1984: Key Quotations (OCR A Level English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: Deb Orrock
Reviewed by: Kate Lee
1984: Key Quotations
One of the ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the text is through the effective use of quotations and references to the text. This means that summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words and referencing plot events are all as valid as using direct quotations.
Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the text, rather than memorising a list of pre-prepared quotations, as this will better enable you to respond to the question. It is the quality of your knowledge of the text that will enable you to select references effectively.
If you are going to revise quotations, the best way is to group them by character, or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following key themes:
Power and control
Power and control is the most significant theme in 1984 due to the totalitarian nature of the government of Oceania.
“‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’” – Part I, Chapter 3
Meaning and context
This Party slogan appears twice in the novel - once in Part I and once in Part III
It means that control of the past ensures control of the future
The Party creates a past that was a time of misery and slavery from which it claims to have liberated the people, thus compelling the people to be loyal to the Party
Analysis
This slogan, along with its other forms of propaganda, is an example of the Party’s method of using false history to break down its subjects’ independence
The Party has complete power in the present, as every history book reflects the Party’s ideology, and individual memories are blurred and diminished
This is a further way that the Party exerts control over its people and reduces their individuality and humanity
“The real power, the power we have to fight for night and day, is not power over things, but over men” – O’Brien, Part III, Chapter 3
“Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you ensure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing” – O’Brien, Part III, Chapter 3
Meaning and context
This quote appears when O’Brien is explaining the Party’s doctrines to Winston while he oversees his torture in the Ministry of Love
Analysis
O’Brien’s power is not only in his ability to inflict physical pain on Winston, but in the fact that he is also able to see into Winston’s thoughts
O’Brien’s arguments are as much a weapon against the freedom of the individual as any physical weapon
He believes in them absolutely, and as preposterous as his ideas might seem, they do hover on the edge of fantasy and what could be reality
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power” – O’Brien, Part III, Chapter 3
Meaning and context
This quote also appears when O’Brien is explaining the Party’s doctrines to Winston while he oversees his torture in the Ministry of Love
Analysis
O’Brien’s explanation of the Party’s doctrines reveals it’s ultimate purpose: to have absolute power for no other reason than to exert it
The Party does not rule in order to make a better world, as they have no intention of ever relinquishing it
For O’Brien and the Party, power is collective, and more important than any one individual, as through this comes immortality
Examiner Tips and Tricks
There are a lot of quotes or references to power in the book, so it is important to consider what aspect of power and power dynamics you are exploring in relation to the question when deciding what to use as references. For example, if you were exploring the power of propaganda in the novel, then you might use the slogans “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” and “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”. What is important is that you are making the most appropriate references to the question you have been set.
Identity and individuality
Via its systems of control, the Party in 1984 destroys all sense of individuality, identity and independence of person and thought.
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it” – Syme, Part I, Chapter 5
Meaning and context
This quote appears as Syme explains the political goals of Newspeak to Winston in the Ministry of Truth
Analysis
By narrowing and eliminating language, the population will be robbed of the ability to express themselves and their individuality
If one cannot express their own thoughts, then all sense of one’s independence and self are removed
“Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull” – Part I, Chapter 2
Meaning and context
Winston thinks this as he considers the ever present image of Big Brother printed on everything, from coins to the wrapping on a cigarette packet
The image of the eyes is always watching
Analysis
The act of ownership is one way a person can express their identity and individuality
Removing this is a further way of maintaining control via the loss of individual identity:
This is also one of the reasons Winston decides to buy the coral paperweight – in order to “own” something that is just his
The quote is also ironic because, eventually, the Party is even able to own that small space inside his mind that Winston was trying to keep for himself
Technology
Technology is one of the most important tools available to the Party in order to eliminate potential rebellion and subversion.
“‘We are the dead,’ he said.
‘We are the dead,’ echoed Julia dutifully.
‘You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them” – Winston and Julia, Part II, Chapter 10
Meaning and context
This is the moment that Winston and Julia realise that there is a telescreen hidden in their apartment above Mr Charrington’s shop
Analysis
Technology is the instrument via which Winston and Julia are discovered and captured
This quote also emphasises the power of technology in the novel as a method of surveillance
The description of the voice as “iron” characterises it as mechanical and inhuman
“And even technological progress only happens when its products can in some way be used for the diminution of human liberty” – Part II, Chapter 9
Meaning and context
This quote appears as part of Goldstein’s manifesto, which Winston has begun reading
Analysis
The Party considers technological advancement useful and necessary only if it aids the further repression of freedom, independence and individuality
It is needed in order to control human behaviour, but there is no sense of needing to experiment or advance technology for science’s sake
Goldstein even notes that, in Oceania, science has almost ceased to exist, and there is no word in Newspeak for it
Scientific advancement requires thought and originality, which in itself is at odds with the Party’s principles
Love and sex
Romantic love and sexual relations are repressed as a further means of control under the totalitarian regime, being warped into a declaration of love for only Big Brother.
“‘If they could make me stop loving you – that would be the real betrayal’
She thought it over. ‘They can’t do that,’ she said finally. ‘It’s the one thing they can’t do. They can make you say anything – anything – but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you’” – Winston and Julia, Part II, Chapter 7
Meaning and context
This conversation happens after Winston has received the message from O’Brien and in the apartment above the antique shop
Winston awakes from a dream about his mother
Analysis
Winston and Julia are discussing the sacrifices they are prepared to make for the cause, and how they might ultimately retain their identities by holding on to the love they have for each other
At this point, they are still in the belief that the Party cannot completely control their minds
Julia is proved wrong, and in the conversation they unwittingly give the Thought Police ammunition against them via the hidden telescreen
“‘Listen. The more men you’ve had, the more I love you. Do you understand that?’
‘Yes, perfectly.’
‘I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones’” – Winston and Julia, Part II, Chapter 2
Meaning and context
This conversation happens during Winston and Julia’s first meeting in the Golden Country
They dispense with niceties and speak plainly to one another
Analysis
Winston is not jealous or concerned about the number of sexual partners Julia has had, as each one represents a small act of resistance and rebellion against the Party
He sees women who are chaste as beholden to Big Brother, as it is only the Party that they love
Small acts of resistance and the emotion of love is a way of retaining their humanity and identities
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Aim for quality not quantity. There are no rules about the number of references you should make about your core text, but making 3–4 thoughtful, detailed and considered references, closely focused on the question, will attain higher marks than, for example, 6–7 brief and undeveloped references.
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