1984 Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter six starts off with Winston writing in his diary about an encounter with a old and ugly prole prostitute three years ago and how he used to be married to a women named Katherine. They separated when they both had differences in ideology, which included her not enjoying sexual intercourse and only performed it to make a child for the Party. In this chapter, Winston also discusses how the Party did not want mean and women to form loyalties because they could not control them. In addition, the Party really wanted to remove all pleasure from the sexual act and the main goal of sexual intercourse is to supply the Party with new party members. However, artificial insemination (artsem in Newspeak) was slowly beginning to become the better way of having children. Lastly, this chapter discusses how Winston is longing for an enjoyable sexual
encounter although it would be a very big crime for him to commit and writing these acts down in his diary does not change this desire. Chapter seven begins with Winston stating that hope lies in the Proles which take up 85% of the population of Oceania and if all of the Proles unite they could take down Big Brother and the Party. The theme of oppression further carries itself out through Winston’s explanation of how the party can not be overthrown from within. Party members are so oppressed to the point that they can not come together to overthrow Big Brother and the hierarchy. However, Winston then looks down upon the Proles like they are peasants saying they are ignorant and live animalistic lives. Furthermore, the Proles lack the knowledge to overthrow the oppressive Party because they do not even think they are oppressed. After looking at a children’s history book, Winston realizes that the Party’s claim that they made overall life quality better is false. He then begins to say that the city he lives in, London, is very run-down and ghetto which contradicts the Party’s statement that they have made life and cities better. However, the Party changed all records so there is no definite way to verify the past and there is one instance Winston catches the Party in a blatant lie. In this scenario, Winston is sitting at a café and three men are arrested close to him by the ythought police. These men who are party members, are later executed for their apparent crimes of treason to the Party but there is a picture of the three men that prove they did not commit a crime. Winston then proceeds to discard of the picture because he is scared this will lead to thought crime but the irony is that he has been committing thought crimes for quite some time. Lastly, Brian then thinks he is writing his diary to an upper ranking official in the party called O’Brien who he believes to have a similar rebellious mind, a man who detects the oppression and wants independence. In chapter eight, Winston begins by walking around a Prole neighborhood and feels jealousy towards the common yet simple life of a Prole.
Winston then proceeds to enter a pub and talk to an old man to obtain information about the past before the Party’s control but the old man is not able to give proper, descriptive language. He then enters the store where he bought his diary from and purchases a clear glass paperweight, from the shop owner Mr. Charrington. They both strike up a conversation which later continues up to Mr. Charrington room where Winston is very surprised to see there is no telescreen. On the way home, Winston notices a dark haired female Party member following him and is terrified, leading him to think about killing this female with a cobblestone or the paperweight. However, when he arrives home he thinks suicide is the best option because if the Thought police catch him he will be tortured then killed. Then the memory of O’Brien calms him down as he remembers the place of no darkness. This last chapter in part one concludes with Winston looking at the coin and the ominous Party slogan coming right back to
him. In part two, chapter one, it starts off with Winston at the lavatory at his work place and him encountering the dark haired girl. The dark haired girl slips Winston a note saying “I love you.” This changes Winston’s original thought of her being a spy monitoring his behaviour and while analyzing the situation he is interrupted by Parsons who discusses preparations of Hate Week. He sees her many times and has a deep desire to talk about the notes but there is no privacy. Winston and the dark haired female finally talk and they plan to meet at Victory Square where the movements of many people can hide them from telescreens. They finally meet at this location where prisoners are being transported by with many people watching. During this time, they hold hands for a brief moment which could be grounds for arrest by the thought police. Lastly, this proves Winston is becoming much more rebellious towards the oppressive nature of the Party. In chapter two, Winston and the dark haired female follow their plans made in the previous chapter to meet at a countryside for secrecy. Winston is still very scared about being watched but the dark haired girl assures him it is a private area then proceeds to introduce herself as Julia. They proceed to talk freely and escalate to having sexual intercourse which Winston enjoys very much and compares it to his dreams. In addition, Julia tells him she has done had sexual intercourse with many males in a similar occurrence as there’s and Winston is ecstatic as he says likes the fact that many people are performing rebellious acts. Julia tells Winston more about herself and he learns that she does not like the Party. This chapter concludes by Winston saying they are as good as dead by committing these rebellious acts but Julia reassures him that they will be fine. The most prominent theme developing would have to be oppression and how the Party abuses their power. This leads to Winston becoming more secretive and more rebellious especially when he meets Julia.