1984 Reading Journal
DATE: DECEMBER 5, 2022
ASSIGNED READING (chapters): 10
I. General Plot Summary (3-4 sentences):
After sleeping for what Winston thought a long time, he woke at twenty-three; and,
heard a song outside of the window. When Julia woke up, they were admiring the
pregnant woman and think about the Goldstein’s message in the book that the hope
lies in the proles. While taking about the bird that chirped when they first met in the
hiding place, they suddenly heard a voice behind the picture. Winston’s head was
filled with fear when he realized that the telescreen was behind the picture and that
the voice behind the picture belonged to Mr. Charrington who was part of the
ThoughtPolice.
II. Discussion Questions (may be an open-ended, thought-provoking questions for
the class OR something from the reading that didn’t make sense):
Are the ThhoughtPolice hidden among the poles?
Why would Mr. Charrington chose to arrest Winston and Julia now and not before
since he had the proof to arrest them?
Why would Goldstein say that the proles have the hope when there are spies among
them?
III. One Important Quotation (with page #):
“The birds sang, the proles sang, the Party did not sing. All around the world, in
London and New York, in Africa and Brazil and in the mysterious, forbidden lands
beyond the frontiers, in the streets of Paris and Berlin, in the villages of. The endless
Russian, in the bazaars of China and Japan – everywhere stood the same solid
unconquerable figure, made monstrous by work and childbearing, toiling from birth
to death and still singing. Out fo those mighty loins a race of conscious beings must
one day come. You were dead; theirs was the future. But you could share in that
future if you kept alive the mind as they kept alive the body, and passed on the secret
doctrine that two plus two make four,” (Orwell 196-197).
IV. Reaction/Reflection (2-3 sentences):
I was shocked to find out that Mr. Charrington was part of the ThoughtPolice.
However thinking back on his actions when he first lent the room made me think he
was suspicious from the beginning. When he first lent the room, he told Winston that
he understands that people sometimes need privacy; however, if he was a prole, I
don’t think he would know how the people in the party live.
