Back to the Future: Reading 1984

What You Do:

1. The novel 1984 is the story of Winston Smith and his own battle with an oppressive totalitarian government more cruel than any TV audience. Winston Smith lives in Oceania, one of the three superpowers in the setting of 1984. He works for the Ministry of Truth, which alters history to suit the needs of the Party. (The Ministry of Truth tells lies, but that's not the end of the irony: in Oceania, the Ministry of Plenty plans economic shortages; the Ministry of Peace? You guessed it – wages war. And the Ministry of Love? Well, let’s just say some very unlovable things go on there. Winston will become intimately familiar with the Ministry of Love later).
2. Winston lives in fear of having his disloyal thoughts discovered by the government, because in Oceania someone is always watching. Big Brother is watching you! You read correctly – he is in fear of having his thoughts discovered. Thoughtcrime is a very serious offense to the party and is enforced by who else but the Thought Police! Feel free to shiver- these guys take their work very seriously.
3. After discussing these points, ask your child to pick up her pen and paper and jot down some of these words; handy ones to use in a conversation about Winston’s society:
4. Recently, Winston has begun to question the perfect society that he lives in and the perfect government that rules it. He has even gone so far as to purchase a contraband diary in which he dares to write down his feelings about the Party, hidden away from the telescreen that is always on in his apartment. Remember- Big Brother is always watching!
5. Winston has reasons to question the Party- as life in his supposed Utopia is, well, “double plus ungood,” to put it in Newspeak, the official language of Oceania. Most of his society lives in a dirty, poor ghetto called the proletarian district, ungoverned by the Party or Big Brother. Those who are not filthy, hungry, or diseased work for the party and live under the very watchful eye of Big Brother.
6. Here, she can also write down more vocabulary that applies to Winston’s thoughts concerning the Party:
7. Winston believes that he has made a contact in the Brotherhood, a secret underground group that threatens to overthrow the Party. During a rally, Winston believes that he has seen the same hatred he feels himself on the face of a man named O’Brien. Throughout the novel, the mysterious O’Brien feeds Winston bread crumbs of the Brotherhood – always leaving him wondering more about this powerful group.
8. In addition, Winston has found himself falling in love. What’s the problem with that? Love is strictly frowned upon by the party- and sex is simply an act to reproduce more party members. To pursue a romantic relationship with the lovely Julia is suicide, but pursue it he does. And unfortunately, love does not conquer all in this story.
9. In the incredibly romantic proletarian section, Winston and Julia rent a room above a second hand store, owned by Mr. Charrington to serve as their secret love nest. Their pillow talk often centers around their imminent doom and the stupidity of their affair.
10. As the days pass, Winston’s frustration with the party grows. Finally he is able to arrange a meeting with O’Brien who enlightens him about the Brotherhood. They sing rebel songs, exchange a few manifestos, and drink from the same wine. Brothers ‘til the end right? Not so fast.
11. Back at their secret hideaway, Winston is desperately trying to get Julia interested in the rebellion by reading her portions of the Brotherhood’s Manifesto written by Emmanuel Goldstein - when suddenly they hear another voice. Turns out a picture was hiding the telescreen- (duh, that’s the first place you should look…) and their movements have been monitored the entire time by the Thought Police, led by Mr. Charrington himself! Betrayed!
12. Useful vocabulary to describe the Party’s actions:
13. And just what did they forget, everyone? That’s right, rule number one - Big Brother is always watching! Julia and Winston are hauled off to find for themselves just exactly what goes on in the dreaded room 101 at the Ministry of Love.
14. At the Ministry of Love, Winston is endlessly tortured in very creative ways while he prays for help from the Brotherhood. Then one day O’Brien enters his cell! Winston’s prayers have been answered, right? Wrong. As we feared all along, O’Brien is not a powerful member of the underground but simply a very dangerous operative for the Party. It is O’Brien’s job to create a devoted supporter of Big Brother out of Winston- through manipulation, intimidation, and pain- and he does his job very, very well. By using Winston’s fear of rats, O’Brien is able to finally break Winston, threatening him to declare his love for Big Brother, or have his face eaten by a cage full of starving rats (dare you to try and get that image out of your head!)
15. Facing his biggest fear proves too much for Winston, and he snaps- screaming out, “Do it to Julia!” Winston betrays his love, and Big Brother chalks up another win. The now broken, and therefore harmless, Winston is released – not even a chance meeting with Julia, whom he now finds disgusting - is enough to heal him. Instead he is convinced of his one true love - for Big Brother.
16. Useful vocabulary to describe the ending:
    • Depravity- Moral corruption
    • Capitulate- Surrender
    • Submission- Yielding to another
    • Acquiescence- Acceptance
    • Coercion- To impose one’s will on another