VOCABULARY LIST 12

1. Usurp

•Verb•While Winston has visions and fantasies about usurping Big Brother, one of the things that becomes apparent in Book 3 is that he has no desire to have power or to change things for the greater good. All he really wants is???

2. Harbinger

•noun•Winston and Julia’s saying “we are the dead” in Book 2 is a harbinger for the event that ends Book 2. How is Winston’s dream about O’Brien and the place that they will meet again a harbinger?

3. Hallowed

•adjective•The torture sessions seem to use physical pain for the purpose of returning Big Brother and the Party’s ideology to hallowed ground in the mind of those subjected to the abuse. Why is this important to the party?

4. Discourse

•Noun•Through the discourse between O’Brien and Winston, during which O’Brien essentially reprograms Winston’s mind, what can we make of Orwell’s use of torture, physical affection, and sexual repression earlier in the book?

5. Truant

•adjective•Winston’s faith in Big Brother has become truant. Rather than try to “change” him back, what is the purpose of his time in the Ministry of Love?

6. Tenable

Adjective

While the things that O’Brien tells Winston during their sessions seem like contradictory nonsense to the reader, they are perfectly tenable to Winston. Why?

7. Libertine

•Adjective•During their love affair, Winston and Julia were able to live a libertine lifestyle in which they had sex any time they pleased, disregarded Party rules, and concerned themselves only with their own pleasure. After their release from the Miniluv, how has this changed even though they see each other again?

8. Parley

•noun•Although it appears somewhat balanced/calm and is framed in a way that does not make it appear forced, to call Winston and O’Brien’s meetings a parley would be to miss the point of Orwell’s message about totalitarianism

9. Beguile

•Verb•In Book 2, Julia and everything about her, beguile Winston and complete engross his thoughts. Upon his release from the Miniluv, what do we realize is the extent of the mental conditioning that the Party has subjected both Winston, and therefore, its entire population to?

10. Sovereignty

•noun•Through the completely broken spirit of Winston’s character, we realize that the sovereignty of Big Brother will remain intact. What is Orwell’s opinion about how this type of a society operates and what makes it so dangerous?