1984 #8

"Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again. You were lifted clean out of the stream of history. And yet to the people of only two generations ago, this would not have seemed all-important, because they were not attempting to alter history. They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, and embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself (Orwell 165)." This quote is significant because it is a perfect example of how much the way of life had changed in only a short time span. It makes it clear that people who had lived only 20 years before would not be frightened by hearing of these changes, simply because they were completely unfamiliar with the Big Brother way of life. People in the days that Winston is suffering through do not get to experience all the little things in life that mean the most. Because the people of the previous generations were familiar with those little things, rather than simply living in fear and obeying the Party, they would not nearly understand how difficult it is to live such a restrained lifestyle.

1984 #7

"It was rather more of a shock to him when he discovered from some chance remark that she did not remember that Oceania, four years ago, had been at war with Eastasia and at peace with Eurasia..."I thought we'd always been at war with Eurasia," she said vaguely. It frightened him a little (Orwell 154." This is a good example of how the 12 year age difference is significant to how Winston and Julia's views of life and the world before the Party took control differ. Winston still has memory of how times were before the Party had taken over, while it seems as though Julia's memory of that time has been fading. Julia is a rebel who fights to be different and not obey the Party, but at the same time this quote shows that no matter how much she doesn't want it to, the Party is getting through to her. Without even realizing it, she had cleared her brain of the memory of events that were happening only a short four years ago. The fact that the Party may be succeeding in making Julia just another one of it's victims is what is beginning to frighten Winston. If they can take control of her, they can take control of anyone.

1984 #6

"It was as though they were intentionally stepping nearer to their graves. As she sat waiting on the edge of the bed he thought of the cellars of the Ministry of Love. It was curious how that predestined horror moved in and out of one's conscienceness. There it lay, fixed in future time, preceding death as surely as 99 precedes 100. One could not avoid it, but one could perhaps postpone it: and yet instead, every now and again, by a conscious, willful act, one chose to shorten the interval before it happened" (Orwell, 140). This quote proves how much Winston and Julia were willing to put on the line for the simplest things, such as seeing eachother and conversing for a half an hour. It also states how in this time, it was almost impossible for the thought of death or being vaporized to escape your mind for any long period of time. The concept of "thoughtcrime is death" is also brought back in this quote when saying "there it lay, fixed in future time, preceding death as surely as 99 precedes 100". In saying this, it is being said that it is 100% certain that what they were doing, such as their secret meetings and having sex, is surely going to lead to their deaths. It clarifys the fact that in this world, there is virtually no way to avoid being vaporized, but following all the rules the party has set will allow them to live longer. Winston and Julia do not care much. Rather than living long lives as robots, they are easily shortening and shortening their lives with every sneaky act of freedom they take.

1984 #5

Winston:"Listen. The more men you've had, the more I love you. Do you understand that?"
Julia: "Yes. Perfectly."
Winston: "I hate purity, I hate goodness. I dont want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
Julia: "Well then, I ought to suit you, dear. Im corrupt to the bones."
(Orwell, 125).

This exchange between Winston and Julia shows a lot about their budding relationship. When reading this, it is very possible for the readers to misunderstand what Winston means by saying "the more men you've had, the more I love you". Some people may think he simply is only thinking of her sexual experience, when in reality he means that the more rebellious she is the more respect and love he has for her. The fact they they share, for the most part, the same beliefs about the Party, is a similarity that brings them much closer together. Both of them live somewhat on the edge and would rather put their lives at risk than become another victim of the Party. This is only one of many conversations we will see between Winston and Julia that will bring them closer together.

1984 #4

"And yet it was a fact that if Syme grasped, even for three seconds, the nature of his, Winston's, secret opinions, he would betray him instantly to the Thought Police. So would anybody else for that matter, but Syme more than most. Zeal was not enough. Orthodoxy was unconscienceness (Orwell, 55)." This quote emphasizes the fact that in this time, no one could be trusted. On many occasions, people who were believed to be friends or "comrades" ended up ratting eachother out on accounts of "thoughtcrime". This quote also somewhat shows what kind of a person Syme is, which may play into the plot later in the story. By saying "zeal was not enough, orthodoxy was unconscienceness", Orwell meant that no matter how fond people were of eachother, Big Brother had done his job by basically brainwashing the people to the point where they did not even think twice about telling the Party of eachothers' disobedience. This shows how scary of a world it must have been for Winston, constantly fearing everyone around him.

1984 #3

"Day by day almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown as documentary evidence to have been correct" (Orwell, 40). This is what Winston, and all other employees at the Ministry of Truth, were responsible of every day when they went to work. To rewrite the past in a way that was considered acceptable to the Party and especially to Big Brother himself. This was always the way that made Big Brother correct about all the events that took place, even if that required the past to be completely made up. The fact that changing history could be so easily done and was such a common thing was one of the biggest mental struggles for the people of Oceania to get used to. Like Winston, it was difficult for them to wrap their minds around the new way of thinking and make themselves believe that everything the Party said was in fact, the truth.

1984 #2

"the Ministry of Truth... his heart quailed before the enormous pyramidal shape. It was too strong, it could not be stormed. A thousand rocket bombs would not batter it down" (Orwell, 27). In this quote, the Ministry of Truth is used symbolically as how strong Winston believes the Party in general is and how difficult it will be to overcome it. He is basically saying that he believes it to be nearly impossible to defeat Big Brother. Realizing this upsets Winston because of how much he longs for freedom and a day when people will be able to think their own thoughts and live their own lives. In this reading we begin to see how much Winston really does question the way he is forced to live, and whether or not it is even possible for this way of life to come to an end.

1984 #1

"Within 30 seconds any pretense was always unnecessary. A hideous ectasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic"(Orwell 14). This quote is a great representation of how much control Big Brother, the Party, the Thought Police, etc..have over the people. Simply through Goldstein speaking through a telescreen, he is capable of changing so many peoples moods and causing them to be angry and upset beyond belief. Just through seeing this, it is difficult to imagine how much the Brotherhood or the Party in general must effect these people and change how they look at life.