Victory Gin, Victory Cigarettes
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Discontented with his life, Winston turns to vices as a means of escape and self-medication. In Winston’s case, it’s alcohol and cigarettes. He...
The Red-Armed Prole Woman
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Winston sees this woman as a symbol of freedom. Party members never sing, but hearing her song through the window of his rented room fills Winston â...
The paperweight, the old man in the prole bar, St. Clement's Church
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The paperweight and St. Clement’s Church have SYMBOL written all over them. These items are remnants of the past that, because of the Party’s c...
The ubiquitously placed Telescreens
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With their dual ability to blast Party propaganda and to view and hear the exact goings-on in a room, these telescreens are a visible symbol as wel...
Big Brother
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BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. Scared yet? Big Brother is the face of the Party, the leader behind the great power. The best part is that we never com...
Emmanuel Goldstein
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The ultimate symbol of opposition to the Party, we are not sure whether Goldstein actually exists. Publicly, he is known as a Party enemy, but he ac...
Julia's Scarlet Anti-Sex Waist Sash
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This represents a citizen’s devotion to Party doctrine and Party cause. A symbol of chastity in the book, Julia’s sash actually represents her d...
Winston's Mother
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Appearing only in his dreams and memories, Winston’s mother represents better, pre-Party days when life was safe and not quite so oppressive. As t...
The Place Where There Is No Darkness
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This phrase first comes to Winston in a dream, when he imagines that this is where O’Brien wants to meet him. Heavy foreshadowing here, because he...
Winston's Varicose Ulcer Above His Ankle
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A thing that swells and itches, and after you scratch it, flakes. Sounds gruesome, right? So is sexual repression. Have you noticed how the ulcer se...
Memory Holes
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These were only briefly mentioned in the novel, but that doesn’t mean they are unimportant. Memory holes are those things in the ground that the P...