Talk:Nineteen Eighty-Four

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I would like the line "You're only a rebel from the waist down." added because that part really made me smile. It was somewhere in part 2, but I'm bad at adding things to Wiki.

Brilliant quote

Personally, I think the very last paragraph is brilliant, certainly worth quoting. However, writing down the words ending with "He loved Bbby." might be a terrible spoiler for anyone who still wants to read the book. Opinions? Eef (A) 11:16, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

That is one reason why I, and I believe others, have not included it. I don't mind a few spoilers being given for most stories, but clear indications of major plot twists is something that I think should generally be avoided in good articles, as it is in good reviews of literature and movies. ~ Kalki 12:08, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Someone using IP 200.55.80.136 did add the final quote of the story. Last night I removed it for the reasons that I indicated above, but I place it here, for discussion as to whether it should be included in the main article or not. It is one of the most profoundly important statements of the story, and normally I think that inclusion of it would be giving far too much away, but most people who are familiar with the story at all, are probably aware it does not have a "happy" ending.

"Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother." (III.6)

I do not think it would "spoil" the story for most people, if they knew so precisely where the story was headed, but it could for some. For now I will simply propose keeping it here, unless a clear majority develops which wishes to include it in the article. ~ Kalki 16:18, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)

There is a spoiler warning so I think that "He loved BB" should be added, it's a good quote.

Very long quotations

Some of the quotations listed here are far too long. Surely we should just be listing memorable phrases from the book, not whole pages?

Yes we should, also since the book is still in copyright. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 11:39, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

But some memorable parts of the book are very long. I think that some of them are too long, but some of them are important as well. --BenWhitey 01:20, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

There are many important passages in books that don't make for succinct quotes. "Memorable" isn't necessarily the same as "quotable". One way to think of the difference is to consider whether a "quote" might reasonably be memorized to recite in an appropriate situation. For example, the 3-paragraph passage beginning with "The Hate rose to its climax" is very dramatic, but it is far too wordy to be considered pithy enough to make a point by recitation. Instead, the key piece of doublethink that should be cited here is the memorably self-contradictory assertions:

• WAR IS PEACE
  FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
  IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The passage itself might be summarized by final line:

• … it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise.

I could imagine someone quoting the part I bolded when mocking people trying to distract themselves from their problems with music or dancing. My point is that Wikiquote is not really meant to provide a place to display large excerpts of materal, only pithy statements from that material. That's true even if the work isn't protected by copyright. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 06:12, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

What's with the pictures?

Most of the pictures here have nothing to do with the topic material. A picture of a sneering face with a caption about the banning of Flickr in the UAE. An eye staring at some random items on a table. A picture of a giant tree. As far as I can tell, they aren't even inspired by 1984! I'm not deleting them, but as a visitor to the page, I think they have no value. What do these have to do with 1984? They look like they're here just as an excuse for someone to stick their favorite quotes in a sidebar....

—This unsigned comment is by 68.61.165.216 (talk • contribs) .

The use of images to make the pages more visually interesting and some of the more notable quotes more prominent has long been encouraged here, especially since the creation of the Wikimedia Commons some years ago. ~ Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:21, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Some effort was recently made to remove some images on the quite FALSE claims that they had NOTHING to do with the story, and refusal to even examine the FACT that some of them CLEARLY are related to the story, the subjects of the quotes which are used in their captions and with George Orwell's home in relation to a quote ABOUT him. I have restored these, and posted SOME of the rational for using them within comments next to the images. Blessings to ALL. ~ ♞☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 02:55, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

...

Possible quote from the Book

• "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

Anyone know where in the book this is from? I may have missed it but didn't see it on the existing Wikiquote page.

Found that quote in part 2 section 5, added it (the following):

Every record has been destroyed or falsified...that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. I know, of course, that the past is falsified, but it would never be possible for me to prove it, even when I did the falsification myself. After the thing is done, no evidence ever remains.

cheersOm777om (talk) 19:39, 18 March 2019 (UTC)

Only a question. Different Wording.

For Orwell's 1984, you and many others have this line: "...no ENJOYMENT of the process of life...."

But my book, Plume/ New American Library/ Penguin 1981, has this line on p. 220: "...no EMPLOYMENT of the process of life...."

An editorial change? A mistake?

Thank you.

James Rutherford