University of Delhi 2008 B.Com II English -Stream A - Question Paper

an ink-pencil. truly he was not used to writing by
hand. Apart from very short notes, it was usual to dictate every thing into the speakwrite which was of course
impossible for his current purpose. He dipped the pen
into the ink and then faltered for just a second. A tremor
had gone through his bowels. To mark the paper was
the dicisive act. In small clumsy letters he wrote :
April 4th, 1984 .
He 'sat back. A sense of complete help.lessness had
descended upon him. To start with, he did. not know
with any certainty that this was 1984. It must be round
about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age
was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to
pin down any date within. a year or two.

he writing this diary ~ For the future, for the unborn. His mind hovered for a moment round the doubtful data
on the page, and then fetched up with a bump against the Newspeak word doublethink. For the 1st time the magnitude of what he had undertaken came home to
him. How could you communicate with the future ? It
was of its nature impossible.~ither the future would
resemble the present, in which case it would notllsten
to him :or it would be various from it, and his predicament would be meaningles
For a few time he sat gazing stupidly at the paper. The telescreen had changed over to .strident military music.
It was curious that he seemed not merely to have lost
. the power of expressing himself, but even to have forgotten what it :was that he originally intended to say. For weeks past he had been making ready for this moment, and it had never crossed his mind that anything wou!d be
needed other than courage. The true writing would be easy.
All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable
restless monologue that had been running inside his head,
literally for years. At this moment, however, even the monologue had dried up. Moreover his varicose ulcer had begun itching unbearably. He dared not scratch it, because if he did so it always became inflamed. The seconds were ticking by. He was conscious of nothing other than the blankness of the page in front of him, the itching of the skin above his' ankle, the blaring of the music, and a slight booziness 'caused by the gin.
(George Orwell. 1984)
Questions:
(a) What could be the repercussions of keeping a diary ?
(b) Why was Winston running this risk ?

Earning:   Approval pending.