1984 Ch. 4

Quote: "More commonly, people who had incurred the displeasure of the Party simply disappeared and were never heard of again. One never had the smallest clue as to what had happened to them. In some cases they might not even be dead. Perhaps thirty people personally known to Winston, not counting his parents, had disappeared at one time or another"(45).

Significance: This quote stands out to me because the Party has to much power. They can make someone leave the country or even kill them because that person thought something they should not have. The Party wipes out so much of the past and the history that nobody really knows if there friends and family whom have disappeared are even dead. Getting rid of the past confuses everyone. The people will never know if the Party is ever telling the truth. Winston could be told that someone in his family never existed, but they could be alive somewhere in another country or have died from an illness. Winston would never even know it because the Party is wiping out his past. I do not believe any of this is right and I hope that throughout the book it will change.

Definitions: Celibacy(47)-noun-abstention from sexual relations; abstention by vow from marriage; the state of being unmarried.

Saboteurs(47)-noun-someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks.