Monday 1 September 2014

In 1984 by George Orwell, what is a quote about Winston from pages 17–29? How can I analyze that quote deeply?

Here is a quote about Winston from page 25:


"Years ago--how long was it? Seven years it must be--he had dreamed he was walking through a pitch-dark room. And someone sitting to one side of him had said as he passed: 'We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.' It was said very quietly, almost casually--a statement, not a command. He had walked on without passing. It was only later and by degrees that they seemed to take on significance."



At the outset of the novel, Winston, despite working at the Ministry of Truth, or Minitrue, is beginning to doubt his faith in the Party and in Big Brother. This quote reveals the innermost thoughts in Winston's brain as he is beginning to rebel against the Party. In the dream he had several years before, he is in a darkness that represents the bleakness of Airstrip One (formerly Great Britain), where people are allowed no individual liberties. Someone promises him that he will emerge from this darkness, and he thinks that it is O'Brien, a member of the Inner Party, who speaks to him in the darkness and foresees a brighter future. 


When Winston originally had this dream, he did not think much of it. Only later did it begin to make an impression on him. Now, at the beginning of the novel, he wants to hasten the time when he can emerge from the darkness. He begins to write a diary in which he commits Thoughtcrimes, or thoughts that go against the Party. This dream is a fulfillment of his wish that he be able to live freely, not in the dictatorship that governs Airstrip One. It also foreshadows O'Brien's eventual duplicity towards Winston (in which O'Brien promises escape from repression that he never delivers). However, at this point in the book, Winston is not aware that O'Brien will be duplicitous towards him--Winston is only aware that he wants to change the dark and limited life that is his. 

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