The road to hell is paved with good intentions… is that how the saying goes? Anyway, I read this chapter three weeks ago with the intent on writing about it immediately. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way.

This was one of the longer chapters in the book to date. Despite the length, it is also one of the lighter chapters in terms of heavy hitting content. This chapter has Winston out and about in the ‘forbidden’ world. The sights are the everyday life of the Proles; from the constant danger of errant explosions to the daily routine of the pub. As Winston said, it is not expressly prohibited to walk amongst the Proles, but highly suspicious.

History is Grounding- Let it be said that history is an interpretation of the facts from the perspective of the person writing it. It is no different than today’s news or this blog. That means that there is an inherent bias but that is not really important. Just like adopted people search for their real parents or siblings, there is something to knowing where you came from. It gives us perspective on why we are who we are, why we look and act the way that we do. Once we can reconcile our history to our current position, there is a certain inner peace.

Tokens Complete Our Picture- Trinkets sometimes bridge the gap between our history and the present. In the case of Winston, he become infatuated with a glass ball. His speculation was that it was paper weight but regardless, Winston was infatuated with it. So much so, that he would risk his safety to buy it and take it home. We all have those items that usually have sentimental value or for some reason we are drawn to it. Fortunately, in most cases we are not risking our lives to hold on to such things.

This is the final setup into Winston’s life changing decisions. Using the English term it is foreshadowing. The urgency to discover the historical truth has been growing in frequency and importance over the last couple of chapters. I tried to relate the role of history to our understanding above. The fundamental questions of Who are we, How did we get here, What are we supposed to be doing require context to satisfactorily answer.

I am developing a different opinion of this book than I had after the first time I read it. My plan is cover that more in-depth at the end when I summarize all of these entries in the final closure. When you look at the book from different perspectives, it may be this chapter is more important depending on the lense the reader is viewing the story.