Winston wanders through the prole streets

Winston misses an evening at the Community Centre, a rash act since attendance is carefully checked. He wanders through the labyrinth of London, first south, then east, then north, losing himself among unknown streets. He walks through a slum street of two-storey houses, with puddles of filthy water and ragged children playing in them. A rocket bomb falls nearby, and Winston flings himself on his face. After the bomb explodes, he sees a severed human hand lying in the plaster dust and kicks it into the gutter. The proles' lives go on as though nothing has happened.