsible for the physical appearance of Winston, but that it is at Winston's fault. I disagree with O'Brien's claim because so far I still don't see the point of curing Winston if they are going to end up killing him. What would be the point of making him starve and look horrible if he is going to end up dying?

Book 2 Chapter 7-10

" A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police. Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he is alone. Wherever he may be, asleep or awake, working or resting, in his bath or in bed, he can be inspected without warning and without knowing that he is being inspected. Nothing that he does is indifferent. His friendships, his relaxations, his behavior towards his wife and children, the expression of his face when he alone" (210-211).


I thought that this part of the passage was pretty interesting because you can see how all of the thoughts that Winston had since the beginning of the story was basically reality. As he was reading the book I noticed how all of the things that were being said were thoughts that Winston had or that I thought as I was reading the story. I thought it was kind of weird to see the whole system being described very detailed, with all the details you can see how this system is working and is really hard to get around because there is basically a counter to any type of rebel that could ever exist. The type of relationship that this passage is going to have to the rest of the story is that now that Winston has the book and is reading more in-depth to the type of world that he is currently living in. The thought police are going to have more involvement with Winston as we saw at the end of Chapter 10. It seems that Winston still has a specific spot to read from the book that he never got to and I think once he reads that part he will feel more confident on what he has to do next. One thing that this specific part of the passage reminded me was how they were always being watched no matter what they were doing. I think that this type of system where you are always being watched shouldn't be used in any type of system because people should be able to express themselves and have privacy whenever they want.

Book 2: Chapter 3-6

 "!Look, Katherine! Look at those flowers. That clump down near the bottom. Do you see they're two different colors?...Why didn't you give her a good shove? said Julia. I would have" (135).

The first thing that caught my attention when reading this was that both of them didn't really care if they killed someone as long as nobody was looking. I thought that this was pretty inhuman for someone to have a conversation on how they regret not killing an innocent person. Winston and Julia don't really discuss how they would live their lives if they did kill an innocent person. Would they not live a life full of guilt? Wouldn't this be something they would have to live with for the rest of their lives? I think that this relates to the story because we now have a better view on how Winston doesn't really care for those people who seem to be completely devoted towards the party. Even when Winston states that killing her would make no difference, Julia seems to not understand it and she would continue defending her claim on how she herself would have pushed Katherine down the cliff.

"What was it? he said in surprise. A rat. I saw him stick his beastly nose out of the wainscoting. There's a hole down there. I gave him a good fright, anyway. Rats! murmured Winston. In this room!" (144).

I liked this part of the passage because it reminds the reader that even though they are always being watched and expected to act a specific way. Humans will continue being humans and every person has their fears and likings towards specific things. In this passage, we see a part of Winston that we never saw before. He was having a good time talking with Julia when all of a sudden he heard the word rat and immediately changed his personality. We can see how he has a huge fear of rats and was so scared that he even went pale. One thing that I found pretty weird throughout the story so far is how people don't find the killings of "people" bad and they would actually go and watch them for entertainment. In this passage, we see how he almost went pale for just hearing the word rat, but I doubt that anyone in the story would go pale to see people being killed as entertainment.

" Sometimes he talked to her of the Records Department and the impudent forgeries that he committed there. Such things did not appear to horrify her" (154).

I noticed that when Winston was trying to have a serious talk with Julia, most of the important ideas that he was trying to say to her would go right over her head. She seemed to not really care about all the people that died even if they did have some sort of important impact towards the lives that they live now. It seems that Julia doesn't care at all of the histories that have shaped the world they live in and I disagree with Julia on her view. I think that people should always remember those who have helped and shaped the life that you live now. It's important to keep these people in mind because for most cases historical figures sacrifice a lot throughout their lives in order to help the future prosper.

Book 1 Chapter 7-8, Book 2 chapter 1-2

" He was walking up a cobbled street of little two-story houses with battered doorways which gave straight on the pavement and which were somehow curiously suggestive of rat holes. there were puddles of filthy water here and there among the cobbles" (82).


When I was reading this for the first time I realized the type of conditions that these proles were put into. It sounded like they were living lives where they are just surviving and not really going anywhere in their lives, almost as if they were stuck. Throughout the passage, there is more description of this town area that he was walking through, it reminded me of a bad neighborhood where people don't really care about the looks of their housing and how clean it could be. All the people want to do is just live and get paid to do the same thing for the rest of their lives. It seems that if the proles were exposed to more of the outside world and had more information on what is going on around the world then they would have the potential to make a difference to the type of lifestyle that everyone is living.

"They remembered a million useless things, a quarrel with a workmate, a hunt for a lost bicycle pump, the expression on a long-dead sister's face, the swirls of dust on a windy morning seventy years ago; but all the relevant facts were outside the range of their vision" (93).

This passage shows how they keep the proles away from all the things that happen around the world like history in the past that could have shaped the lives that they live now. When Winston was talking to that old man it is pretty clear that the man had no idea of all the huge changes that might have happened when he was young. It was almost as if they were kept away from the real world and they were there only to keep the human population high. This passage makes it clear that throughout the story there is a reason for why the party doesn't want proles to know about the truth that has happened in their lives. Does this mean that the Party has lost all their feelings towards humans and no longer care about what conditions they are put in? I think think that most people in the party have lost their human morals and they are used to a life where all the hard workers are proles that are oblivious to their surroundings.


"Already he had instinctively started forward to help her. In the moment when he had seen her fall on the bandaged arm, it had been as though he felt the pain in his own body... the whole incident could not have taken as much as half a minute" (106).

This passage proves how even though they are always being watched, once they are put into a situation that involves helping one another. They do not think twice to help each other and make sure that they are ok. It's an instinct that he has which proves that he is not another machine or worker towards the system that he lives in. He knows that there is something wrong in the way that he is living life. Before he knew that Julia was doing all of this on purpose, we can see that despite all the suspiciousness that Winston had towards her. He helped her out to stand up without hesitation proving that Winston still has human morals in feeling sympathy for others. Since Julia gave Winston a note and they know each other a bit better now. I think that this is going to be a start towards a change in the story, maybe they will work together to make a change in the lifestyle that they are currently living in.

Book 1 Chapter 2-6

At this moment the telescreen let out a piercing whistle. It was the signal to return to work. All three men sprang to their feet to join in the struggle round the lifts, and the remaining tobacco fell out of Winston's cigarette (63).

 As I was reading the last section of chapter 5 I started to notice that they were really strict with timing and they always made sure that they were punctual with everything. I wondered what they would go through if they ignored this whistle, was it as serious as a crime where you would be vaporized? One thing that I noticed on page 62 was that Winston really liked his cigarettes and it seemed that he always wanted to use each cigarette fully. Looking back at the quote it shows how this whistle has control of his life and Winston would drop his cigarette without a second thought. The whole system of being punctual and there being a punishment if you are not at your job in time reminded me of my middle school where there would be a bell at the end of every class to remind you that you have to walk yourself to your next class and if you are late then they would usually make a huge fuss about it. This telescreen and the whistle seems to be the main source of where thought crimes are found out and it seems that it would be something to always be aware of throughout the story.

"Smith!" screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. "6079 Smith W! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! That's better comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me." (36).

When reading this part in chapter 3, the first thing that came to mind is that they are now onto Winston and that sooner or later the thought police would be capturing him because of what he is writing about in his diary. It seemed weird to me that all of a sudden that person behind the telescreen was looking at Winston and told him to do his exercise. Winston stated that he loathed this exercise so that would mean that he usually doesn't give effort towards this exercise. Another thing that we can see from this is how fear runs them and they are willing to do anything so they can look good in front of that telescreen. For example how as soon as Winston was told to do his exercise better he immediately reached for his toes and touched them, something that he hasn't done in years.

"if you want a stronger version of 'good,'what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them" 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or 'doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still (51)."

I disagree with Syme stating that the destruction of words is a beautiful thing, I believe that the variety of words that we are given is something that brings us closer as a society. We are able to express ourselves much better. We can also communicate and understand each other much better and we are able to work together much better. Narrowing the range of thought with Newspeak in the story made me feel like the whole object of this language is to just have full control of people. To basically have people just working for you like robots and they are not able to rebel because of their lack of words to think with. Having all people under surveillance and every few years having some words removed from their language seems like something that the story is trying to lead to. This relates to the story by showing the readers the type of world that their system has in mind and what they are trying to reach in humanity.