1984: Part Two – Chapter 4 Summary and analysis
Chapter summary
• Winston rents the room above Charrington’s shop to share with Julia ”For a love affair”
• From the window he hears a prole woman singing a song manufactured by the Music
Department.
• Winston is surprised by how powerfully she sings a song written by the Party
without human input
• Winston begins to feel that he has a right to Julia
• Winston reveals his fear of rats
• The pair reminisce about the past and recall the rhyme that Mr Charrington referenced
Key theme - THE PAST:
• Winston finds objects belonging to a distant past, wondering about their purpose and
life before the Party
Key Quotes
• “Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing.” [p. 159]
➔ Privacy has become an inaccessible luxury, despite it being taken for granted in our lives
• “For a moment he was violently angry. … She had become a physical necessity,
something that he not only wanted but felt he had a right to.” [p. 160-61]
➔ Sexuality was prized by men to the extent that their humanity is diminished and stripped
away. Even Winston, who supposedly loves Julia, sees her as lower than him.
• “When he suggested it to Julia she had agreed with unexpected readiness. Both of them
knew it was lunacy. It was as though they were intentionally stepping nearer to their
graves” [p. 161]
➔ Winston and Julia’s knowing “lunacy” is irrational and surprisingly typical of a life before
the Party
• “He wondered vaguely whether in the abolished past it had been a normal experience to
lie in bed like this … Surely there could never have been a time when that seemed
ordinary” [p. 165]
➔ Nostalgia – Winston has more thoughts of a distant past; his hesitation highlights the
power of the Party’s reality control
• “’Rats!’ murmured Winston. ‘In this room!’” [p. 166]
➔ Introduces Winston’s worst fear
➔ Foreshadowing O’Brian’s torture techniques in Room 101
Chapter summary
• Winston rents the room above Charrington’s shop to share with Julia ”For a love affair”
• From the window he hears a prole woman singing a song manufactured by the Music
Department.
• Winston is surprised by how powerfully she sings a song written by the Party
without human input
• Winston begins to feel that he has a right to Julia
• Winston reveals his fear of rats
• The pair reminisce about the past and recall the rhyme that Mr Charrington referenced
Key theme - THE PAST:
• Winston finds objects belonging to a distant past, wondering about their purpose and
life before the Party
Key Quotes
• “Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing.” [p. 159]
➔ Privacy has become an inaccessible luxury, despite it being taken for granted in our lives
• “For a moment he was violently angry. … She had become a physical necessity,
something that he not only wanted but felt he had a right to.” [p. 160-61]
➔ Sexuality was prized by men to the extent that their humanity is diminished and stripped
away. Even Winston, who supposedly loves Julia, sees her as lower than him.
• “When he suggested it to Julia she had agreed with unexpected readiness. Both of them
knew it was lunacy. It was as though they were intentionally stepping nearer to their
graves” [p. 161]
➔ Winston and Julia’s knowing “lunacy” is irrational and surprisingly typical of a life before
the Party
• “He wondered vaguely whether in the abolished past it had been a normal experience to
lie in bed like this … Surely there could never have been a time when that seemed
ordinary” [p. 165]
➔ Nostalgia – Winston has more thoughts of a distant past; his hesitation highlights the
power of the Party’s reality control
• “’Rats!’ murmured Winston. ‘In this room!’” [p. 166]
➔ Introduces Winston’s worst fear
➔ Foreshadowing O’Brian’s torture techniques in Room 101
