Chapter ONE - TWO

I found these sections much more appealing than the sections before. It was much more detailed and less confusing because it didn't explain so much about the government as it did in previous sections. It begins speaking of Winston walking down streets and alleys that he is not very familiar with. As he walks into the "pub," he spies an old man that could be his link to the past. The man is arguing with the bartender telling him that he wants a pint, not a half-liter or a liter. Winston finally walks up to the counter and buys the old man and himself a half-liter and sits down next to the old man. Winston converses with the old man about what life used to be like around there. He persistently asks the old man if life was better then than it was now, but the old man doesn't really know how to answer the question. He just says how the beer was better, that he had to tip his hat to rich people, and how he bumped into a drunk capitalist but he only shoved him into the street. Doesn't this answer Winston's question? I mean, the old man said that the beer was better, but instead of tipping their hats to the rich people wouldn't they have to basically grovel and instead of merely being shoved wouldn't they be incriminated for running into a capitalist??? Are these just obvious? Or is Winston looking for the straight answer? Why is it so important to him to prove the history books wrong if he doesn't believe them anyways?
Something else that I found interesting is how the "comrades" put so much attention on the lottery because, like Winston said, "it was the only thing they had to live for." Although this may be true for some of the people, but how can it be what one lived for if they knew only small prizes were given out and all of the large prizes were given to people who no longer existed? Did they not know? Or did they simply not believe? I think that the comrades who spent a lot of time on the lottery chose not to believe even though they knew what the reality was; they had to have some hope because it really was the only thing they lived for, and they didn't want that taken away too.
Winston walked into Mr. Charrington's shop. He browsed around for a bit while talking to the owner, Mr. Charrington. Then he saw a piece of glass that caught his eye. It looked to be a paperweight, but it was beautiful and had coral from the Indian Ocean within it. Nothing like it existed or was rarely found anymore. Winston had to have it because it was something that seemed to be of a different time period; something quite different from what was. I think that it symbolized the past and kind of reminded him that times were different than they were at the time.
What was so significant about the rhyme? Was it because it was something of the past also? What does it signify? For it to be repeated so many time in the book it has to mean something? Is it just dwelling upon the past and how all the buildings were demolished or altered so as not to show any detail about history?
Also why didn't Mr. Charrington ever change the sign on the outside of his shop? I think it is because the government pretty much has control of everything so what would the point be of changing the sign if it is not rightfully his. Why take time and effort to change something that is meaningless? But on-the-other-hand, it might be something that he would like to do to show that that is what he is dedicated to, that his shop is what he lives for since nobody seems to have a whole lot to live for at that time except for the Party members because they didn't have to be afraid of being vaporized in the middle of the night.
"The street was a blind alley." I remember this from How to Read Literature Like a Professor, but I don't think that it means the same thing. I only think that it means that the alley was hard to see down as if he were the blind one.
Then as he is retracing his steps, he comes across a girl that he had seen earlier; he suspects that she is a spy or a member of the Thought Police. He suggests to himself that "he could keep on her track till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone." Was he really that brutal that he would do that? If he says that life isn't worth living and he wouldn't care if the Thought Police came for him, then why does this matter? Is it just human instinct because he knows that if she is what he thinks that he could be vaporized? I understand why they call it vaporize. It's because they just disappear; they are vaporized and are never seen again. I never saw the connection before. But back to what I was saying, I think he wants to kill her because he doesn't want to take a chance of being vaporized. Even if part of him doesn't want to live, the other part doesn't want to die, which is basic human instinct.
In the next chapter, Winston is going down the corridor, and he sees a girl coming towards him. She trips and falls, and Winston goes to help her. At that time, she slips a notes into his hand that Winston doesn't notice until later. On the notes are the solemn 3 words: I love you. This is ironic because Winston thought that the girl was for the government and a part of the Thought Police or something, but actually she was only following him because of what she wanted to say. Winston said how seeing this and knowing that someone cared about him made him want to live. It gave him reason to stay alive. I think that is crazy though... the government is that harsh that they have to go to such lengths to tell each other how they feel? I didn't know it was against the law their to love each other too. I don't understand how people can live without breaking the law at some point. So shouldn't everyone be vaporized according to what their laws are?
After many days of waiting to talk to the girl, Winston finally gets the chance to sit beside her at lunch. She tells him to meet her somewhere. They meet around a lot of people, and after the girl tells him to meet her somewhere, he embraces her hand for like ten seconds.