1984 - Activities

Answer the following questions

1. What is the setting of the novel?
London – actually “Airstrip One” – 1984

There are three large superstates: Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania which consists of the Americas and
Great Britain, so Winston Smith is a citizen of Oceania working in London. The three superstates are at
constant war with each other, in varying combinations.
2. How is the society in 1984 structured?
The structure is pyramidal, i.e. few people are at the top, and most people are at the bottom of the
hierarchy.
On the very top we find Big Brother, who is the great leader of The Party (INGSOC) and has absolute
power. However, whether Big Brother exists as a real person is not clear.
The Inner Party follows in the hierarchy. They Inner Party members are the few people with collective
and individual power, the oligarchs. They determine everything that happens in Oceania.
Below the Inner Party comes the Outer Party, which, if the Inner Party is described as the brain of the
State (Winston Smith and Julia, Syme and Parsons, and others working in various sections of the
ministries are members of the Outer Party). They have no power, are observed and controlled at all
times.
Below that come the dumb masses who are habitually referred to as ’the proles’, numbering perhaps
85 per cent of the population. The proles ‘don’t count’; they are like animals, we learn several times
throughout the novel. Winston Smith hopes that the proles might one day start a rebellion and
overthrow The Party.
3. What are the three slogans of the Party and what do they mean?
WAR IS PEACE The war between the three super states Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia is not meant to be won.
The main purpose of this constant war is to destroy the products of human labour, and to keep the people poor,
very poor, so they can be controlled more easily. Being so poor, they are busy managing to survive, there is no
energy left for any initiatives that might endanger the existing order. Thus, the war creates stability, and stability
can be seen as peace. After all, the people of Oceania do not fight each other

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY Big Brother controls everything: the people, their thoughts, their feelings, the reality, and
the laws of nature.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH The minds of the people are controlled by Big Brother, therefore reality is controlled
by Big Brother, and therefore nobody knows anything personally, only what Big Brother tells them to know-. The
best thing is to be completely ignorant, so your mind is readily available for Big Brother’s wishes. Being ignorant
makes you strong because you become a perfect cell of The Party – and The Party is strong.
 4. What is the function of the “telescreens”?
The telescreens connect the people to the Party by informing them on a 24/7 basis with no chance to ever switch
them off. They can only be dimmed. Also, the people of Oceania are constantly observed visually and acoustically
through the telescreens, everywhere they are, even in their private homes.

5. What is INGSOC?
INGSOC is the name of the Party. INGSOC is an acronym for "English Socialism”. INGSOC is Newspeak for English
Socialism; it is the philosophy that the Party follows and enforces. The idea of INGSOC and the existence of
Newspeak (the language created by the government) is to control the population and limit their ability to think
freely.

6. What is the “Two Minutes Hate”?

During the “Two Minutes Hate” that take place regularly every day the people of Oceania must learn to focus
their negative feelings and thoughts on Emmanuel Goldstein, the leader of the Brotherhood / the resistance.

7. Why is Newspeak so important?

Newspeak is the new language created by the Party that restricts the ability of the people to express their
thoughts and opinions, or even to think them. This is done by eliminating words that convey meanings not
appropriate to the Party, and by simplifying the vocabulary, e.g. good – plusgood – doubleplusgood (instead of
good-better-best), or ungood – plusungood – doubleplusungood (for bad – worse – worst).

Newspeak has not reached its last stage. As Syme – Winston’s friend and newspeak specialist (who is later
vaporized by the Party) – explains, the tenth edition of the newspeak dictionary will be smaller than the ninth
edition and the eleventh edition will be much thinner still.

8. What does the Ministry of Truth do?

The Ministry of Truth (Newspeak: Minitrue) is the ministry of propaganda. As with the other ministries
in the novel, the name Ministry of Truth is a contradiction because in reality it serves the opposite: it
is responsible for any necessary falsification of historical events. However, like the other ministries, the
name is also apt because it decides what "truth" is in Oceania.
The Ministry of Truth is involved with news media, entertainment, the fine arts and educational books. Its
purpose is to rewrite history to change the facts to fit Party.

The following are the sections or departments of the ministry mentioned in the text:
Records Department (Newspeak: Recdep)
Fiction Department (Newspeak: Ficdep)
Tele-programmes Department (Newspeak: Teledep)
Pornography section – for Prole consumption only (Newspeak: Pornosec)

9. How does the Party maintain its power?

The Party maintains its power primarily through language, technology, fear, and isolation. The language
Newspeak allows the Party to control how its citizens think and talk. The telescreens allow the Party to
maintain surveillance on its citizens at all times, forcing citizens to censor their words and even facial
expressions. The neverending war with either Eurasia or Eastasia keeps people in a constant state of
fear, ensuring that they will stay loyal to Oceania. The Party also uses people’s worst fears against them
in the Ministry of Love. By suppressing intimate relationships between citizens, the Party prevents
“men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control
 10. What is Doublethink?
Doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting two contradictory beliefs as correct. According to
Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984, doublethink is “To know and not to know, to be conscious of
complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions
which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic
against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible
and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then
to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it
again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety:
consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of
hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word—doublethink—involved the use of
doublethink.”
Four examples of doublethink used throughout 1984 include the slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is
Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, and 2 + 2 = 5.
11. Why is the war in 1984 never ending?
In Goldstein’s manifesto, he observes that a country that is productive will eventually become
prosperous, unless something is done to destroy the fruits of that productivity. War is the ultimate
solution to this problem. War forces the population to be more and more productive, but all those
products are destroyed by the war, so the people never benefit from their work. The ruling class gains
power while the lower classes never benefit from their labor and can be branded as unpatriotic if they
try to resist exploitation. Further, a state of constant war keeps the population fearful and eager to
give up their freedoms for security. Meaningless victories can be claimed by the Party from time to
time in order to stir up patriotism and encourage citizens that their hard lives are having a positive
effect on the war effort.
12. How is Julia’s rebellion against the Party different than Winston’s rebellion?
Winston has a philosophical position that rejects the Party as unjust and inhumane, Julia simply doesn’t
like all the rules and finds ways to break them when she can safely do so.
As a result, even though Winston more strongly believes in the need to destroy the Party, Julia actually
does more day-to-day to break the rules. Her ability to gather contraband in a way that Winston can’t
reflects this difference between their rebellions. Julia has lots of contact with other people who do not
obey the rules of the Party. Julia has had many secret lovers, and presumably some of these people
supply her with contraband. Julia specifically mentions waiters and servants who work for the Inner
Party and have access to contraband not usually available to the Outer Party.
13. Who is Emmanuel Goldstein?
Goldstein is the leader of the ‘Brotherhood’ that is against Big Brother, against the Party. The people of Oceania
must learn to hate him, and they are reminded of Goldstein’s evil plans every day, during the Two Minutes Hate.

14. Why does Winston keep a diary?

Winston begins to write his diary because he feels a strong desire to communicate what he thinks and feels
about the world he lives in to somebody. Since there is nobody around the only place he can conceive is a diary,
where he writes to himself, or - as he thinks when he starts the first lines - for the future, for the unborn. Read
What is room 101, and what happens in it?
In room 101 the people are confronted with their deepest fears so that all their inner resistance against
Big Brother collapses. In Winston’s case, his biggest fear are the rats. When he is confronted with rats
in front of his face, when he is terrorized by the fear that they will jump on his face he finally betrays
his feelings for Julia. “Do it to Julia, not me!” he shouts. That crushes his soul, his innermost self, and
he ends up loving Big Brother.

Life of Pi
1. “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” Does this story do that? Why? How?
2. In what way does Pi see religion as similar to a zoo? If religion is like a zoo, who are the
zookeepers?
3. How does Pi describe what calls him to each of the 3 faiths he begins to practice? Why
does he choose each one?
4. Throughout the book, Pi expresses several strong opinions about atheism and
agnosticism. Give at least one example of each. Which position does he find
preferable? Why?
5. In Chapter 93, Pi says, “High calls low and low calls high. It tell you, if you were in such
dire straits as I was, you too would elevate your thoughts. The lower you are, the higher
your mind will want to soar. It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the
throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God.” Do you believe that crisis naturally
causes a person to turn to God? Why or why not?
6. “Which is the better story?” Pi asks at the end. How would you answer this question? Do
you think both of his stories are equally true? Is one more truthful than the other? What
kind of story would you consider this book to be?
7. Pi believes that animals in a zoo are no worse off than animals in the wild. Do
you agree with him?
8. Pi considers himself a convert to Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Is it possible
to practice all three faiths faithfully? What is Pi's reasoning for not choosing
one?
9. Pi's story of surviving on a lifeboat with zoo animals is rather incredible. Did the
far-fetched nature of the story ever bother you? Was Pi a convincing storyteller?
10. What is the significance of the floating islands with the meerkats?
11.
12. Discuss Richard Parker. What does he symbolize?
13. What is the connection between zoology and religion in Pi's life? Do you
see connections between these fields? What does each of the fields teach us
about life, survival, and meaning?
14. Pi is forced to tell the shipping official a more credible story. Does his
story without animals change your view of the story with animals?
15. Neither story can be proved one way or the other, so Pi asks the official
which story he prefers. Which do you prefer? Which do you believe?
16. Throughout "Life of Pi," we hear about interactions between the author
and adult Pi. How do these interactions color the story? How does knowing Pi
survives and has a "happy ending" with a family affect your reading of his
survival account?
17. When Martel first hears of Pi's story, the person who relates the tale tells
him, "This story will lead to you to believe in God." After Martel fully researches
the story, he agrees. Why do you think the person relating the story made such
a statement and why do you think Martel came to agree with him?
18.
19. In an interview with Martel conducted by Random House Reader's Circle,
and published in a subsequent novel by Martel ("Beatrice and Virgil"), Martel
stated: "I find it easier to suspend readers' belief if I use animal characters. We
are cynical about our own species, less so about wild animals." What do you
think Martel meant by that statement?
20. What is the significance of the name "Pi?"