Study Questions: "1984", Chapters 3 - 5

Book Two, Chapter 3

How and where do Julia and Winston meet?
The church tower within a month after they met in the field. Other than that, they had to meet briefly in the crowded streets.

What is Julia’s job?
She works in the Fiction Department as a mechanic for the novel writing machines.

What is her background?
Julia is 26 years old and lives in a hostel with thirty other girls. She doesn’t know, or care, about anything before the Revolution. Her grandfather told her stories, but he was taken away when she was eight. She was captain of the hockey team and won the gymnastics trophy for two years. She had been a troop leader of the Spies and a secretary of the Junior Anti-Sex League. When she was older, she was picked to work in the Pornosec department. She had her first love affair when she was 16, with a Party member.

What is her attitude toward the Party?
Julia hates the Party, but she isn’t man enough to do anything about it. She just performs little acts of disobedience, rather than actual working to make a change.

Describe the quote “ With Julia, everything came back to her own sexuality. As soon as this was touched upon in any way she was capable of great acuteness”. What does Winston think about Julia?
Winston obviously likes Julia (or “loves”, as they like to say so often. This kind of relationship is her natural elements because she’s been accustomed to it for so long. She views it as a rebellion to the Party; all she cares about is defying the Party through sex. She doesn’t care about anything unless it effects her, so this is really the only topic she can discuss in full length.

Why does the Party think the sexual impulse as well as the familial love dangerous?
They are uncontrollable emotions that make connections between people. Big Brother knows that the only way people can band against the government is through connections.

Book Two, Chapter 4

How does Winston react to the singing Prole woman?
He likes her because she’s so carefree. He thinks that her singing is a symbol of rebellion, but he doesn’t like the song because it was manufactured by the Party. Winston noticed that the woman was content, and compared her to the Party members.

What pleasures of the senses are mentioned in this chapter? What is Orwell’s point in mentioning them?
Scent, taste, touch, sight, and hearing. Scent – the smell of Julia’s perfume. Taste – the food that Julia brings. Touch – Julia herself. Sight – everything around Winston. Hearing – the woman singing outside. He uses them to show that Winston and Julia are sill human even though their humanity is supposed to be taken away in this society.

What is Winston’s reaction to rats? Julia’s reaction?
Winston is afraid of rats and finds them disgusting, but Julia doesn’t really mind them, she’ll just patch up their hole and be rid of them. The rats remind Winston of horrible nightmares from his childhood.

Winston is interested in the church bells that once played in the city even though he is not religious. What do church bells mean to him?
Church bells are a symbol of connections between people because both Julia and Mr. Charrington recite the rhyme. They also symbolize the old days before the Rebellion. They remind him of his childhood.

Winston sees the coral paperweight as a symbol of what?
The paperweight symbolizes the room above Mr. Charrington’s shop, and the lives of Julia and Winston are the coral inside the paperweight, like they’re in their own little world where nothing matters. The paperweight is symbolic because it doesn’t have a meaning, and the Party doesn’t deal with anything unless it has a meaning. It symbolizes the days before the rebellion and how simple everything was.

Chapter 5

Who has vanished? How does Winston confirm this?
Syme has vanished. He can’t find his name on the list of Chess Committee members.

Describe the preparations for Hate Week. In what ways does the Inner Party excel in building spirit?
They decorate the town with banners and posters. They distribute pamphlets and have extra meetings and lectures. Everyone works extra hours in order to prepare for Hate Week. Winston has to go back and change things so that they can quote them in their Hate speeches later or use them on posters with altered pictures. Everyone is spreading rumors and telescreen shows about Hate Week are produced. New songs are made and posters of a Eurasian soldier are hung up to make people feel even more hate. The Party started dropping more bombs on the people.

Julia and Winston have some differences. Explain them.
Julia is a lot younger than Winston and has a different mentality. Julia hates the Party, but only cares about issues if they affect her directly, while Winston wants a large-scale revolution. Winston knows about the years before the Revolution, while Julia does not. Julia is practical, while Julia is not. Julia works more with her hands and Winston works with his mind. Julia only lives in the present that the Party has created, but Winston is concerned with the past and future.

Themes:
Isolation – Julia and Winston are both isolated from the rest of the world inside their little, secret bubble. They also have to meet in isolated places so that no one can spy on them. Winston feels isolated in his own mind because no one else seems to remember anything and he seems to be the only person who cares about a great change.
The Meaning of Freedom – Julia and Winston both have different definitions of freedom. Julia believes that she can attain a certain amount of freedom through her small acts of rebellion, while Winston wants total freedom for the society that they live in. They both want to be free of the control of the Party. As Winston listens to the singing Prole woman, he thinks about how free she looks and sounds as compared to the members of the Party, which seem to be under more control.
Social Class Disparity – Winston’s comparison between the Prole woman and Party members shows the break in social classes. The Prole woman is economically worse off than Party members, but she has less to worry about and can sing. Party members are always under close surveillance and they are kept under more control.