Quotes 1984 Flashcards
(33 cards)
1984 quote
‘He did not know with any…
certainty that this was 1984’
Power and Control
General quote
Emphasises the control the Party has over the knowledge its citizens can possess.
1984 quote
‘There were four tele…
screens, one in each wall’
Surveillance and Control
Describing his cell in the ministry of love
There being a telescreen on each wall emphasises how rigorously monitored he is here, fully lacking of control.
The abundance of screens may also symbolise the brainwashing they use as each screen is showing indoctrination and propaganda everywhere he looks.
Links to the “parlour walls” from fahrenheit 451
1984 quote
‘We have cut the links…
between child and parent’
Control and Power
Said by O’Brien in the ministry of love
The word “Cut” is violent and also links to an umbilical cord (that is cut at birth)
This also suggests it is permanent and irreversible.
1984 quote
‘If there is hope, wrote Winston, it…
lies in the Proles’ 54
Class hierarchy and Power
Written in Winstons diary
We see here an inversion of power, as Winston recognises that if united the Proles have the power to overthrow the party, except due to indoctrination and control he recognises they will not do this.
1984 quote
‘The (prole) woman down there had…
(she had only a)…
no mind’
‘fertile belly’
Class hierarchy and Distain
Said by Winston about the prole woman out the window of his secret room above Mr.Charringtons shop.
This quote highlights Winstons views on the poor population, interestingly here they align with the Party, showing that even though he is rebellious he is still a participant in party ideals.
Also highlights a link between judgement in 1984 and the Handmaids Tale as the Prole woman is described in a very similar way to the Handmaids. Saying the prole is just for childbirth (fertile belly) and mothering (strong arms) as far as he is concerned she has no mind.
1984 quote
‘Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory…
beliefs in ones mind and accepting both’
Indoctrination
General quote
Choosing to control your mind and betray basic logic for the Party.
1984 quote
‘For a fleeting instant, before the scenery of his mind…
changed. He saw five fingers’
Indoctrination and Giving up
Narrated by Winston during his toture scene in the ministry of love.
Winston is being indoctrinated, for a moment he has allowed his mind to deny his senses and accept what the Party (O’Brien) tells it to.
1984 quote
‘At the sight of the words…
I love you the desire to stay alive welled up in him’ 84
Acceptance and Giving up
Narrated by Winston after receiving Julia’s love note at work
Once shown love he wants to stop with the diary, in an attempt to escape the inevitable reality that he will die.
This is because he has been given something to live for.
Links to HT as Offred gives up her desire to rebel for love (after she starts a relationship with Nick), a comment that even in these such chaotic times, she is still a human and just wants to be loved. Choosing to try and make her life bearable than resist any longer.
1984 quote
‘He accepted everything. The past…
was alterable’
Indoctrination and Acceptance
Narrated by WInston during his torture scene in the ministry of love.
He betrays his previous self, going back on all he used to believe.
This self betrayal may foreshadow the betrayal of Julia 5 pages later.
He “accepts” the Party.
1984 quote
‘A natural clearing, surrounded by…
tall saplings that shut it in completely’
Nature and Protection
Narrated by Winston during his first meeting with Julia in the golden country
The trees keep Julia and Winston safe from the party, this highlights the rebellion and power of nature.
‘Saplings’ suggests that they are vulnerable and small, except here they are powerful.
1984 quote
‘A thrush had alighted on a…
bough, it in the sun, they in the shade’
Nature and Freedom
Narrated by Winston during his first meeting with Julia in the golden country
The thrush here symbolises freedom, an influence from “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy.
The fact that the thrush is in the sun connotes hope, for the thrush, but not them in the shade. This also highlights how the thrush is free to be seen in the light, while Winston and Julia must hide in the shade.
1984 quote
‘Happy together. As in his earlier childhood. He pushed the picture out of…
his mind. It was a false memory’
Nostalgia for the past and Memory
Winston thinking to himself after being released from the ministry of love at the end of the play.
The fact that he pushes this happy childhood memory down is another example of the Party “cutting links between parent and child”.
To the point were he even can’t even bare to think of his family, labelling it as a “false” memory as if family is somehow not real to him anymore or incomprehensible as a concept.
1984 quote
‘our duty to…
the party’
Sexual urges and Indoctrination
Winston telling Julia what his wife thought of sex.
Presents sex as a transactional process, and an unfeeling task, for the sake of the Party and not emotion.
Also highlights the indoctrination of Winstons wife, an example of a victim of the party.
1984 quote
‘The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be…
an annual formality’
Sexual urges and Control
Said by O’Brien to Winston in the ministry of love.
Removing ‘instinct’ makes people less human. The word formality seems robotic and unfeeling.
Sex for the party, no feelings.
1984 quote
‘The animal instinct, that was…
the force that would tear the party to pieces’
Sexual urges and Rebellion
Thought by Winston during his sexual encounter with Julia in the golden country.
He states their sex is a “primitive urge”, something the Party tries to suppress in him.
For this reason he states that it is “the force that will tear the Party to pieces”
There is also a contrast here between the “one person” and everyone with “animal instinct” which includes the whole human race, perhaps eluding to the idea that together they are powerful, united by their human drives.
Also note, double “P” is a plosive-violence
“Force” powerful.
1984 quote
‘Big brother is…
watching you’
Fear and Oppression
A banner read by Winston from the very start of the book.
Intimidation of the party, sets the tone for the rest of the book and shows us how they exert control and power.
1984 quote
‘Did you go and see the…
prisoners hanged yesterday?’
Fear and Oppression
Said by Syme to Winston at work
This quote is significant as it is so casual. The party hold these events to scare its population, highlights the intimidation of the party.
Contextually links to the ‘Moscow show trials’ in Russia where the regime held public hangings.
1984 quote
‘Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t…
care what you do to her’
Betrayal and Fear
Said to O’Brien by Winston during his torture scene in the ministry of love.
Winston betrays his love out of fear (of rats that O’Brien threatens to release on him)
This is significant as he is letting the Party control his emotions, something he claimed they could never do.
1984 quote
‘The smell of gin, which…
dwelt with him night and day’
Alcohol and Corruption
This is narrated after Winston has been let out of the ministry of love
Gin here shows his decline as he is drinking it to cope with his situation.
It also represents his oppression and corruption, as victory gin is used as an asset by the Party to control the masses.
Use of ‘day and night’ shows he cant escape this habit, the same way he cant escape the regime. This makes the point that it isn’t actually an escape from the party (that he is looking for by drinking to cope) but just another chain added to him.
1984 quote
‘To mark the paper was…
the decisive act’
Rebellion and Resistance
Here we see Winstons conscious choice to rebel against the party, even in such an insignificant way in the grand scheme.
We also see that he is aware of the risk, this will kill him and he knows it.
Also highlights the power in writing and literature.
1984 quote
‘You will never…
know’
Rebellion and Resistance
Said by O’brien to Winston in the ministry of love as an answer to his question of whether the Brotherhood is real
Winston holds onto hope that the Brotherhood is real and will overthrow the party but has doubts on its existence.
He asks O’Brien this as he fears that the Brotherhood may just be a tool of the party, to create a common enemy and catch ‘thought-criminals’
1984 quote
‘Smith W…
6079’
Identity and Individuality
The number given to Winston at his place of work.
We see here that Winstons identity within the party is reduced to a number, he is just a part of the cog.
The inspiration for this came from Orwell’s time in the propaganda section of the BBC where he was given a number similar to this.
1984 quote
‘Nothing was your own except…
the few cubic centimetres inside your skull’
Identity and Control
Narrated by Winston towards the start of the book
Due to rigorous surveillance, they have no freedom except in thought. The ‘thought police’ are put in place to try and control this also. In this way they are given no freedom of individuality or identity.
Also highlights the control and power the party have.
1984 quote
‘The whole aim of newspeak is…
to narrow the range of thought’
Control of language and identity
Said by Syme to WInston who works on the development of Newspeak
Highlights the rigorous level of control and the motive of the party, to the point of controlling articulation and even thought train.
