1984

George Orwell

Plot (List 7 - 12 major events)

• Winston buys a diary and keeps all of his personal thoughts into it. Thoughts that he is not really supposed to be thinking about. If he is caught with the diary and the things that he has written about the party is found, he will get in trouble (possibly killed). 
• Winston goes out and just starts randomly walking after work. People are not really supposed to wander places and if you are caught the person will ask you where you are going, where you came from, and why you left work early (if that is where you were coming from and most likely you were.). Likely he avoids getting asked questions because he takes all of these side streets and he finally comes to this shop, and it is where he bought the diary. He finds it strange that he came to this spot without realizing it, because he told himself that he would never go back to the place, because he is afraid he will get caught. Winston then looks around the street and sees an antique store and he decides to go in and have a look around. While he is in there he buys a glass paper weight because it looks unique and old to him. The owner of the store is happy that he has finally gotten money and says I will show you up stairs maybe there is something that you will want to buy. So they go up and instantly Winston likes the room and he wants to see if he can rent it out. What mostly draws him to the room is that there is no "telescreens" found anywhere in the room and that would allow him to have privacy. 
• Winston gets a note from this girl that works in the same building as he does. It says "I love you." Men and woman in these times are not supposed to be together unless it is to have children that will work for the party. Winston waits to talk to the girl (Julia) because even if they were seen together could be bad for both Julia and Winston. 
• When Winston finally gets the courage up to talk to Julia they set up a place to meet it is at lunch. They talk quick and never look at each other.  Julia tells him a place that she knows of that is away from all people, and also away from the "telescreens" and the thought police.
• A while has passed and Winston finally gets the okay to rent the room from the man who owns the antique store. That is now the meeting place for him and Julia to meet to get away from the telescreens, the thought police and everyone else who might turn them in for meeting.  
• O'Brein talks to Winston and tells him that they both need to meet somewhere. O'Brein gives Winston the address to his house and that is something that you are not supposed to do. Winston waits awhile and then him and Julia goes to see him. Winston thinks that this is a meeting about the secret brother hood that Winston believes O'Brein is in.  
• Winston and Julia get O'Breins address and they go and talk to him about the special brotherhood that O'Brein is in.

Characters (list 3 - 8 characters, with descriptive info on each)

• Winston-The main character in the book. He is around 39 years old and is a minor member of the ruling party in London. 
• Big Brother- He is the leader of the city of Oceania, London. He never really exists in the book he is still an important figure to the people of Oceania. 
• Parsons- Another member of the ruling party in London. He works in the same building as Winston and also lives near him in the same apartment complex. He has two children who are impolite and are members of the "junior spies."
• O'Brein- A sophisticated member of the inner party and may also be part of the "brother hood" which is a group of anti-Party rebels, that are legendary and have been around for a long time. 
• Katharine- Winston's wife that disappeared or took off a long time ago. Winston does not know if she is dead or alive, because it has been a long time since he has seen her and he never found out what happened to her. The reason that she left was because she was only with Winston so that she could have a child for the party, and when she could not get pregnant her and Winston talked to the party and agreed that it was okay to get a divorce.

Settings (list 3 - 5 settings, with descriptive info. on each)

• setting 1
• setting 2
• setting 3

Conflicts (identify 3 - 4 major conflicts and explain the importance of each)

• Conflict between Character versus Society. There is conflict between Winston and Julia with the society that they are living in. They are having problems with the government and they do not trust the people in charged.
• Character Versus Self. There is conflict that Winston faces with himself. He does not know how to at times what to believe and who to trust. He kind of argues with himself between what is right and what is wrong.
• Character Versus Character.

Themes  (identify 3 - 4 major themes and explain the basis of each)

• theme 1
• theme 2
• theme 3

Symbolism (identify 3 - 4 symbols and provide an interpretation of each)

• Big Brother is a symbol of reassurance to the people of Oceania, the name "Big Brother" makes people feel like they will be protected, but at the same time it can also make people feel like they are no match for the "Big Brother." 
• The Telescreens is a symbol of power and control that the government has over people. 
• The glass paper weight is a symbol of how life used to be in London. It shows how times have changed, because Winston states that he has never seen anything like the paper weight before.

Commentary (express your opinions about the book here)

• The book gives a great sense of how people see the future. 
• You are able to look back and see if the things that they thought would happen really did.
• 1984 allows you to stop and think about what things in your future will come true and what we believe will happen, it also allows us to make predictions and think of things that we would never have thought of before.