Plot Points from Book Two, Chapters 3-8

Plot Points from Book Two

• They make it to O'Brien's
• They establish a consistent meeting place
• They disagree about the importance of the Party's manipulation of language
• Syme no longer exists
• They continue to prepare for Hate Week
• More statements about awareness and manipulation
• Humanity redefined along relationship terms; this after he has consistent relationship with Julia
• Importance of objects as carriers of memory established (glass, wine, coffee, notebook)
• The room and the glass hold special space for Winston to inhabit, a space of memory, where things have permanence, within which an accurate archive accumulates
• Differentiation between Inner and Outer Party (1st use of term?): by space, access, location, cleanliness of walls, use of tele-screens, by physical appearance and stature

Major Themes Section Constructs

1. Difference between Party members
1. How does the book account for these differences?
2. Having a space of permanence
1. glass object is a symbol for the room
2. Therefore, what he says of glass goes for the room (e.g., no real use--just a form, like writing? but something that creates something more? something to do with relationships?)
3. glass and room: same kind of nobility as his mother?
3. Traumatic Experience as a child
1. he attributes his mother's and sister's disappearance to his own cruelty
2. punishes himself ever since
4. Re-definition of humanity: redefinition of proles as humans 
1. importance of relationships
2. now we know why in the beginning he felt that if there was any hope, it was in the proles
3. he has also learned the reason why he said this at the same time we learn
4. it is not hope in their forgetful non-remembering behavior (text as a sort of anti-intellectual elite revolution position)
5. It is for their nobility in relationships, which is something Winston does not know, something he has to learn, re-learn, teach himself, remember
5. Hate Week
1. as ordering principle for the plot 
6. How can we understand the function of Winston having been previously married?
7. What is the primary conflict the text raises and what resolutions or values does the text present to address the conflict?
1. Importance of knowing and remembering
2. Importance of private loyalties, personal relationships
3. overcoming a system that intentionally manipulates behavior and thought
4. What is Julia tormented by? mentally both W. and J. are tormented by the thought of not being able to continue their relationship
5. What is O'Brien tormented by?
6. Winston is tormented by fear of not having access to the truth.
7. Winston is tormented by the threat of death attached to not being able to think whatever [Noted: it is stated that no one can ever know what's in your heart--you can confess anything]
8. threat of death for not falling in line; lack of will, agency
8. Why does Winston hand over complete fealty to a group as unpromising as the Brotherhood
1. How does this act present itself as a resolution to his problem?
2. How does the text create credibility/account for this action?
3. In what ways does the text fall short of this?

Summarizing Thoughts

I don't feel as though the Brotherhood offers an acceptable alternative to the Party. The Brotherhood does not address Winston's overarching goals. In as much as both Winston and the Brotherhood see weaknesses in the Party, they share goals.

Winston is tormented by an inability to construct true past and the loss of identity and meaning in life because of this inability. (Why he salutes "to the past" with O'Brien)

He looks for meaning in the public memory. He looks for meaning in private memory (old man, Julia). He looks for meaning in his own memory.

His searching for meaning leads him to speak with, engage with others such that he begins to form relationships. In the end, it is these relationships that hold meaning. 'Private loyalties' the 'nobility' of his mother. It is for their ability to create meaning through relationships that proles are understood to be human, more human than the Party, even though official party doctrine would say otherwise.

The brotherhood with its secret network and nebulous relationships cannot truly offer an alternative to the Party. it is part of the party, even by its very name. It is made up of individuals from the party, so what can they know of the 'humanity' that Winston sees and values? even in their ability to turn off the telescreen, they cannot construct longterm relationships in the way the proles can. they cannot create a moment with another person in their over-structured imposed lifestyle.