English 1984 Part III Content Study Guide Questions and
Answers Solved Correctly
1. Even though it is unlikely, Winston meets a person in prison that he could have
known in the past. Who is it, and why would Orwell have included this encounter?
An elderly drunk woman named Smith is thrown into the cell. While the woman is
probably not Winston's mother, the last name serves to further degrade him.
2. Why does Winston say that he feels no love for Julia? As he sits waiting for the
authorities to come for him, he says that all he can feel is fear.
Some students may find it hard to believe that Winston truly feels no love for Julia. He
may have pushed his love and concern for her to the back of his mind because he is
fearful of the immediate punishment that will come to him. However, given how the
Party has spent decades discouraging people from forming personal attachments to
others, Winston might have disregarded the affection he once felt for Julia, now that he
is facing the consequences of their relationship.
3. Who is Parsons, why has he been arrested, and what is his attitude about it?
Parsons used to be a true believing neighbor of Smith's. He was arrested for saying,
"Down with Big Brother" in his sleep, turned in by his daughter. He believes that it is
good he was caught "before it went any further."
4. Room 101, which is especially feared by the prisoners, appears to be an
interrogation room. What could they have in that room that is so feared?
Though students will not know the specifics of what is in Room 101, they should
understand that the room probably contains horrific means of torture. With the power
that the Party has, any type of physical or psychological torture is possible.
5. When O'Brien arrives, he says to Winston, "You knew this, Winston...Don't
deceive yourself. You did know it—you have always known it." What is O'Brien
saying that Winston has always known?
O'Brien says Winston believes he (O'Brien) is a member of the Thought Police, and that
Winston wanted to get caught.
1. After the initial physical beatings, what happens to Winston?
O'Brien interrogates him with a machine that sends electrical shocks through Smith's
body; O'Brien is in charge of the questioning, decides when to stop, when Winston can
eat, and yet, "he was the protector, he was the inquisitor, he was the friend."
2. What are Winston's feelings toward his interrogator?
Despite what O'Brien has done to him, Winston still feels that he and O'Brien have a
bond that goes deeper than friendship and that O'Brien understands him.
3. O'Brien tells Winston that the object of the interrogation is not to get a
confession, although Winston does confess easily; nor is the object to punish,
although he receives a great deal of punishment. What is the object of the
interrogation?
O'Brien needs to get Winston to truly and fully believe in the Party's version of reality.
"Two and two make five," if the Party says so. An individual's perception of reality must
be the same as the Party's.
4. What is the first result of the torture about how many fingers Winston sees
when O'Brien holds up four? What is the second?
, Winston is subjected to increasingly powerful electrical shocks until he says that he will
believe "Anything you like." This, obviously, is not the answer O'Brien needs to hear.
The electricity increases, and Winston finally says that he does not know, to which
O'Brien replies, "Better"
5. Why does the Party bring "criminals" to the place Smith is now in?
Winston is there "to be cured." The Party does not even care about any of "those stupid
crimes" he committed; it cares only about "the thought," which allows its prisoners to be
changed.
6. Since there is a strong likelihood they are going to execute him anyway,
Winston asks why they are going through the trouble of trying to change him.
What answer does his interrogator give him?
He is "a flaw in the pattern...." The Party does not kill those who resist. "[W]e capture his
inner mind, we reshape him....It is intolerable to us that an erroneous thoughts should
exist...."
7. Smith is then told that if he is allowed to live, "[n]ever again will [he] be capable
of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside [him]. Never again will
[he] be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or
courage, or integrity. [He] will be hollow." Why would Winston accept life at that
price?
If he were completely himself, it is unlikely that Winston would give up his feelings, his
curiosity, his desire to understand reality; however the torture that Smith endured makes
him pliable. In his current state, Winston may be convinced that a hollow life is still worth
living.
8. What is the frightening question Winston hesitates to ask? What is the literary
term implied in the answer?
Winston asks what is inside Room 101. Since O'Brien explains that "[e]veryone"
understands what is there, it must be some kind of universal or personal torture room.
The literary term is foreshadowing, since Winston seems destined to go to Room 101.
1. What does O'Brien tell Winston about Goldstein's book?
The descriptions in the book are true, but the business about the proles ever revolting is
"nonsense." He also tells him that he, not Goldstein, wrote the book, as part of a group.
2. When Winston is asked why he thinks the Party clings to power, what answer
forms in his head? What is Winston told is the real reason?
Winston thinks that O'Brien wants the answer that the Party clings to power because the
average man, being weak and cowardly, will not survive if the Party were not in power.
When he gives that answer, he is again subjected to a shock. O'Brien, however,
answers the question himself and says, "The Party seeks power entirely for its own
sake."
3. How does the Party control "matter" if, as Smith asks, it cannot control things
like gravity or disease, or even O'Brien aging?
It controls thoughts: "Reality is inside the skull."
4. In the previous chapter, as he explains why people are brought to the Ministry
of Love, O'Brien's face is described as "filled with a sort of exaltation, a lunatic
intensity." Do O'Brien's remarks in his explanation of reality, laws of nature, and
power seem irrational to you? Does he seem insane?
Answers Solved Correctly
1. Even though it is unlikely, Winston meets a person in prison that he could have
known in the past. Who is it, and why would Orwell have included this encounter?
An elderly drunk woman named Smith is thrown into the cell. While the woman is
probably not Winston's mother, the last name serves to further degrade him.
2. Why does Winston say that he feels no love for Julia? As he sits waiting for the
authorities to come for him, he says that all he can feel is fear.
Some students may find it hard to believe that Winston truly feels no love for Julia. He
may have pushed his love and concern for her to the back of his mind because he is
fearful of the immediate punishment that will come to him. However, given how the
Party has spent decades discouraging people from forming personal attachments to
others, Winston might have disregarded the affection he once felt for Julia, now that he
is facing the consequences of their relationship.
3. Who is Parsons, why has he been arrested, and what is his attitude about it?
Parsons used to be a true believing neighbor of Smith's. He was arrested for saying,
"Down with Big Brother" in his sleep, turned in by his daughter. He believes that it is
good he was caught "before it went any further."
4. Room 101, which is especially feared by the prisoners, appears to be an
interrogation room. What could they have in that room that is so feared?
Though students will not know the specifics of what is in Room 101, they should
understand that the room probably contains horrific means of torture. With the power
that the Party has, any type of physical or psychological torture is possible.
5. When O'Brien arrives, he says to Winston, "You knew this, Winston...Don't
deceive yourself. You did know it—you have always known it." What is O'Brien
saying that Winston has always known?
O'Brien says Winston believes he (O'Brien) is a member of the Thought Police, and that
Winston wanted to get caught.
1. After the initial physical beatings, what happens to Winston?
O'Brien interrogates him with a machine that sends electrical shocks through Smith's
body; O'Brien is in charge of the questioning, decides when to stop, when Winston can
eat, and yet, "he was the protector, he was the inquisitor, he was the friend."
2. What are Winston's feelings toward his interrogator?
Despite what O'Brien has done to him, Winston still feels that he and O'Brien have a
bond that goes deeper than friendship and that O'Brien understands him.
3. O'Brien tells Winston that the object of the interrogation is not to get a
confession, although Winston does confess easily; nor is the object to punish,
although he receives a great deal of punishment. What is the object of the
interrogation?
O'Brien needs to get Winston to truly and fully believe in the Party's version of reality.
"Two and two make five," if the Party says so. An individual's perception of reality must
be the same as the Party's.
4. What is the first result of the torture about how many fingers Winston sees
when O'Brien holds up four? What is the second?
, Winston is subjected to increasingly powerful electrical shocks until he says that he will
believe "Anything you like." This, obviously, is not the answer O'Brien needs to hear.
The electricity increases, and Winston finally says that he does not know, to which
O'Brien replies, "Better"
5. Why does the Party bring "criminals" to the place Smith is now in?
Winston is there "to be cured." The Party does not even care about any of "those stupid
crimes" he committed; it cares only about "the thought," which allows its prisoners to be
changed.
6. Since there is a strong likelihood they are going to execute him anyway,
Winston asks why they are going through the trouble of trying to change him.
What answer does his interrogator give him?
He is "a flaw in the pattern...." The Party does not kill those who resist. "[W]e capture his
inner mind, we reshape him....It is intolerable to us that an erroneous thoughts should
exist...."
7. Smith is then told that if he is allowed to live, "[n]ever again will [he] be capable
of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside [him]. Never again will
[he] be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or
courage, or integrity. [He] will be hollow." Why would Winston accept life at that
price?
If he were completely himself, it is unlikely that Winston would give up his feelings, his
curiosity, his desire to understand reality; however the torture that Smith endured makes
him pliable. In his current state, Winston may be convinced that a hollow life is still worth
living.
8. What is the frightening question Winston hesitates to ask? What is the literary
term implied in the answer?
Winston asks what is inside Room 101. Since O'Brien explains that "[e]veryone"
understands what is there, it must be some kind of universal or personal torture room.
The literary term is foreshadowing, since Winston seems destined to go to Room 101.
1. What does O'Brien tell Winston about Goldstein's book?
The descriptions in the book are true, but the business about the proles ever revolting is
"nonsense." He also tells him that he, not Goldstein, wrote the book, as part of a group.
2. When Winston is asked why he thinks the Party clings to power, what answer
forms in his head? What is Winston told is the real reason?
Winston thinks that O'Brien wants the answer that the Party clings to power because the
average man, being weak and cowardly, will not survive if the Party were not in power.
When he gives that answer, he is again subjected to a shock. O'Brien, however,
answers the question himself and says, "The Party seeks power entirely for its own
sake."
3. How does the Party control "matter" if, as Smith asks, it cannot control things
like gravity or disease, or even O'Brien aging?
It controls thoughts: "Reality is inside the skull."
4. In the previous chapter, as he explains why people are brought to the Ministry
of Love, O'Brien's face is described as "filled with a sort of exaltation, a lunatic
intensity." Do O'Brien's remarks in his explanation of reality, laws of nature, and
power seem irrational to you? Does he seem insane?
