1984 Summary
ValentijnVatSamen
Characters
Winston Smith - A 39 year old man. He has varicose veins and a varicose ulcer (wounds created
by improper functioning of venous valves, found inside veins) above his right ankle. He works at
the Ministry of Truth. He also has a wife that he can’t get rid of, called Katherine. He also has ve
false teeth (neptanden). He lives in Oceania, at Airstrip One (what used to be London).
Julia - A 26 year old woman. She lives in a hostel with thirty other woman and she worked on the
novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department.
Big Brother - A man of about 45 years old, rst seen on a poster at Victory Mansions by Winston
Smith. Big Brother has a heavy black moustache, dark eyes and handsome features (eyes, nose,
etc.) He’s the leader and guardian of the Revolution.
O’Brien - A member of the Inner Party. He’s a large man with a thick neck and a coarse face.
Emmanuel Goldstein - A man who once was an important person in The Party (almost as
important as Big Brother). He started a counter revolution, was condemned to death, and
disappeared. The Party sees Goldstein as a traitor. He has a lean (mager) Jewish face and a
beard. He’s a part of a supposedly underground group of conspirators against the State, The
Brotherhood. It was also rumoured that Goldstein wrote a title-less book, referred to as “the
book”.
Mr. Parson - A colleague of Winston at Minitrue. He’s fattish but active and very enthusiastic. He
isn’t the smartest but is a leading gure in the Sports Committee. A smell of sweat follows him
everywhere he goes.
Mrs. Parson - The wife of Mr. Parson.
Syme - Syme is a man who is intelligent and works at the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), together
with Winston. He is a language expert, as he was working on a new edition of the Newspeak
dictionary. Syme is an orthodox man, he is a big fan of Big Brother and agrees with his ideas.
Winston believes Syme is too intelligent to work at the Ministry, as most intelligent people don’t
work there for long Winston recalled. Winston knows Syme will eventually die, because of Syme’s
intelligence and clear vision of The Party’s ideas.
Thought Police - The “SS” of the Party, the people who in-prison people that commit Thought
Crime, or any sort of crime against the Party.
The Party - The “rulers” of London. Their slogan is “Who controls the past, controls the future:
who controls the present controls the past”.
Anti-Sex League - They advocated (verdedigen en vinden dat) complete celibacy (expres
ongehuwd zijn) for both sexes.
fi fi fi
ValentijnVatSamen
Characters
Winston Smith - A 39 year old man. He has varicose veins and a varicose ulcer (wounds created
by improper functioning of venous valves, found inside veins) above his right ankle. He works at
the Ministry of Truth. He also has a wife that he can’t get rid of, called Katherine. He also has ve
false teeth (neptanden). He lives in Oceania, at Airstrip One (what used to be London).
Julia - A 26 year old woman. She lives in a hostel with thirty other woman and she worked on the
novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department.
Big Brother - A man of about 45 years old, rst seen on a poster at Victory Mansions by Winston
Smith. Big Brother has a heavy black moustache, dark eyes and handsome features (eyes, nose,
etc.) He’s the leader and guardian of the Revolution.
O’Brien - A member of the Inner Party. He’s a large man with a thick neck and a coarse face.
Emmanuel Goldstein - A man who once was an important person in The Party (almost as
important as Big Brother). He started a counter revolution, was condemned to death, and
disappeared. The Party sees Goldstein as a traitor. He has a lean (mager) Jewish face and a
beard. He’s a part of a supposedly underground group of conspirators against the State, The
Brotherhood. It was also rumoured that Goldstein wrote a title-less book, referred to as “the
book”.
Mr. Parson - A colleague of Winston at Minitrue. He’s fattish but active and very enthusiastic. He
isn’t the smartest but is a leading gure in the Sports Committee. A smell of sweat follows him
everywhere he goes.
Mrs. Parson - The wife of Mr. Parson.
Syme - Syme is a man who is intelligent and works at the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), together
with Winston. He is a language expert, as he was working on a new edition of the Newspeak
dictionary. Syme is an orthodox man, he is a big fan of Big Brother and agrees with his ideas.
Winston believes Syme is too intelligent to work at the Ministry, as most intelligent people don’t
work there for long Winston recalled. Winston knows Syme will eventually die, because of Syme’s
intelligence and clear vision of The Party’s ideas.
Thought Police - The “SS” of the Party, the people who in-prison people that commit Thought
Crime, or any sort of crime against the Party.
The Party - The “rulers” of London. Their slogan is “Who controls the past, controls the future:
who controls the present controls the past”.
Anti-Sex League - They advocated (verdedigen en vinden dat) complete celibacy (expres
ongehuwd zijn) for both sexes.
fi fi fi
