1984 Study Guide (George Orwell)

Winston Smith

Winston is the protagonist of this novel. He is a thirty-nine year old man who lives in Oceania, where the government controls every single aspect of its citizens’ lives, including their language and thought.

Winston works in the Ministry of Truth where it is his job to manipulate historical records to whatever the government sees fit. He does not understand how those around him can just accept everything that is fed to them and wishes to overthrow the government with the aid of a rumored resistance movement known as “The Brotherhood” though he is caught committing thoughtcrime while having a tryst with Julia and put to torturous methods until he breaks down and succumbs to Party control.

Julia

Julia is the dark-haired girl who works with Winston and who Winston believes in stalking him at the beginning of the novel. It is soon revealed that Julia loves Winston and wishes to have a forbidden sexual relationship with him.

Julia does not question history the way Winston does, but she does wish to have the freedom to have fun, which she does by means of having sexual relationships with several different men. Julia does wish to rebel with Winston, but for her own personal reasons, rather than Winston’s desire to challenge the power of the government and learn what actually happened in the past.

Big Brother

Big Brother is the leader of the Party and the ruler of Oceania. It is unknown whether he truly exists at all though his face is seen everywhere: on posters, on coins, and on the telescreen broadcast.

All around Oceania there are posters spewing propaganda from the party and there are pictures of Big Brother with the slogan “Big Brother is Watching You!” Winston both hates and is fascinated by Big Brother for most of the novel, though at the end, he develops a love and respect for Big Brother, as he has been sufficiently brainwashed.

O’Brien

O’Brien is a member of the Inner Party who works at the Ministry of Love. While Winston is familiar with O’Brien’s position in the government, he is still intrigued by him and convinced that he is a member of a rumored resistance movement known as “The Brotherhood.”

O’Brien knows that Winston has been committing thoughtcrime and convinces Winston that he is, in fact, a member of The Brotherhood to gain his trust though he is not. O’Brien is responsible for torturing Winston until he turns on Julia and gives his thoughts over to the Party.

Mr. Charrington

Mr. Charrington is the proprietor of the secondhand shop in the Prole district, where Winston purchases his diary and paperweight and where he and Julia rent a room where they can be alone together.

Mr. Charrington claims to have shared that room with his wife when she was alive, and it seems to be the only room in all of Oceania that does not contain a telescreen. Winston discovers that Mr. Charrington is actually a member of the Thought Police, and there is, in fact, a telescreen in the room when he is arrested.

Syme

Syme is a member of the Party who is an acquaintance of Winston and is responsible for creating a new and updated version of Newspeak, the official language of the Party that only contains words that are positive and Party-approved in order to make it impossible for people to even think rebellious thoughts.

Winston muses that Syme is too smart for his own good and will probably disappear someday, and it turns out that Winston is correct because Syme disappears never to be seen again as his intelligence threatens the Party’s power.

Parsons

Parsons is a member of the Party and also is Winston’s neighbor who is married to a terribly boring woman and has a crew of odd children. Parsons is enthusiastic in his preparations for Hate Week and seems particularly proud of his children who are being trained as Junior Spies for the Thought Police with the purpose of monitoring their parents for thoughtcrime.

When Winston finds himself imprisoned at the Ministry of Love, he sees that Parsons is sharing a room with him as it seems his own children have turned him in for thoughtcrime.

Emmanuel Goldstein

Goldstein is the supposed leader of the rumored resistance movement known as “The Brotherhood”. O’Brien, when pretending to be a Brotherhood member, gives Winston a copy of the Brotherhood manifesto that is written by Goldstein. It is said that Goldstein was once a member of the Party but fell out with them after he opposed their motives.

According to the Party Emmanuel Goldstein is a terribly dangerous person, possibly the most dangerous person in all of Oceania but not because he is going to hurt people, because he threatens the power of the Party.

The Red-Armed Woman

The heavyset red-armed woman lives in the Prole district and can be heard from the room that Winston and Julia rent from Mr. Charrington. Winston and Julia often hear the red-armed woman singing while she hangs her laundry to dry. Winston is intrigued by the red-armed woman because she represents to him the spirit of the Prole people that could rise against the Party if only they would care enough to try.

The Proles

The Proles are the lower class citizens of Oceania. The Party does not regulate what the Proles do or make any attempt to control their minds because they think such poor and uneducated people could never stand a chance to overthrow them. 

Winston believes that if only the Proles would care enough to make an attempt and stop being so lazy they could form a resistance movement that would easily defeat the Party as the Proles make up eighty-five percent of the population in Oceania.

The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood is the rumored resistance movement in Oceania. Emmanuel Goldstein is the leader of this movement who used to be a Party member. The Brotherhood is appealing to Winston because he is curious about the past and what the real events of history were and is confused about why no one ever challenges the ridiculous slogans the Party is constantly presenting them with. To Winston The Brotherhood represents hope for the future and a life away from the Party where he and the other citizens can be free to live the lives they desire.

Winston’s Mother and Sister

Winston has fleeting memories of his mother and sister that happen mostly when he is dreaming or right after he has woken. He is not sure exactly what has happened to them though he assumes they are dead and feels as though his mother’s death may have been his fault. 

After Winston’s father left, he, his mother, and his sister were forced to live underground to avoid air raids and were subjected to starvation so intense that Winston stole the last bit of chocolate from his mother and ran away never to see his family again.

The Old Man

The Old Man is a Prole that Winston runs into in a bar. Winston asks the Old Man about the past, hoping that he can answer some questions that Winston has of the truth about history.

While the Old Man does remember parts of history it is his own history that he remembers, rather than the history of Oceania that Winston is looking for. The old man happens to have been drinking as well which probably inhibited his memories.

Katharine

Katharine is Winston’s wife whom he has been separated from and has not seen for many years. Katharine did not share the same ideas as Winston and was a rather dedicated member of the Party. While Winston had an interest in sex outside of the accepted purpose for it (reproduction), Katharine hated sex. Once they realized they could never have children Katharine left.

Winston admits that once while he and Katharine were walking by a cliff he was tempted to throw her off but knew that there was no point because his life would remain the same whether he committed murder or not.

Aaronson, Jones, and Rutherford

These are the men who Winston saw in the Chestnut Tree Café, the place where displaced Party members gathered. They were Inner Party members before Big Brother came along and were accused of committing treason in Eurasia after Big Brother came along, likely as a means of expunging them from power positions. 

Before the men were executed for the treason they admitted to, Winston sees them in the Café and realizes shortly after that he has found photographic evidence that the treason they admitted to never happened as they were elsewhere at the time of the offense. Rather than coming forward with the information, Winston destroyed the evidence.