177
votes
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
The party allows those things that take up time (in the company of others) and fritter away energy. Their ultimate goal is for the individual to have no life outside their work or simply burning up ...
- 718k
116
votes
Accepted
Why does the Party care to inform the people about the current war situation?
At the outset of the novel, the Party isn't playing a fair game, in which people need to be persuaded and may choose to comply or not. The Party largely has won. Their aim is never, ever to inform. It ...
- 3,128
110
votes
Accepted
What was the ultimate objective of The Party in 1984?
O'Brien tells us explicitly:
There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be ...
- 5,087
86
votes
In Orwell's 1984, why does 'the book' even exist?
We know that what makes the Party such determined in ruling is their wisdom in controlling 'ideas'.
If you control 'any' idea including your opposition's, then who could ever overthrow you?
I am ...
- 924
81
votes
Accepted
Is there an actual army in 1984?
There was an actual rather than "fake" war, so the implication of an actual army is a rational conclusion.
Winston could not definitely remember a time when his country had not
been at war, but ...
- 4,030
74
votes
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
Here are some reflections:
It's a game about war, and "War is Peace"
All chess pieces have precise functions and privileges in the game. You follow the rules. You don't question them. A pawn is a ...
- 1,871
74
votes
Accepted
Why was Winston not afraid of being caught with Julia after he was released from Ministry of Love?
They have only released the two of them once they know they are broken and entirely loyal to the party and Big Brother. In theory Winston can do whatever he wants; in reality he is incapable of ...
- 22.6k
65
votes
In Orwell's “1984,” what was the motivation of O'Brien, and other members of the Thought-Police, in spending so much time and effort on Winston?
There are a lot of sub-questions in this question. I will focus on the title-question, "What was the motivation of O'Brien, and other members of the Thought Police, in spending so much time and ...
- 72.1k
63
votes
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
Chess puzzles are not chess.
White to play and mate in two moves, means:
There are approximately 20 possible moves for white's first turn (depending on the chess puzzle). 19 of these are ...
- 4,583
58
votes
Accepted
How can Winston edit people's personal copies of books?
This is directly addressed in the novel. In short, Smith's job is to "correct" a wide range of printed materials, updating not only the facts of the articles and books, but also the language, ...
- 718k
51
votes
Accepted
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
The real reason is that, of course, 1984 is inspired by the USSR. Many other stylistic and aesthetic elements mirror the USSR, chess (very popular in USSR) is one of these.
Now, chess requires ...
- 592
50
votes
Accepted
Why does Winston say "The more men you've had, the more I love you" to Julia?
Unrestrained sexuality is a threat to the order represented by the Party.
This is explained in somewhat more detail in the next chapter:
With Julia, everything came back to her own sexuality. As soon ...
- 136k
47
votes
Why does the Party care to inform the people about the current war situation?
Upper_Case has written a great in-universe answer. I would like to add an out-of-universe perspective.
Orwell was writing this in 1948 and he was in many ways talking about his own time.
During WWII,...
- 581
46
votes
Is there an actual army in 1984?
Probably yes, but there is no way to know for sure.
This is the answer to many, many questions in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and it is one of the major themes of the book. Anything that Winston Smith does ...
- 102k
36
votes
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
TL;DR 1984 is an allegory of Communist Russia and chess has always been popular in Russia.
From Wikipedia, quoting the author:
[Nineteen Eighty-Four] was based chiefly on communism, because that ...
- 4,026
36
votes
Why does Winston say "The more men you've had, the more I love you" to Julia?
Purity and goodness were defined by the Party. Corruption – in this case exemplified by sex outside of a sanctioned marriage – was a symbol of rebellion against the Party, which is what Winston was ...
- 22.6k
33
votes
What was the ultimate objective of The Party in 1984?
“A boot crushing a human skull forever.”
They have achieved their goal of unassailable, eternal power and control. Their stranglehold on power will only become more cemented as the last generation to ...
- 2,384
30
votes
In Orwell's “1984,” what was the motivation of O'Brien, and other members of the Thought-Police, in spending so much time and effort on Winston?
In addition to Clara Diaz Sanchez's excellent answer, there are several other elements of note:
The society the Party strives for has an excess of productive capacity, along with a specific desire to ...
- 3,128
26
votes
What was the ultimate objective of The Party in 1984?
I was taught in a Political Science class decades ago that the two goals of all politicians are to get elected, and get re-elected -- or alternatively, to gain and then retain power.
Ingsoc has ...
- 23.7k
19
votes
Why does the Party care to inform the people about the current war situation?
The war simply serves one of the most important pillars of foundation of any dictatorship: a common external enemy and someone to blame for everything bad. To my knowledge, there has never existed a ...
- 5,709
18
votes
How can Winston edit people's personal copies of books?
What I recall (from rereading the book a couple years ago) is that individual copies of anything other than newspapers are rare, and the habit of preserving newspapers or clippings is treated as ...
- 23.7k
17
votes
Is there an actual army in 1984?
Yes I believe there was an actual war taking place: "In one combination or other, these three superstates are permanently at war, and have been so for the past twenty five years", "It is a warfare of ...
- 440
17
votes
Why was Winston not afraid of being caught with Julia after he was released from Ministry of Love?
Once he screamed out for Julia to be tortured instead of him, they knew he was truly broken. He said earlier that he'd do anything, to anyone, to fight BB, except hurt Julia. After he screamed for her ...
- 281
14
votes
Why does Oceania not want to achieve victory over Eurasia and Eastasia?
The Party (and it's implied that the other two superpowers have similar forms of government, given how easily they switch alliances) wants total control over its population, and having an external ...
- 21.7k
14
votes
Accepted
Why Are The 1984 Ministries In London?
It is not at all clear why the capital of the English-speaking mega-state of Oceania should have its capital in London. One can hazard guesses: Perhaps the major cities of the New World, or at least ...
- 102k
12
votes
Why Are The 1984 Ministries In London?
The most populous province is not necessarily the most important. London may be the capital of Oceania.
The capital provinces of the USA, Brazil, and Australia are also not their most populous.
- 11.3k
10
votes
Why does the Party allow playing chess in Orwell's 1984?
The Party's efforts to remake society aren't finished yet; that's why Newspeak is still under development, and (according to O'Brien) other projects, like eliminating the female orgasm so women won't ...
- 117
10
votes
Accepted
Is Ender's game inspired by 1984?
No
Orson Scott Card has said that he came up with the idea of the battle room when he was 16 and that he was trying to imagine how warfare would take place in the future.
The basic idea of the battle ...
- 32.7k
9
votes
Accepted
How do you compare two things in Newspeak?
You're almost there. "I like A better than B" would become "A is good, B is plusgood", leaving room for a third item that is "doubleplusgood".
Or again, if you want a ...
- 718k
9
votes
Why does the Party care to inform the people about the current war situation?
In reading 1984 we very quickly learn that the Party subjugated the people not as a means to a goal, but instead that this subjugation was the goal.
In the same manner, the Party did not suddenly ...
- 3,772
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