Lunch with Syme

In the low-ceilinged canteen, Winston meets his friend Syme, a philologist working on the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Syme asks for razor blades, and Winston lies that he has none. They get their regulation lunch of pinkish-grey stew, bread, cheese and Victory Coffee, and Sit at a table under a telescreen. Syme talks about the hangings and about Newspeak, and Winston is both fascinated and repelled by him. He thinks that Syme is too intelligent and will be vaporized sooner or later.