1984

1984 Summary | Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

We are introduced to Winston Smith and the world in which he lives. He is a very aged thirty-nine year old man, with a small, thin stature. He works in one of the four Ministries that serve as the entire government of Oceania. The Ministry names and functions are as follows: The Ministry of Truth, which regulates all forms of media, entertainment, and arts; the Ministry of Peace, which presides over all aspects of war; the Ministry of Love, which is a form of judicial system; and the Ministry of Plenty, which governs economic affairs.

The description of life in his world is bleak at best. He lives in a filthy building that smells of boiled cabbage. The elevator is always broken and his flat (apartment) is on the seventh floor. He has a terrible time getting up and down the stairs on account of a constantly oozing and aching varicose ulcer just above his right ankle. When he finally gets home, he is greeted by the same type of environment that he just left at work: constant surveillance by Big Brother, the government. This constant watch is kept on him by a telescreen, which covers the wall and is constantly monitoring not only his every action and word, but also his facial expressions. The slightest notion through gesture or appearance against the Party means death or worse. He must, in every aspect of his being, be a member of the Party, the group that supports Big Brother. The Thought Police are always there to enforce that loyalty.

Every description paints a picture of a cold, dark, empty, colorless existence. The Party Slogans, "WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH," are plastered everywhere the eye can see. Along with them, a portrait of Big Brother glaring with the caption, "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU."

The overwhelming and growing discontent that Winston feels is immediately evident. Although it is a risk to his life, he has somehow procured a pen, ink and a journal. There is a small alcove in his flat that just barely escapes the watch of the telescreen. He uses this as his sacred space to be himself and write. All of these actions are punishable by death. Even having a thought against the Party, which is called Thoughtcrime, is labeled as an offense. When he begins to write he realizes that he is not exactly sure of the date, his exact age, or of his own history or that of the world. He thinks that it is April 4, 1984. He cannot really be sure of anything, however, because it is the intention and priority of the Party to systematically erase the past and replace it with whatever they want to create. In the 1950's, a process began to dissolve the past through destruction of all newspapers, books, etc. and subsequently rewrite all of history to suit the Party. Another part of this process includes the creation of a new language called Newspeak and complete dissolution of the current form of language known as Oldspeak. This process was to be complete by 2050. The new language will be exponentially shorter than the old language and void of emotion or imagery. For instance, all synonyms of good and bad, as well as the word bad will cease to exist. In their place will be the words good and ungood. In order to say very good, one would say doubleplusgood, and to say very bad, doubleplusungood would be used. The new vocabulary is being constructed strictly for political purposes. Words such as honor, morality, democracy and science are cut out of the language completely. The word free has been retained but only in the following type of context: "The floor is free from litter."

The telescreen serves more than just the purpose of monitoring the people; it is also the medium by which political propaganda is programmed into them. Throughout the day flashes of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, appear on the screen in the form of the Two Minutes Hate. This is a Newspeak term describing a two-minute period during which footage and narration are especially geared towards accessing the depths of fear and anger in the people and turning it loose in support of Big Brother. There is yelling, name-calling, and throwing of objects at Goldstein's' face on the screen, followed by group chanting "B-B" (standing for Big Brother) repeatedly. One has to be careful not to be too calm or uninterested during the demonstrations, as this would serve as a definite clue to the Thought Police who may not be in full support of the Party.

In this section, we were also introduced to O'Brien. When he started writing his journal, he felt like O'Brien might be the only one that could ever help him in the movement to bring down Big Brother. He is sure that O'Brien gave him a certain flash of the eyes that made him know they were both in the same place against the party. We learn that in general Winston dislikes women. He believes that they are the most likely to believe everything the Party says without question. The girl with dark hair is especially frightening to him. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League and has a piercing glance that makes him sure; she is one of the Thought Police.