Character Web for “1984”
Direct Characterization Quotations
Quote #1:
– “One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face.” (68)
Quote #2:
– “Syme was a philologist, a specialist in Newspeak. Indeed, he was one of the enormous team of experts now engaged in compiling the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. He was a tiny creature, smaller than Winston, with dark hair and large, protuberant eyes, at once mournful and derisive, which seemed to search your face closely while he was speaking to you.” (62)
Indirect Characterization Quotations
Quote #3:
– “‘Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” (67)
Quote #4:
– “‘I wanted to ask you whether you’d got any razor blades,’ he said. ‘Not one!’ said Winston with a sort of guilty haste. ‘I’ve Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 63 tried all over the place.” (62-63)
Quote #5:
– “‘It was a good hanging,’ said Syme reminiscently. ‘I think it spoils it when they tie their feet together. I like to see them kicking. And above all, at the end, the tongue sticking right out, and blue—a quite bright blue. That’s the detail that appeals to me.’” (64)
Quote #6:
– “One of the notices carried a printed list of the members of the Chess Committee, of whom Syme had been one. It looked almost exactly as it had looked before—nothing had been crossed out—but it was one name shorter.” (186)