Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Winston is writing in his secret diary when this chilling thought strikes him. In his world the deadliest enemy is not a soldier or a spy but your own body. The first sentence makes the claim flatly and shockingly; the second explains the fear, that the tight, hidden 'tension' inside could suddenly 'translate itself' into a 'visible symptom' others could see, like a twitch or a look. Notice how Orwell uses cool, almost scientific words for a terrifying idea: under the Party, you cannot fully trust even your own nerves and face to keep your thoughts secret.
Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your own nervous system. At any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: Winston writes in his secret diary, trying to push out a painful memory; he has a chilling thought, that in his world your own body can be your worst enemy, because a twitch or a word spoken in your sleep could give you away; he remembers a man in the street whose face suddenly twitched and felt sure that man was 'done for'; he reflects that the Party does not want people to form their own close loyalties or feelings it cannot control; he remembers his wife Katharine, who never had a thought of her own and only repeated the Party's slogans, so that he nicknamed her 'the human sound-track,' and who treated marriage as 'our duty to the Party' rather than love; and at the end, even after confessing it all to his diary, he finds it 'made no difference.' When you reach Winston's thought that your own body could betray you, slow down and weigh how frightening it would be to fear your own self.
Discussion Questions
- Winston reflects that the Party does not want people to form their own close loyalties that it cannot control. What does the Party's wish to control even people's bonds and feelings suggest about the kind of power it wants, and why? Support your reading with the text.
- Katharine repeats Party slogans so completely that Winston calls her 'the human sound-track.' What does the contrast between Katharine and Winston help us see about life under the Party, and why? Use details from this chapter to support your view.
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary
Item 1
a deep, sinking fear of something bad that is coming; Winston felt it whenever the appointed day with Katharine drew near.
Item 2
faithful devotion to someone or something; the Party demands people give it to the Party above their own families.
Item 3
not allowed, against the rules and punished if broken; in Winston's world even a private wish can be treated this way.
+ 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