Parsons' children menace Winston

While Winston is in the Parsons' flat, the two children, a nine-year-old boy and a younger girl, leap out and point toy pistols at him, shouting 'Traitor!' and 'Thought-criminal!' They are dressed in the uniform of the Spies. The boy seems to have a calculating ferocity, and Winston feels that it is not altogether a game. As Winston leaves, the boy hits him on the back of the neck with a catapult. Mrs Parsons drags her son back, but Winston is struck by the look of helpless fright on her face. The children's behavior illustrates how the Party has turned young people into ungovernable little savages who nevertheless worship the Party and are ready to denounce their own parents.