Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Study the cold logic Orwell lays out here. The first sentence explains how a lie becomes "truth": not by being proven, but simply because everyone accepts it and every record agrees. Then the Party slogan turns that idea into a chant, three short clauses that loop back on themselves, ‘past… future… present… past,’ so that controlling time in one direction means controlling it in every direction. The calm, almost mathematical phrasing makes a terrifying claim, that whoever owns the past owns reality itself, sound like a simple rule.
And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘cont...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: Winston is dreaming; first of his mother and baby sister sinking away beneath him while still looking up at him with love, and he senses that long ago people felt deep love and sorrow that the world no longer allows; then of a beautiful place he calls the Golden Country; a piercing whistle from the telescreen wakes him for the Physical Jerks, led by a sharp woman on the screen; as he exercises, Winston struggles to remember his real childhood and reflects that the Party can change the past, so that whoever controls the past controls the future; the telescreen calls him '6079 Smith W' and orders him to bend lower, and Winston, careful to show no real feeling, finally touches his toes. When you reach Winston's thoughts about changing the past, slow down and weigh why that frightens him more than torture.
Discussion Questions
- In his dream, Winston watches his mother and baby sister sink away beneath him while they keep looking up at him with love. Why do you think that dream matters so much to him, and what does it help him notice about his life now? What part of the chapter supports your reading?
- During the Physical Jerks in front of the telescreen, Winston keeps his face still and shows nothing of his real fear or anger. Why do you think Winston works so hard to control even his own expression, and what does that reveal about his world? What part of the chapter supports your reading?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary
Item 1
Swollen and twisted, said of veins; Winston's painful varicose ulcer above his ankle begins itching after his violent morning cough.
Item 2
Blame or disappointment aimed at someone; in the dream there is no reproach in his mother's or sister's faces, only the knowledge that they must die so he can live.
Item 3
Gave up something precious for the sake of someone or something else; Winston dreams that his mother's life was given up, sacrificed, so that his own could go on.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 5 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free