1984 Discussion Questions and Essay PDF

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Winston Smith
He is the protagonist of 1984 and is just an average citizen in Oceania, i.e. he is down to earth and easily connects with the reader. He exudes inimitable intellectualism and thoughtfulness as seen in his long reflections....

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1984 Chapter 1 – 3 Discussion Questions

1. Describe Winston Smith He is the protagonist of 1984 and is just an average citizen in Oceania, i.e. he is down to earth and easily connects with the reader. He exudes inimitable intellectualism and thoughtfulness as seen in his long reflections. What are the four ministry departments in the state of Oceania? What are the functions of each? Departments of Truth, Peace, Love and Plenty. These departments have functions which are ironic: Truth deals with lies, Peace with war, Love with torture and Plenty is concerned with starvation.

What is the crime that Winston committed? How does the first chapter create an oppressive feeling about the novel? Smith is guilty of the crime of thought; he portrays negative thinking against the Party. Winston’s perspective shows how the government oppresses its citizens psychologically and physically.

What is the “two-minute hate”? “two-minute hate” is a ritual that is observed to gather the collective fury of the people against the “imagined enemies of the party” to boost the Party’s status in light of the people.

In Chapter 3, what does Winston dream about? He dreams of being in a sinking ship with his mother. In the process, he ponders about his childhood moments which he hardly remembers. The memory is faint since he does not have photographs.

How does the Party keep its psychological control over its people? The Party maintains psychological control over its people through constant surveillance

virtually everywhere. The continuous monitoring gets ingrained in the people’s minds, as observed in Winston. Winston fears being caught in the wrong and thus, always checks his thoughts and actions to ensure they are politically-correct.

How does the world where Winston lives differ from our world? 1984 world is similar to ours. Advanced technology in our current society is enabling governments to monitor our private lives by eavesdropping on our communications and by installing cameras everywhere.

1984 Chapter 4 – 8 Discussion Questions What is Winston’s job, and what were some of his responsibilities? (Chapter 4) Winston job is operating the speakwrite machine at the records section of the Ministry of Truth. The speakwrite device writes whatever one speaks into it. His specific task is to rectify written information that paints a negative picture of the Party.

Who is Comrade Ogilvy? How does Winston describe him? (Chapter 4)

Comrade Ogilvy is an imaginary person that Winston creates. Winston paints Comrade Ogilvy as the quintessential Party man who replaces Comrade Withers in the Party’s records, i.e. always paranoid and abstaining from sex.

Why do you think the people call each other comrade? Are there any places in this world that have people call each other comrade? (Critical thinking, 2 marks) People call each other comrade as a sign of showing equality, especially in terms of social status with access to equal opportunities. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the use of term comrade dropped immensely. ‘Comrade’ is now used majorly among the uniformed forces before the title rank of an officer.

How does the Party make sure that people never have rebellious thoughts? (Chapter 5) The party curtails rebellious thoughts by deleting essential words from the Newspeak language to limit the people’s thought freedom. The removed words ensure that people do not think of independence or liberty, which can trigger the idea of rebellion.

What does Winston write in his diary that he wanted to experience, but was something the Party forbid? Why do you think the Party would prohibit this activity? (Chapter 6, 2 Marks) Winston makes a confession in his diary about a desire to have a fulfilling sexual experience after having visited an old prostitute. The Party forbids sex because it divides peoples’ loyalty to the Party.

What is propaganda? How is this shown in the book thus far and are there any examples of this in real life? (Critical thinking, 2 marks) Propaganda is any biased information that is disseminated to promote a specific point of view. Telescreens are ubiquitous in the daily life of Oceania residents. They broadcast manipulated news that falsely shows the government as being effective and efficient.

Self-control is something that is heavily emphasized in the everyday citizen’s lives. Do you think physical control is more difficult to control or psychological (in your mind) control? Why? (Critical thinking, 3 marks) Answers may vary here. Mind control is harder to rein. Mind control requires crafting audience-specific messages to attain the expected impact. It is so because the different people in society have different levels of intellectual makeup and enlightenment.

The Party claims that the cities it has created is perfect. What does Winston think about this? What does the city (London) he is living in look like? (Chapter 7) He believes that the claims are false. London, his home city, is a wreck: buildings are dilapidated, the electricity supply is intermittent, and people always live in fear and poverty.

What was the event in which Winston caught the party lying? He saw leaders of the revolution who were purged from the Party, sitting at a café for the deposed party members. The leaders had been kicked out on the alleged crime of treason

in Eurasia. Winston found this crime to be untrue when he saw a photograph that proved the said leaders were in New York at the time of the commission of treason.

“WAR IS PEACE,” “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,” “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." The Party’s slogans are tackling really importance issues. What is ironic about these slogans? (Critical Thinking, 3 Marks) War is peace: War is a time of misery and pain, and not a state of calm as this statement...