1984

Winston encounters O’Brien in the hallway at work, and they converse briefly before O’Brien offers to lend Winston a copy of the forthcoming Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Winston is ecstatic, believing O’Brien’s invitation is a veiled way of inviting him into the Brotherhood. He reflects on all that has brought him to this moment, believing this to be a turning point that can end only in his inevitable death for having crossed the Party.

Winston awakes in the apartment with Julia by his side. Dreams of his mother unleash memories of life after his father’s disappearance. He remembers living in fear of constant air raids as a child, and he recalls stealing chocolate from his sister to satisfy his own desperate hunger. He regrets that the Party has repressed his feelings to the point where he no longer feels human, and he again thinks to the proles as the potential source of hope for the future. The proles, he realizes, “were not loyal to a party or a country or an idea, they were loyal to one another” (208). Despite Party propaganda designating the proles as less than human, Winston admires that they’ve maintained their sense of humanity.

Winston and Julia both expect to be discovered and arrested for defying the Party. They agree that although the Party might torture them, there’s nothing that can be done to change the way they feel for one another within their hearts: “They can’t get inside you” (210), they agree, convinced that their inner thoughts will always remain “impregnable.”

Winston and Julia visit O’Brien together to pick up the Newspeak dictionary. Winston hopes this visit leads to an invitation to join the Brotherhood. O’Brien’s flat is more luxurious than Winston’s, and he has the privilege to turn off the telescreen when he greets his guests. Winston, encouraged by the apparent lack of surveillance, confesses his anti-Party sentiments and his suspicions that O’Brien is a member of the anti-Party Brotherhood. O’Brien plays the part of a Brotherhood loyalist. He listens to Winston’s confessions, serves Winston and Julia wine, and answers Winston’s questions about the Brotherhood, confirming Winston’s conspiracy theories about the anti-Party league. He promises to deliver a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book to Winston before bidding him farewell and returning to his work.

Winston is exhausted from working 90 hours within only five days during Hate Week. At a hate rally, Oceania inexplicably switches war allies and enemies. There is momentary chaos as the public immediately suspects an anti-Party conspiracy, but just a moment later the crowd is roaring against the new enemy: “The Hate continued exactly as before, except that the target had been changed” (230). The change in hate targets means that Winston must work overtime to rewrite any historical reference to the previous enemy. When he’s finally finished with his work of rewriting history, Winston arrives at Charrington’s apartment eager to read Emmanuel Goldstein’s book in a quiet, private setting.

Goldstein’s book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism offers a history of how the global political structure followed a natural progression from capitalism to socialism before evolving into its current totalitarian state. It outlines how the three current mega-powers came to be as the world fell into systemic arms races and constant war. The book confirms for Winston how the party came into power and the various forms of oppression used to subdue the populace, but Winston is still left wondering why the Party desires so much power. Reading the Brotherhood’s manifesto leaves Winston feeling less unwise for his anti-Party thoughts. Julia remains disinterested in details of Party history and political theory, and she falls asleep as Winston reads to her.

Edition note: Some editions of the novel include an additional chapter break at this point in the plot, keeping the ideological portion of the chapter in Chapter 9 and the action after Winston and Julia awaken in Chapter 10. Readers should consult their edition carefully when citing chapter references in this section of the novel.

Winston and Julia awaken in the apartment above Charrington’s shop. Winston observes the prole woman who is always hanging laundry below their window, admiring the unique naturalness of her beauty. As Winston and Julia prepare to depart, a telescreen speaks to them from behind a picture in the apartment. They know immediately that “it was starting at last” (279) and follow the orders given through the telescreen to stand with hands clasped behind their heads awaiting arrest.

Julia is the first to be taken away, her limp body dragged over the shoulders of the police after they knock the breath out of her. The police smash the paperweight. Charrington arrives in the apartment before Winston is apprehended, but Charrington’s appearance has changed. He now appears to be about 35 years old with darker hair and no spectacles. Charrington’s demeanor is different as well; in the moment before his arrest, Winston realizes Charrington is a member of the Thought Police.