Nineteen Eighty-Four Notes

Background: 2 major occurrences before the novel begins: o atomic bombing of London during WWII o revolution after war that installed he !arty in "ower he !arty was to #ee" "eace and instill order in chaos The Party o $estroys or alters landmar#s% memorials o a#es out or changes street signs o his erases ties to the "ast% therefore he !arty can better control the "ast% "resent and future o &ee" the !roletariats '"roles( com"lacent )ave just enough that they*re not revolting% but not enough that they ho"e for better + main ,-u"er--tates. o /ceania 'N0 1 -0 2merica% 3ritain( o Eurasia 'rest of Euro"e( o Eastasia '4hina% &orea% 5a"an( Oceania: !ractices English -ocialism or Ingsoc 3ig 3rother is head of 6ov*t !arty members consist of Inner and /uter members Inner Party control all that goes on 'deciding to rewrite history( Outer Party carries out the QuickTime and a tas#s re7uired of the Inner decompressor "arty without #nowing the final are needed to see this picture. out come 8 have one "iece of a larger "u99le Proles are the wor#ers and do not understand the wor#ings of the !arty members% but coo"erate and don*t rebel

Doublespeak: E:ists at two levels of consciousness: aware and unaware0 It is e:"ressed in two literary ,tric#s.: eu"hemism and "arado:0 /*3rien s"ea#s of ,re-education. and ,reintegration. but really means changing one*s belief system through torture Doublethink: )olding two contradictory beliefs in one*s mind simultaneously% and acce"ting them both !arty member #nows which way his memories must be altered and #nows he is "laying tric#s with reality% but% with doublethin#% also satisfies himself that he is not violating reality0 2cce"ting 2;2<=% even though we #now 2;2<> Way to get "eo"le to acce"t the changes the !arty ma#es to history hey must be aware of the change to change it% but must be unaware to acce"t it Eg0 uesday /ceania is fighting Eurasia and always has been Wednesday fighting Eastasia and always has been !arty has changed all records to the contrary With doublethin# we would acce"t this% even though our brain #now it is wrong Newspeak: ?ery com"licated 3ecause there are only smatterings in the novel% it*s fairly easy to understand Full descri"tion in the 2""endi: he "ur"ose is more control by the !arty Not enough to just control what is written but also how and with what words @id the language of a""arently su"erfluous words to ma#e it more streamlined% but also rid of any creativity or self e:"ression -elf-e:"ression is forbidden under !arty ruleA all must be to serve 3ig 3rother and the !arty Individualism is forbidden and a rich le:icon leads to thought of dissent

The Ministries: Ministry of Truth: Where Winston wor#s !roduction of all information Winston "art of de"artment that rewrites history 8 @ecords $e"artment o Entertainment o Literature o Education Ministry of Peace: War &ee"s war going 'or at least the a""earance of it( &ee"s "eo"le from 7uestioning rationing etc &ee" "eo"le afraid 8 fear 8 easy control Ministry of Lo e: Law and order )eavily armed fortress Where "eo"le go to be ,re-educated. hought "olice Ministry of Plenty: 4oncerned with the rationingB"roduction Economic affairs

The Telescreen ! "ur eillance -trongest instrument of control Watches and listens to !arty members watching for dissent 6ives time% wa#es u" 2lso teaches News"ea# 1 new history Panopticon: Idea of surveillance so strong actual surveillance no longer re7uired 3ecomes self "olicing hin# you could be watched so you don*t do anything you wouldn*t want to be seen /nly !arty members watched 8 no danger from the "roles Even through technically have balance of "ower% don*t reali9e it% therefore the !arty has nothing to fear he telescreen also used for the two minutes of hate Two Minutes of #ate: !ur"ose is to orchestrate grou" emotions 2lso they can use it to watch "eo"le*s reactions to sniff out dissenters Focus hate on common enemy '6oldstein( and away from 3ig 3rother C stages -tage /ne: -timulation of negative emotions toward 6oldstein -tage wo: Introduction of the second enemy 8 the Eurasian army 'or Eastasian as the case may be( -tage hree: he hatred rises to fren9y -tage Four: he transfer of emotion to 3ig 3rother 2ll negative emotions e:"ended on 6oldstein and army% only love left for 3ig 3rother -tage Five: ransfer of emotions to those around them Winston 5ulia -tage -i:: @estoration of calm

Thoughtcri$e: crimethin# in news"ea# thin#ing contrary to !arty line% o""osing ruling authority , houghtcrime does not entail deathA thoughtcrime I- death0. hought "olice 'thin#"ol( < secret "olice Dncover and "unish thoughtcrime Dse "sychology and surveillance 'telescreen( -ame as those used in 2Eth century @eal or "erceived enforcement of ideological correctness )ate crimes today said to be thoughtcrime as all crime contains some element of hate 6ov*t should "unish actions% not thoughts 'discuss( echnology used FGH> telescreen 4losed circuit ? to watch for sus"icious behaviour image recognition software loo#s for signs of an:iety -ecret sho""ers

Mutability of the Past ,2 totalitarian state must be thought of as infallible in order to #ee" its "ositionA however% since no one cab be infallible% the "ast must be so that the mista#e is not made0. 60/0 $isbelief in the e:istence of objective truth 2rgues that all historical documents are inaccurate or biased% therefore a big lie is not worse than a little lie o 2re all historical documents biased and inaccurateI hin# about who writes history0 o If so are the biases and inaccuracies committed on "ur"oseI o hin# of 5a"anese-4anadians in WWII% 4hinese head ta:% 4anadian governments treatment of First NationsBblac#s o )ow does actual history dis"ute our "erce"tions of 4anadaI &nown facts are su""ressed or distorted Not entirely a conscious act% but writers sym"athetic to the countryB"eo"les involved o 5a"anese te:tboo# controversy Jinistry of Education a""roves boo#s written by inde"endent "ublishers Jany of the boo#s chosen down"lay facts that are unflattering to Im"erial 5a"an Dse eu"hemism 'doubles"ea#( comfort womenBfacilities instead of se: slaves Kuestion numbers of dead 4hange massacre to incident Enemies and allies change with no ac#nowledgement that the reverse was once true o D- 2EEF-2EEH 8 ,forgot. they were once allied with Ira7A hel"ed 3in Laden 1 2l Kueda defeat @ussia o urned on countries that were long time allies because they refused to fall in line o 4anada% France 8 saw no connection 'refused to buy Ddoublethin#( between Ira7 and 2fghanistan o If 3ush were 3ig 3rother there would be no 7uestions because he could change the "ast so that his distortion of the "resent would be acce"ted0 )ow do we #now that what we ta#e as truth is in fact ruthI Es"ecially with

events that ha""ened before our lifetimeI hin# of an event that ha""ened at least FEE years agoA what evidence is there that ma#es it truthI 4an these Levidences* be doctored or alteredI 4an historiansBauthors be trustedI What*s the difference between truth and mass hysteriaI 2 lot of "eo"le thin# they were abducted by aliens hey all have similar storiesBdescri"tions If you aren*t there to witness an event how do you #now something ha""ened or didn*tI his is why doublethin# is effective0 3ig 3rother can change all references% therefore who is to 7uestion what has or hasn*t beenI

%o$$unication /rwell "resumes that News"a"ers will continue% but allows that ? might ta#e over Dnderstands that literature is a dying art% es"ecially in industriali9ed countries 2rgues that boo#s 'not literature( could be written by machines 4an be seen in radio and films% "ublicity and "ro"aganda% and in lower forms of journalism o $isney o @adio 'our ?( written by dictation by studios beforehand and revised by "roducers o @eality shows which are scri"ted% therefore become artificial reality% a way for the "arty to control reality o /ur very own $oublethin# Lottery No winners !roles ho"e they can win &ee" detailed records of "ast Lwins* &ee"s them too busy to 7uestions their lives Literature: No art involved Nothing to teach% no wisdom to "ass on Jerely for entertainment*s sa#e 8 esca"ist Literature o 4hic# lit% romances% westerns etc0 , hey only have si: "lots% but they swa" them around a bit. 'FFC( Music Jade by machines therefore have no humanity 6ood music contains dee"er emotional resonance for the creator and the listener Li#e good literature% it allows us to see the bigger "icture% illustrate human nature Now 'and in FGH>( mass "roduced% machines 'auto tune( Dra$a ,films oo9ing with se:. '>F( -oa" /"eras

Nighttime -oa" /"eras 8 about violence% who*s slee"ing with whom o $ramas on today: )os"ital shows '6rey*s 2natomy% !rivate !ractice% Jercy( 4o" -hows 'Law 1 /rder% 4-I% N4I-( @eality shows '-urvivor% 2merican Idol% he )ills(

Ma&or %haracters:

Winston: @esists stifling of his individuality Intellectual enough to reason about his resistance hrough Winston we understand the o""ression of the thought "olice the !arty and 33 !ensive% curious% des"erate to understand Jain attributes: 'ebelliousness o )ates the !arty "assionately o Wants to test the limits of their "ower o Every little crime he commits is to test these limits o Efforts to achieve freedom underscores the !arty*s "ower (atalis$ o !aranoid that the !arty will catch him o 3Bc he thin#s he is hel"less to evade his doom% he continues to ta#e unnecessary ris#s o 3Bc he will be caught no matter what he does% convinces himself to #ee" rebelling o $o as much as he can to undermine the !arty before he is caught 5ulia:

Winston*s lover /ther "erson who hates the !arty as much as Winston @ebels against !arty -ensual% "ragmatic% content to live in the moment 4oncerned with enjoying se: and evading detection -mall scale rebellion No concerned with the larger im"lications of their actions $oes it to be bad% not to undermine the !arty structure 4ontrast to Winston E:ce"t for se:ual desire and hatred for the !arty their traits are dissimilar and contrary

/*3rien: -eemingly on Winston*s side /utwardly very "ro-!arty% Inwardly 'to Winston( very anti-!arty 6ets Winston ,the 3oo#.

Jysterious Dn#nown motivations Jember of the Inner !arty and the 3rotherhood @everse develo"ment 8 as boo# goes dee"er we #now less and less about /*3rien and his alliances -hadowy -ymbol of the !arty 8 the more we thin# we #now the less we actually do ,We shall meet in the "lace where there is no dar#ness0. ?enn $iagram 8 chart 4om"are and contrast the character traits of Winston and 5ulia 1 3ig 3rother and 6oldstein0