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Copywork
About This Passage
Writing in his secret diary, Winston gathers his courage and makes a quiet vow. The Party wants people to deny what they can plainly see, even that two plus two make four, but Winston insists on defending the most ordinary truths of all. Notice how Orwell mixes a calm, formal sentence with a sudden burst of feeling, 'hold on to that!', as if Winston is bracing himself. Then come the plainest facts a person can know: stones are hard, water is wet, things fall down. As you copy, see how Winston uses everyday, undeniable truths as a shield against a Party that wants him to doubt his own senses.
The obvious, the silly and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall t...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: Winston writes in his secret diary that the only hope of beating the Party lies in the proles, the millions of ordinary people, who are strong enough to overpower the Party if only they could become aware of their own strength; he remembers hearing a huge, powerful shout from a crowd and hoping a rebellion had begun, only to find the women fighting over saucepans, not anything that mattered; he thinks about how the Party rewrites the past, even copying lies from a children's history book, so that no one can know what life was truly like before; he remembers once holding a photograph that did not match the Party's official story, real evidence that the Party had lied, before he had to drop it into the memory hole to be burned; and he reminds himself to defend the plainest truths, that the solid world is real and that two plus two make four, even when the Party wants him to deny what his own eyes can see. When you reach Winston's vow to hold on to 'two plus two make four,' slow down and weigh why defending a simple truth could be a brave act of resistance.
Discussion Questions
- Winston writes that the only hope of beating the Party lies in the proles, the ordinary people, not with Party members like himself. Why does Winston place his hope in the common people rather than people like himself, and what does that suggest about how the Party stays in power? Support your reading with the text.
- Winston hears a huge, powerful shout from a crowd and hopes a rebellion is starting, but the women turn out to be fighting over saucepans. What does this moment help you understand about the proles and their power, and why? What part of the chapter supports your reading?
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Vocabulary
Item 1
the act of rising up to fight against those in power; for a Party member it could be no more than a look in the eyes or a whispered word.
Item 2
fully aware and awake to what is really going on; Winston says the people will never rise up until they become this about their own strength.
Item 3
the state of having lost your reason; Winston fears that believing the past cannot be changed, when he may be alone, is a kind of this.
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Critical Thinking
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