Who Killed Cock Robin?

“There was one about...the death of poor Cock Robin.” (Page 229)

The character alluded to here is the subject of the English poem, “Who Killed Cock Robin?” The poem is a personification of sorts of the death of legendary samaritan, Robin Hood. The words of the poem describe Cock Robin’s funeral procession and how help was offered from an array of sympathetic animals thus reflecting the high esteem in which the real Robin Hood was held by common folk. Orwell includes this allusion because of its relation to the death that Winston nearly encounters at the close of the novel. In the poem, Cock Robin’s killer is never explicitly described and remains a mystery. Likewise, in 1984, thought criminals are mysteriously seized from their homes and rarely seen again. In addition to this, one of the poem’s lines - “‘Who'll dig his grave?’ ‘I,’ said the Owl” - relates to the character, O’Brien, who is said to resemble an owl. It is likely that Orwell drew upon the fact that the Owl in this poem chooses to dig Cock Robin’s grave because, in the novel, O’Brien figuratively “digs” Winston’s “grave” as he tortures him for his thought crimes.

"Who Killed Cock Robin Rhyme." Nursery Rhymes Lyrics, Origins and History. Web. 11 May 2010. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/who_killed_cock_robin.htm.