1984 - Planet eBook

Chapter 2As he put his hand to the door-knob Winston saw thathe had left the diary open on the table. DOWN WITHBIG BROTHER was written all over it, in letters almost bigenough to be legible across the room. It was an inconceivablystupid thing to have done. But, he realized, even in hispanic he had not wanted to smudge the creamy paper byshutting the book while the ink was wet.He drew in his breath and opened the door. Instantlya warm wave of relief flowed through him. A colourless,crushed-looking woman, with wispy hair and a lined face,was standing outside.‘Oh, comrade,’ she began in a dreary, whining sort ofvoice, ‘I thought I heard you come in. Do you think youcould come across and have a look at our kitchen sink? It’sgot blocked up and——’It was Mrs Parsons, the wife of a neighbour on the samefloor. (’Mrs’ was a word somewhat discountenanced by theParty—you were supposed to call everyone ‘comrade’—but with some women one used it instinctively.) She wasa woman of about thirty, but looking much older. One hadthe impression that there was dust in the creases of her face.Winston followed her down the passage. These amateur repairjobs were an almost daily irritation. Victory Mansionswere old flats, built in 1930 or thereabouts, and were falling