Despite being attached to a machine that causes tremendous pain, Winston continues to see four fingers, not five: "The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four."

What does"pillars"mean?

What is the main idea of this chapter?

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

Is there anything that is confusing or unclear in the book so far?

Inside Winston's apartment is a telescreen, which he can dim but never turn off. "The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard."

What does"simultaneously"mean?

Despite feeling that no one will read his words, Winston decides to continue writing in his diary: "But so long as he uttered [the truth], in some obscure way the continuity was not broken."

What does"uttered"mean?

What is the main idea of this chapter?

Winston remembers his father "vaguely as dark and thin, dressed always in neat dark clothes …"

What does"vaguely"mean?

Winston wakes from a dream, which takes place in a pasture. "The landscape that he was looking at recurred so often in his dreams that he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world."

What does"recurred"mean?

Why does Winston sleep without pyjamas?

During the morning exercise period, Winston struggles to recreate scenes from his childhood. He remembers his family seeking shelter from an air raid, after which "…war had been literally continuous, though strictly speaking it had not always been the same war. What does "literally"mean?

"Doublethink" requires one "to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them…."

What does"simultaneously"mean?

Winston struggles to hold on to his memories, but this is difficult because the Party has removed all evidence of the past. What is one definite lie that Winston can still dispute with his own recollections?

Were there any words that you did not know?
You can always list them here.

Winston's neighbor, Parsons, is also in the canteen. He tells Winston stories about his children, of whom he is proud. He calls them, "Keen as mustard."

What does"keen"mean?

Winston has borrowed a children's history book from Mrs. Parsons. Reading it, he thinks, "It might very well be that literally every word in the history books, even the things that one accepted without question, was pure fantasy."

What does"literally"mean?

Winston and the girl with the dark hair know they have to be very careful not to show what they are thinking and feeling as they make their plans, but they are used to this: "Not to let one's feelings appear in one's face was a habit that had acquired the status of an instinct…."

What does "status"mean?