Spies

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Spies - Mandatory youth organisation formed and controlled by Ingsoc. This organisation is for Oceanian children; when they grow older, they join the Youth League. The Spies wear a uniform consisting of a grey shirt, a red neckerchief, and blue shorts. They are indoctrinated by means of songs, slogans, banners, drilling, processions, banners and so on.

As the name of the organisation indicates, the Spies are supposed to spy on their parents; in the year 1984, they are even equipped with special ear trumpets. There are frequent mentions of children informing on their parentsm and such a successful domestic spy is called "child hero". In the novel, Parsons ends up in the Ministry of Love after having been turned in by his own daughter. Because of this unproportional power bestowed upon the children, they become unruly and feared by all adults, Party members and non-Party members alike.

[edit] Background

In most totalitarian states, the state indoctrination has begun in early years. Orwell's main sources of inspiration for the Spies were most probably two, though: The Soviet communist Vsesoyuznaya pionerskaya organizatsiya imeni V. I. Lenina, better known as the "Pioneers", and the Nazi German Jungvolk respective Jungmädelbund, often incorrectly called "Hitlerjugend"; German youngsters didn't join the Hitlerjugend respective Bund Deutscher Mädel until they turned 14.

Children informants did in fact exist in both the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. [source needed] The most famous example is probably the 13-year-old Soviet boy Pavlik Morozov. He was in fact also called a "child hero" in the official progapanda. (Comrade Pavlik - The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, Catriona Kelly, Granta)

[edit] Differences in adaptations

In Michael Radford's adaptation, the uniform consists of a khaki shirt, a black neckerchief with an Ingsoc clip, and black shorts; this uniform is basically identical to the Jungvolk and Hitlerjugend uniforms.