Mr. Charrington

1. Mr. Charrington By Amy and Tram the boy wonder

2. Physical Appearance • Old man • Blends is well with the proles • ‘Mild eyes distorted by thick spectacles’ • Vision and knowledge – he is a spy • Hair was almost white but is thick eyebrows were still black • Frail, hunched over, not threatening.

3. Personality Traits • Air of intellectuality he had been some kind of literary man. • Accent is less debased than that of the majority of the Proles • Less of a cockney accent…more educated, he doesn’t quite belong there? • Foreshadowing – every aspect of him is a little bit off, not quite right

4. First mention/appearance in the novel • Chapter VIII Part 1 • Page 97 • “The proprietor had just lighted a hanging oil lamp which gave off an unclean but friendly smell. He was a man of perhaps sixty, frail, bowed, with long, benevolent nose, and mild eyes distorted by thick spectacles. His hair was almost white, but his eyebrows were bushy and still black. His spectacles, his gentle fussy movements and the fact that he was wearing an aged jacket of black velvet, gave him a vague air of intellectuality, as though he had been some kind of literary man or perhaps a musician.”

5. Significant quotations • “It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life he was looking, with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police” • “The frame’s fixed to the wall,” said the old man, “but I could unscrew it for you, I dare say.” • “That’s right. Outside the law courts. It was bombed.” • “And then another quite different voice, a thin, cultivated voice which Winston had the impression of having heard before, struck in: ‘And by the way, while we are on the subject,’ ‘Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head”

6. Key Scene • Chapter X Part 2 • Page 233 • “Mr. Charrington was still wearing his old velvet jacket, but his hair, which had been almost white, had turned black. Also he was not wearing his spectacles.” • “His body had straightened, and seemed to have grown bigger. His face had undergone only tiny changes that had nevertheless worked a complete transformation.” • “a member of the Thought Police.”

7. Themes through characters • The past • What he sells…diary, paperweight, antiques • Ironic…memories are supposed to have been vaporized with the people who owned them • Penopticism – all seeing • “I recognize you on the pavement,” • You’re the gentleman that bought the young lady’s keepsake – album.” • Control • “His eye fell on the fragments of the glass paperweight. ‘Pick up those pieces,’ He said sharply. A man stooped to obey.”