Chapter 1

Discussion Points – ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’

• Make a list of what we learn by the end of the first page (what
kind of a world/society does Winston live in)?
• What themes are introduced?
• How does Winston stereotype women and express hatred and
contempt for them?
• What might his ulcer be symbolic of?
• Why do you think he begins to write a diary?
• The text is narrated in the third person narrative. What effect
does this have on the reader?
• Define satire. How is satire and satirical comedy used in the
opening.
• Do you think Winston is being set up? Is it really an accident that
his flat has an alcove where he can’t be seen?
• How can we link Stalin’s Five-Year Plans to this chapter?
• The descriptions in the opening of ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ contain
references to which readers in Orwell’s day would have had an
immediate response – can you fond them?

Extension Discussion Points

• What narrative techniques does Orwell use in this chapter? How

successful do you judge them to be?
• What questions are you left with at the end of this chapter?
• Most European countries ‘went metric’ in the 1830s. Decimal-based
measurement did not become widespread in Britain until the 1970s
– the reference to ‘thirteen o’clock’ would have been quite chilling
and superstitious for reader’s of Orwell’s time. Discuss. Does it
have the same impact now?