1984
PART TWO: Chapter 4
by Orwell, GeorgeIn Chapter 4 of Part Two, Winston reflects on the shabby room he has rented above Mr. Charrington’s shop, a rare sanctuary free from the Party’s ever-watchful telescreens. The room’s worn furnishings, including a large bed and a glass paperweight, symbolize a fragile refuge from the oppressive world outside. Winston prepares for a secret meeting, aware of the grave risks involved. Mr. Charrington’s indifferent attitude toward the room’s intended use contrasts sharply with the Party’s invasive control, highlighting the delicate and precarious nature of privacy in this totalitarian society.
Winston listens to the distant sounds of everyday life outside the window—a prole woman singing a manufactured song, children’s cries, and traffic noise—yet inside, the room remains silent, a stark contrast brought by the absence of surveillance. This moment of quiet underscores the rarity and preciousness of such privacy. Despite the danger, Winston and Julia are drawn to this space as a place where they can express their forbidden love, a rebellion against the Party’s suffocating control over personal relationships and desires.
Their relationship, initially driven by an act of will, has grown into a profound physical and emotional need. Julia’s unexpected cancellation of a planned meeting due to increased work demands for Hate Week evokes a complex mix of anger and tenderness in Winston. He yearns not just for physical intimacy but for a normal, unthreatened companionship—an ordinary life free from fear and surveillance. This longing reveals the human cost of living under constant oppression, where even love becomes an act of defiance and a source of vulnerability.
Despite knowing the folly and danger of their actions, Winston and Julia choose to rent the room, fully conscious that it may hasten their downfall. Their decision to claim a small space of freedom is both a desperate grasp at normalcy and a deliberate step toward potential destruction. As Winston waits in the room, his thoughts turn darkly to the Ministry of Love’s cellars, a reminder of the brutal consequences that await those who dare to resist the Party. This chapter poignantly captures the tension between the human desire for connection and the omnipresent threat of totalitarian control.
FAQs
1. What significance does Mr. Charrington’s room hold for Winston and Julia, and why is renting it considered a “folly”?
Answer:
Mr. Charrington’s room represents a rare sanctuary of privacy and intimacy for Winston and Julia in a society characterized by constant surveillance and control. The shabby room, free from telescreens, offers them a space where they can express their forbidden love without immediate fear of being watched. However, Winston repeatedly thinks of renting the room as “folly” because it is an overt risk: the Party’s surveillance is pervasive, and hiding a love affair is one of the gravest and least concealable crimes. Despite knowing the danger, the temptation to have a private place “truly their own” overrides their caution, symbolizing their desperate need for human connection and rebellion against oppressive control.2. How does the description of the prole woman singing outside the window contribute to the atmosphere and themes of this chapter?
Answer:
The prole woman singing a catchy but meaningless song outside the window creates a stark contrast between the natural, lively world of the proles and the oppressive, controlled environment Winston and Julia inhabit. The song, generated by a versificator without human creativity, reflects the Party’s manipulation of culture and the reduction of prole life to repetitive, hollow distractions. Yet, the woman’s tuneful singing and the everyday sounds of children and traffic suggest a semblance of normal life beyond Party control. This juxtaposition deepens the theme of surveillance versus freedom, highlighting Winston’s yearning for genuine human experience in a world dominated by artificiality and repression.3. Analyze how Winston’s feelings toward Julia evolve in this chapter and what this reveals about his deeper desires.
Answer:
Initially, Winston’s attraction to Julia is more intellectual and willful, but by this chapter, his feelings have deepened into a physical and emotional necessity. He experiences sensual desire that permeates his senses—her hair, mouth, and skin become vital to his existence. When Julia cancels their planned meeting, Winston’s initial anger shifts to tenderness, revealing his wish for a stable, ordinary relationship free from fear and constant passion. He longs for a married life of companionship and mundane domesticity, indicating a deeper human desire for security, normalcy, and genuine connection beyond rebellion. This evolution underscores the human cost of living under totalitarian oppression.4. What role does the motif of time play in this chapter, and how is it connected to the characters’ secret meetings?
Answer:
Time is a critical motif symbolizing both control and resistance. The clock in Mr. Charrington’s room shows a different time from the real time, emphasizing disorientation and the artificiality of the Party’s imposed order. The precise timing of Julia’s arrival (nineteen-thirty) and the increased working hours due to the upcoming Hate Week reflect the Party’s intrusion into personal life and schedules. Despite these constraints, Winston and Julia carve out moments to meet, symbolizing their struggle to reclaim time for themselves. Their secret meetings are acts of rebellion against the Party’s control over their lives and bodies, highlighting the tension between imposed order and personal freedom.5. Considering the risks involved, why do Winston and Julia agree to rent the room, and what does this decision reveal about human nature under oppression?
Answer:
Winston and Julia agree to rent the room despite knowing it is “lunacy” because the desire for privacy, intimacy, and autonomy is overwhelming. The room offers a rare refuge where they can be themselves without fear of the Party’s eyes. This decision reveals a fundamental aspect of human nature: the innate need for connection and freedom even in the face of severe danger. Their willingness to risk capture illustrates how oppression can intensify the desire for personal rebellion and highlights the resilience of human spirit. It also foreshadows the tragic consequences of such defiance in a totalitarian regime.
Quotes
1. “Folly, folly, his heart kept saying: conscious, gratuitous, suicidal folly. Of all the crimes that a Party member could commit, this one was the least possible to conceal.”
This quote captures Winston’s acute awareness of the danger inherent in his illicit relationship with Julia, highlighting the recklessness and desperation driving their rebellion. It introduces the central tension of the chapter: the risk of seeking privacy and intimacy under a totalitarian regime.
2. “Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing. Everyone wanted a place where they could be alone occasionally. And when they had such a place, it was only common courtesy in anyone else who knew of it to keep his knowledge to himself.”
Here, Mr. Charrington’s seemingly innocuous words underscore the rarity and preciousness of privacy in the Party’s surveillance state. This concept of privacy as a scarce commodity frames the significance of the rented room as a symbolic and literal refuge.
3. “He wished that they were a married couple of ten years’ standing. He wished that he were walking through the streets with her just as they were doing now but openly and without fear, talking of trivialities and buying odds and ends for the household.”
This passage reveals Winston’s deep yearning for normalcy, stability, and genuine human connection, contrasting sharply with the oppressive reality they live in. It conveys the emotional depth behind their rebellion and the human cost of the Party’s control.
4. “It was as though they were intentionally stepping nearer to their graves.”
This stark metaphor encapsulates the fatalism and peril that define Winston and Julia’s relationship. It underscores the chapter’s theme of defiance as a conscious, suicidal act against an omnipresent regime.