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Questions tagged [1984]

A dystopian fiction novel written by George Orwell in 1949, it describes the world of the year 1984 as a nightmarish authoritarian state where "Big Brother" is always watching.

Nineteen-Eighty-Four is a fiction novel written by George Orwell in 1949, on which a film was later based starring John Hurt as the main character.

It describes the world of the year 1984 as a brutal and nightmarish authoritarian state where everyone is under constant surveillance for the subtlest hints of subversive behavior, and all are kept in abject poverty by means of perpetual wartime rationing. The elite Inner Party of the English Socialist Party ("Ingsoc"), led by Big Brother, manipulates history itself with a small army of propagandists who eliminate references to inconvenient facts. Propaganda posters stating "Big Brother is Watching" are everywhere.

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Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?

At the end of Orwell's 1984, Winston was a regular customer of the Chestnut Tree Café. He would go there every day, and the waiters would always bring him a chessboard and the current issue of the Times, which contained a new chess problem every…
Fabio says Reinstate Monica
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Is there an actual army in 1984?

I just finished my first read of 1984. It was a fantastic book. While reading, I kept wondering if there was any army fighting the war. I don't recall seeing anything about anyone from the Party or a prole fighting as a soldier. The Ministry of…
jgadoury
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In Orwell's 1984, why does 'the book' even exist?

During the third part of 1984, O'Brien states that he is in fact one of the authors of Goldstein's book (I think we can assume this to be true). I don't understand why the book was even created. At this point O'Brien is already well aware of…
Derek Blair
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What was the ultimate objective of The Party in 1984?

While it is well understood that The Party had a goal of achieving complete control over the population, what was the longer objective after that goal had been achieved?
anonymous
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In Orwell's “1984,” what was the motivation of O'Brien, and other members of the Thought-Police, in spending so much time and effort on Winston?

According to O'Brien, Winston was followed and closely watched for about 7 years, before their meeting took place. In a society like the one depicted in the book, where people from all walks of life are being "evaporated" on a daily basis — in most…
golosovsky
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Why does the Party care to inform the people about the current war situation?

It takes so much energy and time for the Party to change every piece of information retroactively about the war situation. But since they are already the only source of news, why do they care so much about doing it? For example, when Oceania…
AstroRP
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How can Winston edit people's personal copies of books?

In George Orwell's 1984, if my understanding is correct Winston Smith's job is basically to find items in printed works that disagree with the Party's current ideology and edit/remove them - (e.g. flush the offending parts down "memory holes"). The…
komodosp
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Why was Winston not afraid of being caught with Julia after he was released from Ministry of Love?

These lines in chapter 3: He had seen her; he had even spoken to her. There was no danger in it. He knew as though instinctively that they now took almost no interest in his doings. How did he know? And why had they stopped scrutinizing…
Manik
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Why does Winston say "The more men you've had, the more I love you" to Julia?

In these lines, why does Winston hate goodness? Why does he want everyone to be corrupt? Why does he say "The more men you've had, the more I love you"? He pulled her down so that they were kneeling face to face. 'Listen. The more men you've had,…
Manik
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What did Julia do to Winston in 1984?

In "1984", in room 101, Winston was forced to betray Julia by asking them to "give" the rats to her. She also says that "sometimes...they threaten you with something – something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, 'Don't…
Sebastian
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Multiple Room 101's in 1984

Would there be more than just one Room 101 in the Ministry of Love? It seems entirely possible given that the building itself is said to be very large. I just think it wouldn't make much sense if they only had one room to tend to potentially…
hyp3r
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Why Are The 1984 Ministries In London?

In the book Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth, a ministry whose primary job was not to reconstruct the past but to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers, films, textbooks, telescreen programs, plays,…
Imperator
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Why doesn't Mr. Charrington turn Winston in earlier?

Mr. Charrington, owner of the junk shop in the novel 1984, turns out to be a member of the thought police. Why didn't he arrest Winston for just walking in the door? Why did he wait for Winston to rent the room upstairs and commit other crimes…
Andrew
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Why does Oceania not want to achieve victory over Eurasia and Eastasia?

The novel stresses that while all three powers (Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia) are in a perpetual war against each other, none of these three powers believes that victory is possible nor wants to achieve it. Instead of victory, all powers want and…
gaazkam
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How come there are so many obese people in 1984 if most of them live in poverty?

In 1984 by G. Orwell, there are many people that are described as obese, especially among proles. If the population of Oceania lives in poverty, then how come they have enough food to become overweight?
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