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What happens in Book One, Chapter 7 of 1984?

Winston writes in his diary that a revolution must come from the working-class “proles,” who make up most of the population but are too ignorant and uninterested to revolt. He thinks about how London is deteriorating despite the Party saying it not and about how the Party makes up false historical details. Then he thinks about how he suspects O’Brien is a rebel.

What happens in Book One, Chapter 8 of 1984?

Winston asks an elderly man in the prole district about the past, but the man cannot or will not provide Winston with any information. Winston buys an antique paperweight, then is startled when he notices the dark-haired woman following him. He decides that he should commit suicide before the Thought Police capture him. Winston calms himself by thinking about O’Brien.

Read our Summary & Analysis of Book One: Chapters 7 & 8. (3-minute read)

Are there any new characters introduced in Chapters 7 & 8 of 1984?

Mr. Charrington is an older man who runs the secondhand store in the prole district where Winston buys the glass and coral paperweight. He seems kind, but like many characters in the novel, he is not who he pretends to be.

Read an in-depth character analysis of Mr. Charrington. (2-minute read)

How is its London setting important to understanding the world depicted in 1984?

The fictionalized world in 1984 is the same as ours geographically. London is in the same place as the city we know, but almost everything else about it is different. England no longer exists, and London is the capital of the province of Airstrip One—part of the nation of Oceania, which includes what we know as the British Isles and the Americas. The most crucial fact about the London of 1984 is that, except for areas that house and support the government, it is falling apart. This is due to the neglect of the Party, but few residents realize how bad conditions in London are, since the Party takes considerable efforts to hide this.

Read about London, Oceania, as the setting of 1984. (2-minute read)

Read about Urban Decay as a key Motif (#2) of 1984. (1-minute read)

Are there any important quotes in Book One, Chapters 7 & 8 of 1984?

“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.”

Whether 2 + 2 = 4 or, if instead, 2 + 2 = 5 becomes a recurring question in the novel starting in Chapter 7. This question has nothing to do with mathematics but rather is centered on the extent to which the Party can control the thinking of its citizens, as is discussed in Famous Quotes Explained (the third quote).

Why does Winston keep a diary in 1984?

There are several reasons why Winston commits the illegal act of keeping a diary. These include because it is an illegal act, to connect him to the bygone past, and (perhaps most enigmatically) to feel connected to O’Brien.

Read more about the answer to this question in our Q&A feature.

Another reason that Winston starts keeping a diary relates to his desire to bolster his feelings of independence and identity in the face of the Party’s repressive acts to erase individuality in its subjects. In fact, throughout the novel this goal will motivate several of his most consequential decisions. This relates to two themes of 1984: most closely, Curbs on Independence and Identity (#6), but also to Psychological Curbs on Individualism (#2).

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