Answers for chapter 5
Here are some reading comprehension answers of the book 1984, by George Orwell (chapter 5 part 1) I hope they are useful!
1) Describe the canteen and its atmosphere. Who did Winston meet there? How?
The cantine is a low-ceilinged, underground, crowded space where the people who work for the ministry have lunch. The air is filled with a sour metallic smell, and the trays and furniture are greasy. This, together with the lack of cleaning and the remains of food, gives the room a disgusting, noisy, and uncomfortable atmosphere.
Here, Winston meets his “friend” Syme, after he calls him to ask him if he has any razor blades left since there is a shortage of them.
2) Who is Syme? What do you get to know about him? What is the purpose of his job?
Syme is Winton’s comrade. In this chapter, we get to know that he is very orthodox regarding the party and works on creating its new language: newspeak. His job is to invent new words to replace the ones of Oldspeak (normal English). He is fascinated by finding new ways to express ideas using as few words as possible.
The purpose of this was to reduce people’s vocabulary so that they had no way of opposing the party and its ideas, to achieve greater control of thought. By erasing a word, the party assured people wouldn’t think about it.
At that moment, Syme needed some razorblades, since there was a shortage of them because of the war.
3) Describe the scene when Symes speaks about the hanging.
Syme speaks about the Hanging naturally and enthusiastically. We learn that he enjoys seeing people die in this way, especially when their feet are not tied. This shows how people are used to violence towards traitors, and how much their thoughts and principles are controlled by the party.
4) Describe the scene when Winston & Symes sit down to eat at a table.
Once they seat at the table, they don’t speak until they have finished eating. A man speaking in a loud, quacking way can be heard behind them. Nothing of what he is saying can be understood, but it seems obvious to Winston that he is speaking highly of the party.
After they finish eating, Syme tells Winston about his advances regarding the Newspeak Dictionary. Here, he realizes how intelligent Syme is, and how he will be vaporized sooner or later because of this. Despite being extremely orthodox, he understands too well how the language works, and why it is needed, which is something dangerous for the party. “He [says] things that would have been better unseen, he [reads] too many books”, he is not discreet and stupid as he should be.
5) What is Winston’s idea about Syme’s Future? Why does Winston think about the “Chestnut Tree Café”?
Winston realizes Syme will be vaporized because he is too intelligent and keeps few things to himself. He thinks about the chestnut café because it was an “ill-omened” place Syme used to frequent. Many old leaders of the party hung out there, and Goldstein himself had been seen there some times. Syme’s going there seemed to further support Winston’s belief that he would be vaporized sooner or later.
6) Parson comes to the canteen. How is he described? What does he want from Winston? Retell the story he tells about his daughter.
Parsons is described as a having a boyish, though fat, appearance. He carries an intense smell of sweat and a frog-like face. His purpose is to ask Winston for some money he forgot to give him, needed for the Hate Week event (a voluntary activity), since he is the treasurer of their block.
He feels very proud of her daughter’s behaviour during a hike. He tells his comrades how she and two other girls had followed a strange-looking man, and handed him over to the patrols. Besides, he explains she knew he was a foreigner because of his different shoes, ones which she had never seen before. Here, we learn how satisfied he was with his daughter’s behaviour, and her having caught a traitor.
7) What was announced over the telescreen? What were Winston’s thoughts about this?
The telescreen announces the rise of the standard of living for the Oceania population, and how many workers had participated in demonstrations of their love for Big Brother. It also communicates a number of figures, one which indicates how the chocolate ration had been raised to 20g, even though not 24hs ago the people were told that it was reduced.
Winston cannot believe that everybody swallows this lie so easily, but he knows very well they do. He wonders if he is the only one who realizes it is a lie. Here, we get to know how unsatisfied he is with his life, as he keeps wondering if it has always been that way. He has a constant “feeling that [he has] been cheated of something that [he has] a right to”.
If you need more help, on Shmoop you can find a summary of the chapter! Also, here you can read some questions on the chapter 7.
