1984 Study Questions Chapter One PDF

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1984 Study Questions: Chapter One Tara Rafi

1. Explain the function of Big Brother. Big Brother is a dictator like figure who rules over all the citizens in Oceania, a dystopian society. Big Brother uses fear to make citizens conform to his rules with the constant reminders that he is watching, through posters all over the town. This instills unease into the people of Oceania and prevents them from doing anything that Big Brother would not like.

2. Why do you suppose the Party would not have any laws? The Party does not have laws because it creates an environment in which anything is permitted, allowing the Party to punish and abuse its citizens in whatever way they like as it is not going against any rules. This prevents the citizens from being able to defend themselves.

3. What is the purpose of Two Minutes of Hate? Two Minutes of Hate is a period that occurs daily in which citizens must watch a film about the Party’s enemies and then express their hate for them in exactly two minutes. The purpose of this is to prevent the citizens from straying from the Party’s beliefs and joining with their enemies.

4. Winston’s hate changes to three different people during the two minutes. To whom is it directed? Explain why in each case. Initially, Winston’s hate is directed towards Goldstein, the enemy of the Party shown in the film. The citizens of Oceania are taught to have an immense amount of anger towards those who are against Big Brother. Then, Winston directs his anger towards Big Brother himself because he realizes that he is under his control with no way of escape. Finally, he becomes angry at the dark-skinned girl sitting near him because he thinks she is beautiful and desires her greatly but cannot do anything because of sash of chastity.

5. What does Goldstein preach? Why would the Party allow the people to hear this? Goldstein preaches ideas of freedom of speech, assembly, thought and press. These are all things that the Party and Big Brother are against and not allowed under the rules. The Party would allow people to

hear this because it contrasts so greatly from their current societal rules and makes his ideologies seem absurd, thus increasing the anger citizens have towards him.

6. What crime does Winston commit? Why? Winston commits a thought crime by writing in a diary. He does this because he feels a strong urge to do so that is irresistible. 7. What does Winston suspect about O’Brien? Why does he not speak to him? Winston suspects that O’Brien has the same feelings towards Big Brother and the Party as him. He thinks that O’Brien in apart of the Brotherhood, a group of people against the Big Brother. He does not speak to him because O’Brien may be a Thought Police and if Winston joins him, he could get into an immense amount of trouble. 8. What theme about government emerges in the first chapter? The theme that emerges is that although the control being put on citizens allows for some sort of command, it causes many people to not want to conform and become angered with their positions of inferiority....