EN 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 48: Thoughtcrime, Fatalism, Nations Of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Document Summary
Winston opens the door fearfully, assuming that the thought police have arrived to arrest him for writing in the diary. However, it is only mrs. parsons, a neighbor in his apartment building, needing help with the plumbing while her husband is away. In mrs. parsons"s apartment, winston is tormented by the fervent parsons children, who, being junior spies, accuse him of thoughtcrime. The junior spies is an organization of children who monitor adults for disloyalty to the party, and frequently succeed in catching them . Mrs. parsons herself seems afraid of her zealous children. The children are very agitated because their mother won"t let them go to a public hanging of some of the party"s political enemies in the park that evening. Winston dreams of being with his mother on a sinking ship. He feels strangely responsible for his mother"s disappearance in a political purge almost twenty years ago.
