Inner Party

The Inner Party makes up just 2% of the population.

In the world of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Oceania is split into three "classes": the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the proles. The Inner Party generally regulates Ingsoc and the Thought Police, and keeps all Outer Party members under close supervision through technologies like telescreen, while the proles live in relatively depressed, but unmonitored conditions.

The Inner Party represents the oligarchical political class in Oceania. it is generally represented by Big Brother. Inner Party members enjoy a quality of life that is much better than that of the Outer Party members and the proles. The telescreens in their homes can ostensibly be turned off (for up to 30 minutes at a time); however, this revelation may be a lie to Winston and Julia, as conversations they had after O'Brien turned off his telescreen were later played back to them anyway.

Inner Party members also have access to spacious living quarters, personal servants, private motor vehicles, and high quality food, drink and consumer goods in contrast to the low quality gin, synthetic coffee and improperly manufactured cigarettes consumed by the Outer Party and the Proles. Inner party members have access to wine, as well as real coffee, tea, sugar, milk and well-made cigarettes. Inner party neighbourhoods are kept clean and presentable, compared to Outer Party and Prole neighbourhoods.

Prospective members of the Inner Party are selected at a young age according to a series of tests; racial origin and family heritage are of no importance in this process. Goldstein's book states that a child born to Inner Party parents is not automatically born into the Inner Party and that all racial groups in Oceania, including "jews, negroes and South Americans of pure Indian blood" are represented in the ranks. Visually, Inner Party members are always identifiable in public by their black jumpsuits. No Outer Party member or Prole may venture into Inner Party neighbourhoods without permission from an Inner Party member.

In the novel, O'Brien is the only character Winston meets who is a member of the Inner Party.

Goldstein's book explains the rationale behind the class divisions in Oceania, but the book is found to be made by an Inner Party committee that O'Brien was a part of.

See also

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