One
important aspect of the Partys total control over the peoples lives is that in its eyes, there
are no little things. The Party expects complete obedience. Therefore, the fact thathas
convinced himself that it can be safe to take any steps to oppose that control is an indication
that he has already begun to anticipate his end. As the narrator assesses Winstons thoughts on
this matter, everyone had to live by:
the assumption that
every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement
scrutinized.
Winston does what he can to stay out of view
of the telescreen so that his movements will not be scrutinized. Even when he sits in plain
view, he tries to sit with his back to it. He also takes advantage of the screens position in
his room, where one small alcove is not visible to it. Winston bought a beautiful notebook in a
junk shop, in itself a rebellious act because Party members were not supposed to go into
ordinary shops. In this notebook, he begins his diary, knowing full well that he might even be
killed if this act were found out:
it was reasonably
certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced labor
camp.
Winston allows himself to think negative thoughts
about Big Brother. During the Two Minutes Hate, he switches his hatred away from the required
target, Goldstein, and toward Big Brother and the Thought Police. Of course he keeps to himself
this secret loathing of Big Brother. Winston also imagines that the fabled Brotherhood is
real: that others besides himself were enemies of the Party. As he sits before his open diary,
reflecting on these ideas, he realizes that while doing so he had written on the page Down
with Big Brother over and over in capital letters.
Putting his thoughts into
writing is very dangerous, and more reckless actions soon follow. Inevitably, the little things
lead to big things: the affair withand allowing himself to believe that OBrien is part of the
Brotherhood, all leading to his downfall.
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