Brant Pewonka & Taylor Fay

1984 Project Script

Introduction of Project:
BRANT: Hello and welcome to Brant Pewonka and Taylor Fays 1984 Project for Mr. Faulhabers Advanced Government class. TAYLOR: Throughout this video, well be explaining why each of the 12 key events that we picked from the book are important to the overall themes that George Orwell wanted to portray in order to warn us of the dangers of a totalitarian government. BRANT: We used examples from the book itself and our own artistic license to create a video that were sure Orwell himself would be proud of. TAYLOR: Thank you for watching!

Introduction of Scene I
BRANT: In our first scene, we see that Winston, the protagonist of the story, is writing in his diary. We can tell from his thoughts that he feels strongly about his individual freedoms, something that is a little more than frowned upon by the government. As he writes in his diary, he suddenly loses control writes, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER. This makes him afraid of what the government will do. He thinks that its only a matter of time before they find him and kill him. TAYLOR: This scene plays a large role because it makes us realize how far a totalitarian government can go. Winston is forced to be afraid for doing something as simple as writing in his diary because when he does that, he is expressing himself as a human being. This is something that the government fears because, if the citizens can express themselves freely, they can plot a rebellion or do something else in attempt to weaken the Party. Scene I (Setting: Winstons Apartment) (WINSTON sits at desk in his apartment. He is contemplating what to write in his diary. He starts to write calmly, which descends into a sort of frenzy. Camera zooms in on diary to see that he has written, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER in large neat capitals. He looks wide eyed at what he has written and is frightened. He puts his pen down and thinks for a moment before picking it up again and writing hysterically. There is a knock on the door and WINSTON is terrified.) Conclusion BRANT: We understand in the beginning from the words that Orwell uses that nationalism plays a very important role. The citizens of the land have an obsessive love for a god-like figure that they call "Big Brother". Big Brother, who reminds us slightly of Joseph Stalin, is never actually seen in person. So thats a little suspicious. Also anyone who is not completely for the Party is p ushed by torture of vaporization.

Introduction of Scene II
TAYLOR: In our next scene, we are exposed to a typical family in the book, though this family scene may not be so typical to us. We meet Mrs. Parsons, who is the wife of one of Winstons friends. Winston enters into their apartment to help unblock their sink, when suddenly one of the Parsons kids jumps out and starts accusing him of being a traitor. BRANT: The attitude of the child reminds us of what occurred in the 1940s with Nazi Germany and the Hitler youth. This group, just like the Junior Spies in 1984, was a patriotic organization that caused children who were involved with it to go as far as to monitor their own parents to see if they would pose any threat against Nazi ideals. Lets take a look. Scene II (Setting: Ws Apartment and PARSONS family Apartment) (WINSTON opens the door and is relieved to see MRS. PARSONS standing in his doorway with a wrench looking distraught .) MRS. PARSONS: Oh, comrade! Do you think you could come across and have a look at our kitchen sink? Its got blocked up! Only because my husband isnt home of course. If he was home, Id ask him. He loves doing things with his hands. (WINSTON nods and takes the wrench from MRS. PARSONS. He follows after her, glancing back at his diary .) WINSTON: (looks at sink) Do you have a spanner? MRS. PARSONS: UmmI dont know. Maybe my daughter can PARSONS KID: (pops out from under table and aims vaporizer) Reach for the sky! (WINSTON obeys, chuckling at the kid. PARSONS KID gestures with vaporizer and WINSTONs smile falls.) Traitor! Thought criminal!....Loser! MRS. PARSONS: She does get to be noisy! PARSONS KID: When are we going to the hanging?!? MRS. PARSONS: We cant. We dont have time, dear. PARSONS KID: But I want to go! Conclusion TAYLOR: We see that children cant be attached to their parents. In order to prevent this, they are strongly indoctrinated at school and are told that it is right to betray their parents over to the Thought Police even at the smallest hint of treachery. The government wants to capture the childrens faith early in their lives so that they wont know any better when they are older.

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Introduction of Scene III

BRANT: In scene 3, Winston is at work in the Ministry of Truth. Its his job to rewrite history, so that it always favors Big Brothe r or
the Party. TAYLOR: With the changing of historical texts and the vaporization of anyone that goes against the party, the people have been made to think that the Party is always right. As Voltaire said, Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you comm it atrocities. Scene III (Setting: Ministry of Truth) (WINSTON is at work. He sighs and pulls his speakwrite to him. He puts on the mouthpiece and his glasses. He grabs a piece of paper from the pneumatic tube and reads it out loud as his speakwrite types it up. WINSTON pulls out history book, whites out a line, and writes something new.) Conclusion BRANT: The first thing that came to our minds with this idea is the Iran Holocaust denial. Iran is attempting to fulfill its own political ends by rewriting history.

Introduction of Scene IV
TAYLOR: In our 4 scene, we witness a conversation between Winston and his friend Syme. Winston asks Syme how the Newspeak dictionary is coming and he says its going well. The examples that he uses make us want to curl our lip s in disgust. Isnt that justungood? BRANT: The Party uses Newspeak to dumb down the citizens. If the citizens feel inferior, they will act inferior, and thats exactly what the government wants. How can you speak passionately about starting a revolution against your overbearing government, when your vocabulary has no synonyms or antonyms? Political correctness, if taken way out of hand, can also be seen as something similar to this. Scene IV (Setting: Lunch Room) (WINSTON sits at lunch table with his nasty food. SYME enters) SYME: Just the man I was looking for! (He sits with WINSTON) Got any razors? (He motions to his mustache.) WINSTON: Nope! Ive looked all over, but I cant find any. (SYME shrugs and they eat some slop. SYME picks something nasty out of his.) WINSTON: So hows the Newspeak dictionary coming? SYME: Good. I think this may be the last edition. When were done, people will have to learn the language all over again. Or, at least unlearn itwere throwing a lot of the old words out.too showy. (He eats some goo.) Take the word good for example. Since we have good, we dont need bad. We can say ungood. Excellent or some word like that can be plusgood. See? Its pretty ...good. It was all Big Brothers idea. (WINSTONs face shows pure disgust while SYME is speaking, but quickly replaces it with an obviously fake smile as he finishes . SYME continues.) SYME: (gesturing with his spoon) If a person from the year 2050 appeared suddenly in the seat next to you, he wouldnt understand a single good word youre saying. WINSTON: But if he was a prole SYME: (dismissively) The proles arent people. Anyway, yeah, even party slogans will change for good. How can it be Freedom is Slavery if the idea of freedom is eliminated? (Looks up) Oh no, its comrade Parsons. (WINSTON looks up from his soup with interest, but PARSONS interrupts .) PARSONS: Hey, there old chap! (Leans next to WINSTON) Sorry about me kid. Shes a feisty one. Got the right spirit, Id say. The other day, she spotted a spy on her own. Turned him in, she did. WINSTON: What did they do him? PARSONS: I really cant say, can I?but it wouldnt surprise me if(He makes a show of pretending to shoot a rifle.) SYME: Good. (WINSTON rolls his eyes and looks around room. He sees JULIA openly staring at him. He is afraid and turns in the opposite direction .) Conclusion TAYLOR: The Party wants to remove words like thought from speech. If we as people didnt have a word for thought, then it w ould be a lot harder to speak about thought.
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Introduction of Scene V
BRANT: In our next scene, Winston is walking in the prole district. The proles are the poorer people in Oceania, but the only silver lining of this is that there is slightly less government control over them. He walks into Mr. Charri ngtons shop, the place where hed

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bought his forbidden diary. Winston also sees Julia staring in at him through the window and is afraid that she is a member of the Thought Police. Scene V (Setting: MR. CHARRINGTONs secondhand store) (WINSTON enters the shop and looks around. MR. CHARRINGTON sees him and comes over.) MR. CHARRINGTON: You! You were the man who bought the girls diary! Beautiful thing it was. WINSTON: It wasnt just a girls diary. MR. CHARRINGTON: It had very, very nice paper. How can I help you? WINSTON: Oh, Im just looking around. (He sees the paperweight out of the corner of his eye .) Wait, whats this? MR. CHARRINGTON: That paperweight is over a hundred years old! Quite the antique! WINSTON: Its beautiful. (He gives MR. CHARRINGTON some money.) MR. CHARRINGTON: Theres a room upstairs I think youd like to see. Not much in it, just a few things. (They go up the stairs.) MR.CHARRINGTON: My wife and I used to live here together before she passed. WINSTON: There isnt a telescreen! MR.CHARRINGTON: Never had one! Too darn expensive. WINSTON: (looks around and sees the St. Clements picture on the wall .) Hey, I know that building. Its just a ruin now. Its right next to the Palace of Justice. MR. CHARRINGTON: Its always reminded me of a rhyme I knew when I was a boy. Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements. You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martins . WINSTON: (looks at camera) Interesting Conclusion TAYLOR: Even though the proles are much poorer than the people like Winston, they seem to be much happier, and Winston envies them for this. The only problem with the proles is that they dont understand that the government is sitting on their shoulde rs. They just go on with their daily lives, accepting whatever bones the government throws them.

Introduction of Scene VI
BRANT: In scene 6, Winston is walking around at work and is run into a girl, whom he has been taking some interest in. She slips him a note that says I love you and Winston is shocked. They later agree to meet in the country tobe with each other. TAYLOR: Antisexualism plays a large role in 1984. The party wants the citizens to take out all of their sexual feelings into a love for Big Brother, but they do have to have children to get more Party members. Because of this, they create the Junior Anti-Sex League to eliminate any sort of legitimate desire. Scene VI (Setting: Hallway outside mens room, the cafeteria, somewhere in the country) (WINSTON is walking down the hall towards the mens restroom. JULIA enters out of nowhere and dramatically knocks him to the floor. She gets up to leave and realizes she didnt give him the note. She quickly tosses it at him and runs away. WINSTON o pens it and is surprised. The camera zooms in on note to see that it reads, I love you. WINSTON looks up dramatically from the note with a new fire in his eyes.) (WINSTON enters the cafeteria and sees JULIA sitting at a table. He sits next to her. Neither of them look up from their food.) JULIA: Can you get Sunday afternoon off? WINSTON: Yeah. JULIA: Can you meet me in the country? WINSTON: Yeah. What time? JULIA: About fifteen hours. WINSTON: Okay. (He looks up and dramatically looks to see if the coast is clear and then dashes away from her ) (WINSTON and JULIA sit in a clearing in the countryand we already got this part so yeah.)

Conclusion BRANT: If youve read The Giver by Lois Lowry, you can recall the antisex and antilove theme there also. The characters were force to take mysterious pills in order to eliminate their any romantic feelings.

Introduction of Scene VII

TAYLOR: In this scene, we see that Julia brings in sugar, coffee, bread, and other items which are hard to find for normal citizens like them. They reflect on a prole woman outside, and Winston is frightened by a rat.

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Scene VII (Setting: Room above MR. CHARRINGTONs shop) (WINSTON and JULIA are lounging around. They hear a prole woman singing outside, It was only an opeless fancy, It passed like an Ipril dye, But a look an a word an the dreams they stirred They ave stolen my eart awye! ) JULIA: I cant come tomorrow. WINSTON: Why? JULIA: (embarrassed) Because I cant. WINSTON: Okay JULIA: I brought you something. (She pulls out sugar, jam, milk, bread, and coffee from her bag ) Look, its all real. Not the nasty fake stuff we get. WINSTON: (takes the coffee and sniffs it) Real Inner Party coffee! JULIA: Hey! (She grabs a shoe and throws it at a rat that has come in ) WINSTON: What was that all about? JULIA: There was a rat over there. WINSTON: A RAT?!? JULIA: (gives him a pat on the shoulder) Dont worry. Its gone. (She sees the painting) Oh look! You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martinss, When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey . WINSTON: (looks at camera) Interesting Conclusion BRANT: This is rationing theme can also be seen in Animal Farm, another work by George Orwell. In that story, the pigs take over the farm and turn it into a communistic state. At different points in the story, they reserve the luxurious foods and resources for themselves, saying that since they are the thinkers, they deserve it.

Introduction of Scene VIII-IX

TAYLOR: The next two scenes involve OBrien making contact with Winston. Both Winston and Julia are lead to believe that OBr ien is a member of Goldsteins Brotherhood and is attempting to overthrow the oppressive government. Scene VIII (Setting: Hallway at the Ministry of Truth) (WINSTON is walking down the hallway. OBRIEN is behind him. He clears his throat and WINSTON turns. He is afraid. ) OBRIEN: Comrade, Ive been meaning to speak to you for some time. I was reading one of your Newspeak arti cles the other day. You seem well educated in Newspeak. WINSTON: Not really OBRIEN: You write it well. I was talking to a friend of yours recently who agrees. Oh..whats his name? Anyway, I noticed in your last article that you included some words that have become obsolete. Do you have the tenth edition of the Newspeak dictionary? WINSTON: No. We just use the Ninth at work. OBRIEN: Stop by my flat sometime and Ill give you one. Heres my address. (He writes it on a piece of paper and gives it to WINSTON) Im usually home in the evenings. Good day, comrade. WINSTON: Good day. Scene IX (Setting: OBRIENs apartment) (WINSTON and JULIA walk into OBRIENs apartment. OBRIEN sees them and smiles.) OBRIEN: Sit down. (He gets up and turns telescreen off) WINSTON: You can turn it off? OBRIEN: Yes. Ive got that privilege. (He pauses and leans back in his chair.) So, should I say it or should you? WINSTON: I will. We believe there is a conspiracy against the party. (He eyes the telescreen.) And we want to join. OBRIEN: (pulls out a wine bottle from his shirt ) I think we should start with a toast, of course, to our leader, Emmanuel Goldstein. (He pours them two glasses) This is wine, by the way. Im sure youve read about it. WINSTON: So Goldstein is real??? (he takes his and Julias glasses) OBRIEN: Absolutely. (He takes a sip of his wine.) May I ask you both some questions? (He grabs a list of questions from his desk.) WINSTON: Sure. OBRIEN: Good. (He looks down at list and checks yes after each except for the last .) You are prepared to die for our cause? You are prepared to kill for our cause? To commit acts of sabotage which may cause the death of hundreds of innocent people? To betray your country to foreign powers? You are prepared to do anything which is likely to cause demoralization and weaken the power of the Party? If it served your interest to throw acid in a childs face, would you do it? You are prepared to lose your identit y? You are prepared to commit suicide if and when we ask?

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(They have nodded yes to all of the questions, but at this last one WINSTON says no and OBRIEN looks up. Camera view is on JU LIA and WINSTON. They are both saying no intensely, JULIA, more so ) You are prepared to separate from each other forever if need be? OBRIEN: Thank you. We just needed to know. Oh, and Ill send you a copy of Goldsteins book sometime soon. Is there anything else youd like to say? WINSTON: Have you ever heard that old rhyme that starts like Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements? OBRIEN: (nodding) The one that goes on to say: When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey, When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch? WINSTON: You know the last line! OBRIEN: I suppose I do. And now, Comrade, Im afraid you must go. Good day. Conclusion BRANT: We understand after reading the story that OBrien was lying of course. We realize that he was only deceiving Winston and Julia in order to make a point of them. Winston can almost be viewed as the last true man because he still has his own mind. We understand the lengths to which the Party is willing to go in order to keep its power.

Introduction of Scene X
TAYLOR: In the next scene we see Winston and Julia reflecting together in the room above Mr. Charringtons shop. Soon, they discover that theyve been caught and they find out that Mr. Charrington is actually a member of the Thought Police. Troops s torm the room and they are separated from each other. Scene X (Setting: Room above MR. CHARRINGTONs shop) (WINSTON is sitting comfortably and reading Goldsteins book to himself. Julia is with him, rummaging through her bag .) JULIA: I could use some coffee. (The prole woman sings again) WINSTON: (looks out the window) Shes beautiful. JULIA: What are you talking about? Shes huge! WINSTON: Thats her style of beauty. (JULIA joins him at the window) We are the dead. JULIA: We are the dead. VOICE OF MR. CHARRINGTON: You are the dead. (They leap apart) JULIA: It came from behind the picture! VOICE OF MR. CHARRINGTON: It came from behind the picture. Dont move. (WINSTON removes picture to reveal a telescreen.) JULIA: Oh no! Now they can see us! VOICE of MR. CHARRINGTON: Now we can see you. WINSTON: The house is surrounded! VOICE OF MR. CHARRINGTON: The house is surrounded. JULIA: We might as well say goodbye. VOICE OF MR. CHARRINGTON: You might as well say goodbye. Oh, and since were talking about it Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head! (TROOPS enter and attack WINSTON and JULIA. One throws the paperweight on the floor. MR. CHARRINGTON enters .) MR. CHARRINGTON: Somebody pick that up. (he motions to the paperweight and WINSTON stares at him wide eyed. ) Conclusion

BRANT: When we discovered that Mr. Charrington was actually a member of the Thought Police, we can both say that were surprised. Though, it makes sense when you think about it. The government is this controlling entity that wants to wrap itself around the citizens minds and squeeze like a boa constrictor. It makes sense that theyd have perfectly concealed spies that ruin everyones dreams.

Introduction of Scene XI-XIII

TAYLOR: In these next scenes, we witness OBrien torturing Winston to the max. First, Winston is zapped when he says that 2 + 2 doesnt equal 5. Then, when he still has one last shred of pride, OBrien takes him to room 101 to face his worst fear, rats. Scene XI (Setting: Torture chamber) (WINSTON is lying on a table. OBRIEN is standing next to him with an evil grin) OBRIEN: I told you if we met again it would be here. WINSTON: Yes.

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OBRIEN: Youre afraid your backbones going to snap. ( He turns the dial to 40 and leans down closer to WINSTON. ) Do you remember writing in your diary that freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four? WINSTON: Yes. OBRIEN: (Holds up four fingers.) How many fingers am I holding up, Winston? WINSTON: Four. OBRIEN: and if the party says, Im holding up fivehow many are there now? WINSTON: Four. OBRIEN: (turns the notch higher to 55) How many fingers, Winston? WINSTON: Four! OBRIEN: (Increases pain to 60) How many fingers, Winston? WINSTON: Four! Four! What else can I say??? Four! OBRIEN: (Increases pain) How many fingers? WINSTON: Four! How can you do this to me?!? OBRIEN: (Turns pain even higher) Winston, how many fingers?!? WINSTON: Five! I see five! OBRIEN: Youre lying. WINSTON: Four! Five! However many you want! Just make the pain stop! OBRIEN: (turns off pain) Youre a slow learner, Winston. Again. How many fingers am I holding up? WINSTON: Four. I wish I saw five, but there are only four! OBRIEN: Would you rather make me think you see five or to actually see them? WINSTON: See them. OBRIEN: How many fingers, Winston? WINSTON: (Looks at OBRIENs hand and blinks) I dont know. I honestly dont know. OBRIEN: Better. Dont worry, Winston. We will cure you of your insanity. (A few weeks later) OBRIEN: (turns off torture machine) Alright, Winston. Do you have any questions for me? You can ask anything you like. WINSTON: Anything? OBRIEN: Anything. WINSTON: What have you done with Julia? OBRIEN: She betrayed you immediately. She isnt the same person now WINSTON: You tortured her. OBRIEN: Next question. WINSTON: Is Big Brother real? OBRIEN: Of course hes real The Party is real. Big Brother is the Party. WINSTON: Does he exist as I do? OBRIEN: You do not exist. WINSTON: Does the Brotherhood exist? OBRIEN: You will never know. WINSTON: What lies in room 101? OBRIEN: You know what is in room 101, Winston. Everyone knows what is in room 101. Now let me ask you a question, Winston. Why does the Part cling to its power? WINSTON: You do it for our good. You believe that human beings cannot govern themselves gah! OBRIEN: (turns up the pain dial) Winston, Winston! What a stupid answer! The Party governs for its own sake. We dont care about you. Come on get up. Look in this mirror. (WINSTON is terrified at his own face.) Look at you, Winston! Youre covered in grime! Sickly and skeletal. (puts a hand on WINSTONs shoulder) It wont last forever. It all depends on you. WINSTON: You did this to me! OBRIEN: It has all been your fault, Winston. Weve done everything to degrade you. Can you think of anything you still feel prideful of, Winston? WINSTON: I havent betrayed Julia. OBRIEN: Thats true. You havent. (He nods his head as if in admiration of his strength .)

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Scene XII (Setting: a more comfortable room than before) (WINSTON sits at a desk in his cell. He is allowed to write. He absent mind edly writes, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE, and GOD IS POWER. He stares at it a moment before tossing it aside .) WINSTON: Julia! My love! JULIA! (collapses on the floor) (OBRIEN enters) OBRIEN: Get up and come here. You are thinking of deceiving me. Dont be stupid. Stand straighter and look at me in the face. ( He pauses.) Youre doing better. Tell me, Winston, how do you feel about Big Brother? WINSTON: I hate him. OBRIEN: You hate him? Good..Time for the last step. You must love Big Brother. Not simply obey him. You must love him. Room 101 Scene XIII (Setting: Room 101) (WINSTON is strapped to a chair. OBRIEN is standing over him.) OBRIEN: You once asked me what lies in Room 101. I told you that everyone knows. The thing that lies in room 101 is the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world varies from person to person. In your case, the worst thing in the world happens to be rats. WINSTON: No! You cant do that! OBRIEN: Do you remember the moment of panic that used to h appen in your dreams? There was a wall of blackness in front of you. There was something on the other side of that wall. You knew what was on the other side, but you dared not look to see. It was rats, wasnt it? WINSTON: OBrien! You dont need to do this! Ill do whatever you want! OBRIEN: Rats are carnivorous. They sometimes attack sick or dying people. Rats are smart. They know when a human being is helpless Winston: No! Do it to Julia! Not me! Her! I dont care what you do to her! Not me! OBRIEN: (Chuckles and covers the rats) Conclusion BRANT: The only thing that the government wants is power. In order to get that, it needs to control the thoughts of its citizens; it needs ultimate control. Winston reflects that physical pain may be too much for a human being to handle. Also, these scenes show that OBrien knows his dream about the rats, illustrating how powerful the government actually is.

Introduction of Scene XIV

TAYLOR: In the very last scene, Winston sits alone at the Chestnut Tree Caf, drinking his victory gin. He reflects on a prior meeting with Julia, in which he realized that he has no feelings for her anymore. He then says he loves Big Brother and has finally conformed to the Party. Scene XIV (Setting: the Chestnut Tree Caf) (Winston sits alone at a bar stool. He has a paper and pencil in front of him. He looks down and slowly writes 2 + 2 = 5. A voice sings, Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me. He sniffles and drinks some of his Victory Gin. Suddenly a voice shouts from the telescreen, Victory! Victory! Weve taken all of Africa! He looks at the image of Big Brother with wide eyes, I love Big Brother. He whispers to himself.) Conclusion BRANT: List last scene shows the reader that a totalitarian government can be dangerous, even to the point of breaking down a person until they have no free will.

Conclusion of Project
TAYLOR: George Orwell included many themes in 1984 that make people fear a totalitarian government. We hoped we expressed these themes in our video. BRANT: Thank you so much for watching! Have a wonderful day! Credits Bloopers THE END

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http://www.iranholocaustdenial.com/statements/index.htm http://www.shmoop.com/1984/the-proles.html