1984
By George Orwell
Written in 1948
Schedule (optional)
It’s in three parts, and I SWORE I would not make a schedule but some readers like to have a little structure so here is a brief, brief plan.
Read Part 1 by 12/13- Read Part 2 by 12/20
- Read Part 3, finish by 12/31
Okay, so we should all be done with Part One today. I’ve spent a lot of time highlighting.
Here are some questions for week 1:
*Why does Winston keep a diary? Given the presence of the Thought Police, the constant surveillance, and the like, is it not dangerous?
It makes absolutely no sense that Winston does this. If it were me, maybe I’d do it for historical purposes to keep track of what was happening but only if I felt sure that I’d come out okay on the other side. Winston doesn’t have that confidence and yet he does it. There is a line in there about why he does it, but for O’Brien?
*What do you think of when you are first introduced to the ministries?
Ministry of Truth (news and entertainment, education)
Ministry of Peace (war)
Ministry of Love (law and order)
Ministry of Plenty (economic affairs)
The Ministries terrified me to be honest. There are a lot of similarities to what is happening right now with certain cabinet picks. The idea that a ministry could be called PLENTY when in fact it’s there to ensure that you are poor. Ministry of Peace? Nope, all about war and making sure it never ends. Ministry of Love? No love, just punishment and torture.
*What about this motto? How does it compare to what we are experiencing today?
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
The last one, Ignorance is Strength practically slapped me across the face. Keep people stupid so they don’t know what is actually happening around them, or to them.
*In 1984, the language spoken is Newspeak. It’s a language that is designed to limit the range of human thought. Also called Double Think. It’s a paring down of meaning, for example Uncold instead of warm. It also uses excessive abbreviations. Can you detect hints of this in today’s world? Provide an example.
Acronyms in texting come to mind. The LOLs, the TTFNs, and the LMAOs. Our vocabulary, especially amongst the younger generations is waning. They lapse into cuss words to explain what they want to say for lack of a better word. This makes me think of the “dumbing down” of society.
*The purpose of the Two Minutes Hate in George Orwell’s 1984 is to channel the citizens’ frustrations and emotions towards a common enemy, ultimately ensuring loyalty to the Party and preventing any rebellious thoughts or actions. In relation to our media sources today, is this something that is actually happening now?
Two Minutes of Hate. Would that be enough for us in today’s world? Two minutes to bash, and curse, and hate a particular person. In the book, that person is Goldstein. The idea is that if everyone directs their hate to this one person, then others will not be the target of their hatred.
Does this happen today? In a sense, the media controls what we see and what we feel. It picks and chooses and depending on the channel, your hate will be directed to individuals or parties that are not the same. I think most people can pull themselves away when it becomes too toxic, but what happens to the ones who can’t?
*Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother, the eye in the sky. In the book, Big Brother is always watching and listening and all for nefarious purposes. This is how the citizens are controlled. In our society today, we have a form of Big Brother. If you own a phone or an Alexa or Echo, someone is always listening. If you like a post on Instagram, someone is keeping track of that like and pushing content to you based on your clicks. Will they storm through the door and imprison us? No, but they could depending on what we choose to look at or post. Right?
Read Part 2 by 12/20. I will post questions on that date.
Book Chatter 
I finished Part 2 last night and it’s just so good! Thank you for suggesting this read along.
I finished the book early so I could prepare the posts. It’s really blowing my mind this time. It’s staying with me too. I’ve read the ending five times. So many thoughts.
I think Winston keeps a diary because he knows he’s becoming one of the few people who remember things from the past and he wants to document it even though he knows it will get him killed. He seems to feel like dying is inevitable anyway.
ignorance is strength seems to be the motto of the Republicans now as they undermine science, colleges, public schools, media.
in a sense, we are getting two minutes of hate regularly – just multiple times a day. In the news, in social media, in face to face interactions.
You are right about the two minutes of hate. It’s like 24/7 hate. Right after the election Trump proposed a Trump News Channel to Elon that would run 24/7 propaganda. I could not help but think of N. Korea. He said it would run on ALL channels. Like the telescreens in 1984.
I wish I had joined in with your readalong of this important book. Thank you for creating the readalong, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts about the book.
Okay, I’m late to the table, but I am joining in.
I split it into three parts but it’s so easy to blow through the book. Yay!!
I think Winston is a little bit of a risk taker and willing to risk it all to preserve his memories in his diary. It was his way to escape feelings of fear and hate and for a moment regain his emotions. l related to the line about the loss of deep and complex sorrows and the dignity of emotions as I do see that happening.
Ignorance is strength. For who? I’m thinking its for those about to come into power in our nation.
Your comment about the two minutes of hate is an eye opener and right on. Tune into most media and bias is not hard to detect. I have come to detest programs, especially talk radio that seems to be solely for making fun of people.
Big Brother is at my house. I’m always surprised when Alexa speaks up without being addressed. Just listening in and chiming in when a word in conversation sounds like the ” A word”.
Enjoying the read along!
I agree that Winston is keeping a journal for the future . You always have to hope that when tyranny is over that the remnant that is left , the remnant of truth and empathy can use Winston’s diary as a template that society can’t go back to the thought police and big brother .I feel as a society we do t look back , we are just just commiting the same atrocities , why is it hard to learn from the past ? we are completely loosing freedom , we gladly give away dna , we use phones that track us , we have cameras everywhere . Autonomy is almost impossible to find in the modern society . language and real conversation that goes beyond sound bites is hard to find too . So many rich descriptive words we do not use . I’m a voracious reader and I’m always amazed at the books that are the best sellers . I find a lot of them very trite and soapy and have a formulaic quality . I return to classics all the time . I love the written word that expands my vocabulary, even if no one else gets it lol 😂 loving this chilling book , and glad I can discuss with likeminded people
All excellent points. I feel like as a society we try to look back but depending on who is in office or owns a billion dollar social media platform, remembering the horrors of the past can be wiped away as easily as Newspeak presents itself in the book. Rewrite history. Remove the books that mention it. Delete entire chapters on the civil war and slavery, and then poof, it never happened. That might work for the young but for those that lived it. nope.
And yes, the tracking. The airtags, the DNA floating around, the Apple watches that monitor your health and send the data back for some tech guy to do with as he pleases. When Elon asked people to upload their MRIs so Grok could diagnose them, I nearly passed out. And they did. The dumbing down of society is how you control everything.