In this chapter of
,learns that the proles consider the lottery to be a serious piece of news.
He realises this after observing three prole men as they read a newspaper. Judging from their
expression, he thinks that they are reading and discussing some bad or serious news, like
politics or the war, when, in fact, it is just a conversation about the lottery.
In Oceania, the lottery is a serious event for the proles, as Winston
explains:
It was probable that there were some millions of
proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was
their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant.
The fact that proles take the lottery so seriously tells us much
about the nature of life in Oceania. It demonstrates, for example, that the proles present no
serious threat to the Party because they are easily distracted from their inferior social
position by the lottery. In addition, that the Party only awards the small prizes (and gives the
bigger ones to "non-existent people") shows that material wealth is important to the
Party and that its members do not want to enrich the proles, for fear that it will improve their
socio-economic position.
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