Chapter 2:

Comprehension Questions

1. Describe Mr. and Mrs. Parsons.

They are Winston’s neighbors. Tom Parsons, age 35, is sweaty, fat,
pink−faced, and fair−haired. He is also not very bright, a dedicated man who
worships the Party. His wife, Mrs. Parsons, is about thirty but looks much older
because she lives in constant fear of her children. She has a colourless,
crushed-looking face, with wispy hair.

2. What is "the hanging?"

The hanging occurred about once a month, it was a ritual in which war
prisoners were hanged as a public spectacle and was a popular entertainment
among schoolchildren.

3. The narrator claims that "nearly all children nowadays were horrible." Explain the
narrator's reasoning.

He says this because even the children are being influenced by the party and
enjoy all the disturbing and gruesome things that they do.

4. Describe the dream that Winston had years ago.

Winston recalls a dream seven years earlier in which a voice said to him,
"We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness."

5. The telescreen shares a news flash and an announcement. Explain the information
shared by the telescreen, as well as Winston's reaction.

The bad news delivered by the telescreen was that the chocolate ration
would be reduced from 30 grams to 20 grams. Winston doesn't really seem to have
any reaction to the news on the telescreen.

6. According to the narrator, "nothing was your own except ____________"

He says that “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside
your skull.”
 7. Winston is careful to conceal his disloyalty to the Party. What is "the kind of detail
that might betray [him]?"

His facial expressions might betray him, they cannot be controlled and end up
exposing his true feelings.

Discussion Questions:

1. Describe what you imagine the Junior Spies to involve. What might be the purpose
of this organization?

I think it is a training program for future spies in the Oceania military. It

trains children to spy on their parents and other adults. This is why Mr. and Mrs.
Parson are so afraid of their children because she thinks that they will snitch on
them.

2. How does Winston know that the telescreen is about to deliver bad news? What
does this suggest about the tactics of the Party?

It seems like they try to mask bad news with some type of “glory.” The telescreen talks
about how their forces in South India have won a victory, then they say the bad news and
he knows that it is going to happen. The Party probably hopes that they will be too
concerned with the victory and the bad news will go over their head.

3. Winston writes that "thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death."
What is the meaning of this statement?

It shows that there is no type of forgiveness if you commit thoughtcrime, you will be found
persecuted and killed. He is making it clear that by committing thoughtcrime, there will be
no other circumstances, you are immediately dead.