1. How does the writer present the society and environment? (10) It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin
nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass
doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from
entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too
large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more
than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and
ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the
best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during
daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for HateWeek. The flat was seven
flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went
slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with
the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that
the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption
beneath it ran.
Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the
production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which
formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston tumed a switch and the voice sank
somewhat though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was
called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely. He moved over to