-
The Diary
The main character of the story 1984 is Winston Smith. The story takes place in a future dystopia in which the government rules everything. In the beginning of the story Winston goes to a second hand shop to buy a diary. This is very against the law because the ruling party doesn’t want any other accounts of history but their own. Winston often fears that the thought police will catch him with the diary but he is in such a poor area the police don’t watch them much. -
The Junior Spies
One day when Winston is writing in his diary he hears a knocking at the door and he thinks that it is the police. He goes to the door to find that it is only his neighbor that needs help fixing their plumbing.The neighbor are start accusing Winston of thought crime when he is fixing the plumbing as they are “junior spies” an organization that has children spy on adults to make sure that they are not doing anything illegal. When Winston returns home he dreams about his childhood. -
The Ministry of Truth
The next chapter takes place at Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth in which he uses a “speakwrite”. With this machine Winston talks into it and rewrites historical documents to make the Party look better. Winston creates many lies for the Party for example Winston changes food records to make it look like the people have been getting more food than they ever have. After this Winston starts to think about the Ministry and question its uses. -
Revolution
Winston starts to write in his journal about a revolution. He concludes that a rebellion would have to come from the masses and that this would most likely never happen because the masses don’t even know that they are being oppressed. Winston picks up a child’s history book to see how bad things have really gotten. Winston even remembers one time that the party was caught in a lie and the original Party had been thrown out because of it. -
"I love You"
Winston is at work one day when a dark haired girl he works with falls to the ground. When he helps her up she passes him a note that says “I Love You”. Up until this point Winston had thought that the dark haired girl was a spy that was monitoring his behavior. Winston desperately tries to make sense of the note. A few days later Winston sits by her at a lunch table and they talk. They arrange a meeting in a very crowded area as the thought police will not be able to track them there. -
The Meeting
Winston finds out that the girls name is Julia and arranges a meeting with her far away from the thought police. They talk for a while about the past and sing an old song from Winston’s childhood. Winston also finds a crystal paper weight that he is instantly mesmerized by. -
Childhood Memories
Winston wakes up in the morning crying. Julia is sitting next to him and she asks him why he is crying. Winston says it’s because he thinks that he accidently killed his parents when he was a kid by stealing their food. Winston talks about how he hates the Party because they dull people down to have no emotions. Winston and Julia also fear that they will be captured and tortured for the crime of being with each other but they both decide that they want to stay with each other. -
Hate Week
This week is Winston is loaded down with work because it is Hate Week. The party has changed its enemy and allies in the war so Winston is force to change all the records referring to the war. Winston picks up a book about how the Party twists reality to make the people more manageable. When Julia finds that Winston is reading the book she is very happy. -
Cell 101
Winston wakes up in a cell with four telescreens on him. He is dragged to cell 101 “the place of no darkness”. When he gets to this cell he finds that he has been arrested for thoughtcrime. He also finds that his neighbor that he helped with her plumbing has been turned in by her children. Winston only prays that The Brotherhood, a resistance group, will send him something to help. -
"Freedom"
Winston is in his cell and he is being tortured by the Party and the book cuts to a bar where Winston has been released to. Winston now accepts the Party and whenever he thinks of love or Julia he is repulsed. He now takes comfort in the Party and whatever old thoughts of happiness he has he dismisses as “false memories”. Winston feels alone and broken. Because of this he feels no reason to act or rebel against the Party.
