Part Two, Chapter 10

1984

Mountaineers · 10th–12th

Copywork

It had never before occurred to him that the body of a woman of fifty, blown up to monstrous dimensions by childbearing, then hardened, roughened by work till it was coarse in the grain like an over-ripe turnip, could be beautiful. But it was so, and after all, he thought, why not? The solid, contourless body, like a block of granite, and the rasping red skin, bore the same relation to the body of a girl as the rose-hip to the rose. Why should the fruit be held inferior to the flower?

The mystical reverence that he felt for her was somehow mixed up with the aspect of the pale, cloudless sky, stretching away behind the chimney pots into interminable distances. It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here.

The first passage ends on a question: “Why should the fruit be held inferior to the flower?” Who is Winston arguing with?

For the educator Two passages, six sentences, both from the hour at the window before the arrest. The first opens on a long periodic sentence: the subject, “the body of a woman of fifty”, is buried under hard participles (“blown up”, “hardened, roughened”) and a homely simile, “like an over-ripe turnip”, and the verdict, “could be beautiful”, waits until the very end. The second sentence turns in a few words, with “he thought” dropped into the middle. The third sets out an analogy in the form A is to B as C is to D: the woman’s body is to a girl’s “as the rose-hip to the rose”. The fourth is a rhetorical question. The second passage is built the other way. Its first sentence states its subject at once, “The mystical reverence”, admits with “somehow mixed up with” that the feeling has no clear cause, and then drifts outward on a trailing phrase, “stretching away behind the chimney pots into interminable distances”, as the sky does. The second opens on “It was curious to think that”, and ends on a widening list, “in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here”. Students copying them practise a periodic sentence that holds its verdict back, a parenthetical “he thought”, a four-part analogy, a rhetorical question, and a loose sentence that trails outward. For the talk prompt, listen for more than one opponent. One student hears Winston arguing with himself, with the man who never before thought such a body “could be beautiful” and who still reaches for “monstrous” and “turnip”. Another hears him arguing with Julia, the girl beside him, whose answer, “She’s a metre across the hips, easily”, comes straight after. A third hears him arguing with the reader, who has just been handed those same harsh words. Each serves the last written question, since the faith Winston is about to place in the proles starts here, in a judgment he talks himself into and a feeling “somehow mixed up with” the sky. Keep to the page: do not say what happens to the woman once the men reach the yard.

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter from the song in the yard to Mr Charrington’s new face. Give the hour at the window as much care as the arrest.

1. Winston decides the woman in the yard “had no mind,” only a strong body, and that the mind is his and Julia’s to keep alive. How fair is that split to the woman?Moral reasoning

2. Julia says the thrush “was just singing”, and Winston’s next thought is “The birds sang, the proles sang, the Party did not sing.” What does he do with her answer?Inference

3. Winston says, “We are the dead,” Julia echoes him, and a voice behind them answers, “You are the dead,” twice. Whose sentence is it now?Theme

4. When the paperweight smashes and the coral rolls across the mat, Winston thinks, “how small it always was!” What was the glass doing for the coral, all that time?Author's choice

5. After Julia is carried out, Winston sees that the clock and the light do not agree, and he lets the thought go: “It was not interesting.” What is left of the mind he meant to keep alive?Character

Make a Connection Think of a silly song that everyone seems to know, though no one would call it good. Why might a song like that last so long?

Vocabulary

indefatigable The indefatigable voice sang on:

drivelling The drivelling song seemed to have kept its popularity.

contourless The solid, contourless body, like a block of granite, and the rasping red skin, bore the same relation to the body of a girl as the rose-hip to the rose.

interminable The mystical reverence that he felt for her was somehow mixed up with the aspect of the pale, cloudless sky, stretching away behind the chimney pots into interminable distances.

demeanour The demeanour of the black-uniformed men suddenly became more subdued.

Critical thinking

1. Winston wonders if the world the proles build might be as strange to him as the Party’s. He decides it will not, “because at the least it would be a world of sanity.” Does that reason settle his doubt?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

2. Just before the arrest, Winston feels sure the future belongs to the proles. Is his faith in them real insight or a beautiful dream?

Thesis

Objection

Revision