What is the main idea of this chapter?
O'Brien can read Winston's mind. He knows that Winston has been struggling with one basic question, even before his arrest: "You could grasp the mechanics of the Society you lived in, but not its underlying motives."
What does"mechanics"mean?
Despite O'Brien's badgering, Winston hangs on to what he knows is true, refusing to believe that man is the center of the universe: "The belief that nothing exists outside your own mind —— surely there must be some way of demonstrating that it was false? Had it not been exposed long ago as a fallacy?"
What does"fallacy"mean?
In the future society O'Brien describes, "There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness."
What does"distinction"mean?
O'Brien's explanation of the Party's agenda is full of doublethink: "The more the Party is powerful, the less it will be tolerant: the weaker the opposition, the tighter the despotism."
What does"tolerant"mean?
Winston insists that there is something at work in the universe that will prevent the Party from achieving its goals, but O'Brien believes otherwise: "You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable."
What does"malleable"mean?
After making Winston look at himself in the mirror, O'Brien asks, "Can you think of a single degradation that has not happened to you?" What does Winston answer?
Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.
