Symes and Parsons

Symes and Parsons are 2 men who work in the same ministry as Winston. While their outward demeanor seems to be that of friends sitting down to lunch, the narrative keeps making peculiar references to Symes despising Winston, and of Winston and Syme's mutual disgust for Parsons. These seem to serve the purpose of de-humanizing their characters. We are shown that Winston quite correctly sees them as subjects of the party, swallowing whatever the party tells them and having a fanatical hatred of unorthodoxy, in the form of 'thought-criminals.'This view serves to set up the mood that pervades the entire story, a mood of hopelessness and futility.