To begin, here is a listing of major plot points throughout the book.
Chapter one
The world is divided into Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.
Oceania is run by Ingsoc, or the English Socialism Party
Winston works for the ministry of truth, altering documents in favor of the party
Winston writes in his diary, which is a form of thoughtcrime.
He recalls the films he saw from the war with Eurasia of innocent civilians being gunned down.
He feels some sort of connection to O’Brien, a coworker.
The Parsons family is introduced; they are neighbors of Winston’s.
Winston begins to wonder about the past, and if the Party is lying to him.
After work one day, Winston goes to the Prole (proletariat) part of town, where he talks to an old man, trying to get a glimpse of the past. Unfortunately, the old man only remembers frivolous details. Winston heads to the antique store where he bought his diary. He is fascinated by a glass paperweight and buys it. He also sees the upstairs room, he has the idea of renting it, but dismisses it as too dangerous.
Winston leaves the antique shop and spots a woman from work. He is sure that she is a spy of the thought police, and considers smashing her head with his paperweight, but she eludes him.
Winston makes his way back to his apartment, where he writes in his diary again, and reflects that the thought police may be coming for him at any moment.
Chapter two
Winston encounters the girl from work, Julia, who he had suspected of being a spy. It had turned out that she was infatuated with him, and they plan to meet in secret.
They meet in a hidden spot in the wooded countryside. They both have similar critical views of the Party.
They meet in secret repeatedly, and fall in love with each other.
They rent out the room above Charrington’s shop as a hideout.
O’Brien invites them to his apartment, where they are inducted into the Brotherhood, and given a copy of The Book, which they must read.
During a rendezvous in the room above the shop, they fall asleep while reading. They wake up to find that they have overslept.
The Thought Police catch them in the room and arrest them.
Chapter three
Winston and Julia are separated, and taken to the Ministry of Love by the Thought Police.
Winston is made to undergo a process of re-education by O’Brien, who was really with the Thought Police.
Winston struggles to grasp the teachings, and is let to waste away.
Winston sees his extremely emaciated body in a mirror and is horrified. At this point the re-education begins sinking in, as Winston feels helpless.
Winston’s re-education is almost complete. Then they take him to room 101.
In room 101, they confront Winston with his biggest fear and ultimately make him betray Julia and stop loving her. This completes the re-education.
Winston is set free. He becomes an alcoholic. He has a brief meeting with Julia by chance, but it is emotionless. Their stays in the Ministry of Love scarred them both, and killed their love.
Next, we will examine the themes by chapter.
Chapter one:
1. Freedom of expression is necessary.
Winston feels compelled to write in his diary, although he’s not sure who will ever read it, or its real purpose. It shows that he needs a place to release his feelings, especially those that would get him killed, were they expressed in a less private way.
2. The past is important, and cannot be changed.
Winston begins to question his job of changing past documents to make the Party always correct. He develops an interest in what really happened in the past because of the haunting dreams he had of his family in the early stages of the Revolution. He shows it by venturing into the prole sector to ask the old man about the past. Or by meandering in Charrington’s antique shop looking at the various oddities of the past that he is attracted to for reasons he is not sure of.
Chapter two:
1. Love cannot be suppressed.
Against all odds Winston and Julia are able to repeatedly meet each other, and eventually fall in love. Even with the threat of the Thought Police and the strict rules of the Party, the love between Winston and Julia was not able to be prevented. All that the Party could do was to imprison and torture them, which still did not stop their love. Only through brainwashing could the Thought Police defeat it.
Chapter three:
1. There is no effective way to force beliefs on someone.
The Party was ultimately able to force its values on Winston. However they were only able to achieve it through cruel methods. This left Winston as a distant, emotionless, and thoughtless drone. After his torture he was no longer of any use to society. He became a heavy drinker, and did not often bother to go to work. Where as before, when he had his own believe and freedom to think them to himself he was able to contribute to the Party through his job and the community activities. Even if he may have disagreed with it, he still accomplished work for the Party.
Lastly, here is a listing of important terms and their definitions.
Palimpsest: an object, place, or area that reflects its history. Page 36.
Embezzlement: to steal for one’s own use in violation of a trust. Page 65.
Protuberant: bulging out beyond the surrounding surface. Page 66.
Stratum: a single bed of sedimentary rock, generally consisting of one kind of matter representing continuous deposition. Page 67.
Varicose: abnormally or unusually enlarged or swollen. Page 70.
Altercation: a heated or angry dispute; noisy argument or controversy. Page 72.
Strident: having a shrill, irritating quality or character. Page 71.
Prawn: any kind of shrimp like decapod crustaceans, certain of which are used as food. Page 74.
Pugnaciously: inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative Page 75.
Slatternly: slovenly and untidy. Page 81.
Incongruous: out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming. Page 84.
Folly: the state or quality of being foolish; lack of understating or sense. Page 84.
Officiousness: objectionably aggressive in offering one’s unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome. Page 85.
Squalling: a brief commotion. Page 86.
Lassitude: weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness; languor. Page 86.
Groveling: to behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe. Page 87.
Knell: any mournful sound. Page 87.
Haricot: the kidney bean. Page 94.
Etiolated: to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor. Page 99.
Furtively: taken, done, used, etc., surreptitiously or by stealth; secret. Page 108.
Solar Plexus: a point on the stomach wall, just below the sternum, where a blow will affect this nerve center. Page 184.
Indignantly: feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base. Page 191.
Desultorily: digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random. Page 191.
Emaciation: abnormal thinness caused by lack of nutrition or by disease. Page 194.
Unreproved: not rebuked for a fault or misdeed. Page 196.
Truncheon: the club carried by a police officer; billy. Page 197.
Prevaricate: to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect
impression; lie. Page 202.
Ampoule: a sealed glass or plastic bulb containing solutions for hypodermic injection. Page 213.
Metaphysics: philosophy, especially in its more abstruse branches. Page 219.
Hedonistic: a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.
Page 220.
Capitulate: to give up resistance. Page 227.
Furrows: a deep wrinkle in the skin. Page 231.
Baize: a soft, usually green, woolen or cotton fabric resembling felt, used chiefly for the tops of billiard tables. Page 234.
Didactically: inclined to teach or lecture others too much. Page 236.
Saccharine: containing or yielding sugar. Page 236.
Obliquely: having a slanting or sloping direction, course. Or position; inclined. Page 239.
Baldly: openly; undisguised. Page 240.
Memoranda: a written record or communication, as in a business office. Page 242.
Wainscoting: wood, especially oak and usually in the form of paneling, for lining interior walls. Page 243.
Implicating: to involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly. Page 245.
Important Newspeak vocabulary:
Ingsoc: English Socialism
Doublethink: Reality Control. The power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accept both of them.
Crimethink: To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc.
Facecrime: A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. A punishable offense.
Duckspeak: (To quack like a duck). To speak without thinking. Can be either good or bad, depending on who is speaking, and whether or not they are on your side.
Goodthink: Thought strongly adhering to the principals of Ingsoc.
Crimestop: The faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. Protective stupidity against anti-party ideas.
Prole: proletariat; working class; the uneducated masses of Oceania.
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