Book Three Reaction

As the story approaches to the end, it makes the readers wonder what is the main purpose or what is the motivation for Orwell to write this novel. The answer is not too complicated to find out, which the main purpose of this novel is to convey the readers about the totalitarian government.

In book three, Orwell takes insight of Winton’s torture by the Party. Orwell uses nearly four chapters to narrate the whole series of the torture. For instance, Winston experiences starvation, beating and mangling. Winston finally gives up when O’Brien takes him to the Room 101 and sets him up in front of a cage of rats. These are all the methods that Orwell uses to emphasize the reader how horrible the totalitarian government is if the Party members disobey the Party’s desire. This also makes the readers seem vicarious through the scenes. The Party adopts several other methods to control its own subjects such as the telescreens and the Thought Police. Is spite of what kind of method the Party uses, its goal is to confirm their limitless power.

The conveyance of the purpose of this novel is thoroughly displayed through the narration of Winston’s torture, which is the dangers and fearfulness of the totalitarian government.

The Party’s Psychological Victory

“Victory! Victory!”, the readers seem to hear the words scream by the Party as the story approaches to the end. When Julia baldly says to Winston “I betrayed you,” and Winston replies the same words to her, one can conclude that the Party is victorious on the aspect of psychological control. When Winston is in front of the cage of rats, he begs O’Brien to subject Julia instead of him. Also, when Winston is free from the prison, he traces “2+2=5” in the dust. Then he sees Big Brother’s face on the telescreen, he feels safe and happy. The two evidences both indicate that Winston’s mind is completely controlled by the Party after the serious of torture. He trusts the Party and he thinks all of his memories is inveracious. The Party is the victor in the end because Winston’s spirit is destroyed by the Party.

Winston's Dreams

As the story approaches to the end, Winston dreams of chatting with his mother, Julia, and O’Brien. He is inebriety about his dreams and he wishes he can live in the world that surrounds by his loves. Some of Winston’s dreams are wonderful, but some dreams bring him enormous agony. Winston’s dreams play an important role through the novel。

When he is dreaming about O’Brien, O’Brien gives him a message that “(they) shall meet in the place where there is no darkness”. Winston seems to foresee his future, which he lives in a world without the Party’s control. However, it is this dream that lead to his downfall and brings him pain and wrench. This dream also foreshadows the brutal torture and the luminous torturous room. Nevertheless, he loses everything in this brightsome torturous room, his dream and his ambition. He confesses and surrenders to the Party. Although Winston’s spirit collapses, he is still dreaming. The only difference is that his dream no longer relates to the Party, he simplex dream about his love ones.

From Winston’s dream about O’Brien to his mother, and to the final dream, his dreams go through the whole novel. Not only his dream foreshadows the following scenes but also develops the plots.

The Party’s Physical Control

Finally, the rats appear again as Winston arrives to the Room 101. Orwell uses the Room 101 to create a grisly feeling to the readers. Winston experiences the most horrific moment in his life, which O’Brien threatens him in front of a cage of rats. The rat is also appears in the early chapter when Winston and Julia are in the rented room. The rat foreshadows the torture that happens later on in the story, and it also keeps track of the theme of the novel, which is the physical control by the Party.

The Party is always surveils people’s movements. There are telescreens inside people’s house, and the Thought Police are all over the place. The Party will take action if someone has any attempt that shows the disloyalty to the Party, or commits Thought Crime. The Thought Police will always capture the people when they are sleeping deeply, then send them to the windowless cell. The Party will send the Inner Party member like O’Brien to interrogate, torture and brainwash the people until they are satisfied with the new, text bookish mind. During this process, the method they adopt is the physical torture, as Winston describes that nothing is more painful than physical pain. The Party controls Winston’s reality after he has been intimidated, manipulated and tortured physically. In the end, Winston “traced with his finger in the dust on the table: 2+2=5” which shows that Winston accepts the Party’s manipulation.(text page 303).

This is how the Party controls people’s thoughts and reality through the physical torture. They make the people display complete allegiance to the Party, to Big Brother. As a result, people are unconscious and they are at the Party's beck and call.

Reaction to the Party’s Slogan

One of the most significant slogans in this novel is “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” (page 260). As this slogan appears in the novel for two times, the usefulness of this slogan is displayed thoroughly by the Party.

The Party is good at using false history to manipulate people’s mind psychologically. It is a common sense for all human beings that if the past is good, people will continue recreating the good times, but people will absolutely try to avoid retrospection the bad memories. Therefore, due to this reason, the Party creates a past that is fraught with slavery and horror. Then people finds out the condition they have now is much better compares to the past so that they trust and willing to listen to the Party. For instance, during the torture O’Brien tells Winston that “You suffer from a defective memory. You are unable to remember real events,” (page 258). As a member of the Inner Party, O’Brien is persuading Winston to believe that he cannot remember the past and trains him to accept that. Through the brainwashing process, the Party makes people believe that they are the one who controls the present.

The authority is always in the hand of the Party because they create the slogan to manipulate and let people believe so.

Language Control

Orwell introduces another concept called “Newspeak”, which has the same idea as Doublethink. Newspeak is used as a language control to limit people’s thought in order to reduce the chance for crime.

The Party institutes their own language instead of English, for instance they use “ungood” to describe “bad”, and the word “plusgood” states “splendid”. Thus the rage of the word is reduced widely. As Syme explains that “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought…in the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” (page 55) People will not able to express and formulate their thoughts, therefore, with the narrow of the word range, the possibility for people to rudiments of rebellious thoughts or form of disobedient are become improbable. As a result, the Party can conceptualizing people any concept or ideas to solidify their absolute power because no one has the ability to question the Party dubiously.

The idea of Newspeak is one of the most important messages in this novel. It is significant for the Party because it narrows the individuals’ thoughts and disable people’s ability to commit a crime.

Julia’s Character and Attitude Toward the Party

Winston first meets Julia at the Two Minutes Hate, and then she spellbinds him. From the narration of their relationship, Julia’s attitude toward the Party is quiet different from Winston’s due to her characteristics.

Julia is shown as pure in deed ostensibly. However, she is good at disguise as she says that, “I’m corrupt to the bones.” (text page 132) Like she says, she enjoys having sex with Party members and the reason why she has not been caught is because of her ability to disguise. Julia has another trait, which is selfish, and that makes her attitude toward the Party different from Winston’s. “She hated the Party, … , but she make no general criticism of it. Except where it touched upon her own life she had no interest in Party doctrine.” (text page 138) Not like Winston’s hatred of the Party, Julia only displays her detestation when it affects her affairs.

Julia is selfish and good at disguise. Nevertheless, the significance of her negative characters and attitude toward the Party contrast against Winston’s traits.

The Paper-weight

As the story progresses to the forth chapter of Part 2 in the novel, there is a detail description of Winston’s paper-weight. It makes the readers wonder what is the purpose of Orwell creating this paper-weight for?

The paperweight is a contrast of the world, which under controls by the Party. Inside the world of the paper-weight, life is calm and joyful as Winston describes “The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.” (text page 154) There is no telescreen that watches people’s behavior, no Thought Police who will capture people at midnight, and no poster of Big Brother inside the paperweight. Winston and his lover Julia are the only people exist inside the paper-weight.

The paper-weight displays a contradictory world than the Party. It is also symbolizes the ideal life for Winston.

Part 1 Reactions

Through the narration of Winston’s daily life, there is a difference between the modern society and the world where Winston lives in, which is the telescreen. The telescreen is watching him everyday and cannot be turned off. The significance existence of the telescreen is used to watch the people who are working for the Party. The Party is watching Winston’s behaviors everyday that Winston is always saying that “Big Brother Is Watching You” He feels that there is no way he can escape from his current predicament. The method that the Party uses to control their worker’s behaviors is connected to the modern society. Nowadays, there are digital cameras all over the place such as school, supermarket and banks. The people live in the modern society is also watched by someone else. However, the only difference is that the digital camera is not as obvious as the telescreen. Wherever people lives, in the world of 1984 like Winston or in the modern society, people’s behaviors are always watched by someone else.

Doublethink

Living in the world of 1984, people’s mind are filled with an idea called Double Think which there are two contradictory ideas inside one’s mind. Through Winston’s work experience and his observations, the significance of Double Think is revealed effectively.

As Winston’s job is to correct any inappropriate predictions make by the Party, he feels that “It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another.” (text page 43) Winston recognizes that Double Think is indoctrinated into people’s mind in order to let the Party or Big Brother continue making the wrong prophecies. During the Hate Week when the general hatred arrives to the climax, it has announced that “Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally” (text page 188) Winston observes that the people change their target of hatred immediately without hesitation because they have already adapted to accept whatever the Party says to them. In the same way, although the people feel that the duty of the ministry contradict with its title, they still accept as the Ministry of Plenty actually deals with economic shortages.

Therefore, the significance of Double Think is that the Party can change records easily and control people’s thoughts mightily through the psychological manipulation of people’s mind.