1984 Summary and Analysis

Plot Overview

During one of the many Two Minutes Hate programs, Winston meets the gaze of two people in a moment that will significantly change his life. One of them is O’Brien, who Winston initially thinks is an ally. The other is Julia, who works at the Fiction Department. Notably, she expresses her rebellion through her individualism and sexuality. Much in accordance with her spirited self, Julia hands Winston a letter a few days later; “I love you,” it says. Given the oppressive and extensive surveillance, Winston has to work really hard to meet her. Julia, however, draws out a plan for them to meet alone: far away in the countryside, Winston and Julia make love, and their companionship begins.

Later on, Winston is also able to procure a room, so the two of them can be alone. He finds a secure room above an antique shop owned by the seemingly nice Mr. Charrington. As they continue their adventure, Julia manages to get hold of several luxury items, such as real chocolate, good coffee, and sugar—items prohibited from being supplied to or circulated among the masses, usually referred to by the Party as “proles” (short for proletarians). As their affair begins, Winston and Julia realize that they may be caught eventually and face questions about their loyalty to the Party. What they promise to each other, however, is that they will never lose their love and loyalty toward each other.

Eventually, Winston and Julia decide to confess their love to O’Brien. They do so believing O’Brien to be a member of The Brotherhood, the sole resistance against the Party. When they visit O’Brien, they find out about the many luxuries that come from being associated with the Inner Party. For instance, O’Brien is able to turn off his telescreen for short periods and enjoy total privacy. As they become more comfortable with O’Brien, Winston admits his hatred for the Party. Meanwhile, O’Brien manages to convince them that he is a member of the Brotherhood and arranges for Winston to receive a copy of the book of the state’s sworn enemy—Emmanuel Goldstein.

Winston reads the book in a seemingly safe room, with Julia by his side. Suddenly, they discover a disturbance behind a painting in the room and are eventually separated. It would turn out that Mr. Charrington, the nice-looking old man of the antique shop, had been setting up Julia and Winston from the start. He is, in fact, a member of the Thought Police. O’Brien is also a loyal member of the Party and befriends Winston only to later manipulate and incriminate him.

Over the next few months, O’Brien tortures and brainwashes Winston into loving the Party and everything it stands for. O’Brien does this to make Winston capable of doublethink—the ability to simultaneously hold two opposing ideas together. O’Brien wants Winston to eventually believe that two plus two equals five.

In prison, Winston meets many of his colleagues who have also been arrested for committing different kinds of ‘thoughtcrime.” After a series of beatings, Winston is prepared for a more severe form of torture, wherein he is strapped to a device that delivers horrible doses of pain. Winston is in Room 101, the most dreaded room in the Ministry of Love. The torture in this room is based on capitalizing on the inmate’s worst fears and exacerbating them. For Winston, it is rats. O’Brien thus threatens to let rats run amok on Winston’s face.

Toward the end of the scene, as Winston realizes that his worst fears are about to materialize, he screams,“Do it to Julia”! The torture not only breaks the last traces of humanity left in him but also his promise to Julia.

Understandably, Winston is a changed yet broken man after the ordeal. He becomes especially susceptible to brainwashing and believes everything the Party wants him to. Though his thoughts are no longer well-policed, he grows to love Big Brother. Winston soon runs into Julia and finds her a lot older and less attractive. He doesn’t fancy her anymore. Meanwhile, she admits that she, too, had broken their promise.

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Readers can realize at the very beginning that the world George Winston, the protagonist, inhabits is very different from ours; it’s a world where the clock “strikes thirteen.” In a rather depressing tone, we find out that Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, that the politics of his time is quite different from our own, and that he is eager to escape the “vile wind” outside and enter his home.

However, readers can also quickly realize that his home is not his own either. There is a “telescreen” inside his house—a device that serves both as a television and a camera for the Party. There are police helicopters flying, and there is a constant sense of doom because of the Thought Police. The telescreen shows government reports and music, which are often patriotic and militaristic in nature.

In London, which is now part of Oceania, the government is divided into four ministries whose names don’t quite match their missions. The Ministry of Truth is busy manufacturing lies. There is the Ministry of Peace, which is concerned with the business of war, and the Ministry of Plenty, which is devoted to economic affairs. Finally, and Winston isn’t quite as afraid of this one as he is of the others, is the Ministry of Love, which supposedly maintains law and order. In his workplace, which is a massive pyramid-shaped building, are inscribed the three slogans of the Party: “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” and “Ignorance is Strength.”

Once back in his apartment, Winston pulls out a small diary he has recently purchased and considers writing. Clearly, he is trying to build up some courage; he is hesitant because the Thought Police could be anywhere. There are, however, some blindspots in his apartment beyond the telescreen’s reach. He sits down in one of these spots and considers writing once again, an act fraught with danger since the Party regards writing as an act of rebellion. Were someone to find out about his actions, Winston could face the death sentence or a long stint in a forced labor camp. In spite of his fears, Winston cannot keep from writing.

He writes, even if a little waywardly, about a war movie he’d attended the previous night. The movie focused on a group of refugees killed at sea. Strangely enough, the audience takes great pleasure in seeing the refugees attacked and killed. When a lady in the audience objects to the material, she is thrown out of the theater by the police.

As he writes, Winston finds himself reminded of a disturbing ritual called the “Two Minutes Hate” his co-workers partake in. He remembers spotting the sandy-haired woman who works in a nearby cubicle and another dark-haired woman he does not know. He finds the latter very unsettling. During the ritual, everyone gathers in a common space to watch a video that almost always features Emmanuel Goldstein, a former member of the Party, presently regarded as the Enemy of the People since his rebellion against the state. The crowd is stirred into violent action upon being shown images of the Eurasian Army, Goldstein’s visage, as well as some of his words. Subsequently, Big Brother appears on the screen, and the crowd starts chanting “B-B” in his honor. It is at this moment that Winston catches the eye of O’Brien and, owing to the skepticism in his eye, is intrigued by him.

As Winston writes “Down with Big Brother” over and over in his diary, he is interrupted by a knock on his door.