Chapter 6

Summary

Winston was walking down one of the corridors at work when he realized there was somebody following him.  He stopped and turned round only to be face-to-face with O’Brien. O’Brien wished to compliment Winston on one of his articles, but made a slight criticism concerning some of the words he used, which are not shown in the Tenth Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Winston explains that in his section they only have the Ninth Edition, and O’Brien invites him to call at his home in order to collect the Tenth Edition if he is interested.

Winston believes this is a ruse for O’Brien to contact him, a fellow conspirator.  O’Brien writes down his address on a piece of paper and gives it to Winston, saying that he is usually at home in the evenings.

Winston was excited at the prospect of moving on from thoughts and words to actions against the state.

Interpretation

The reader is clear that O’Brien is potentially a sinister figure, and just as Winston was totally wrong about Julia, the same can be said for O’Brien, but how the events will unfold is not clear, and the reader may still hold out some hope that Winston may meet his end through an heroic deed against Big Brother’s regime.