Winston keeps a journal, an almost certainly illegal act that could get him killed.
In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith buys an old, blank diary from Mr. Charrington’s shop in the prole district. He begins writing in it privately, even though independent thought and personal expression are dangerous under the Party’s rule. His first entries include the words “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER,” turning the diary into evidence of thoughtcrime.
The journal matters because it represents Winston’s attempt to preserve private memory and individual judgment. The Party controls newspapers, records, language, and even the accepted version of the past. Writing in a diary therefore challenges the Party’s claim that reality can be changed simply by changing official records.
Readers sometimes choose “a book” or “a movie,” because Winston later becomes involved with forbidden political material and altered films at the Ministry of Truth. But the artifact he personally keeps—and the object that begins his open rebellion—is the diary or journal. The Thought Police eventually discover it, confirming Winston’s fears.