1984 Reflection

The ending of this novel was certainly unexpected. The first thing that shocked me was how blunt O’Brien was when stating the main goal of the Party. He admitted that the Party does not care about the citizens, and their sole purpose in life is the pursuit of power. O’Brien even says that he can live without all the luxuries he has, including plentiful amounts of food and a large home, as long as he has power. This, to me, helps explain many of my questions about the novel. It is also interesting yet not surprising how the Party believes the only way to assert power is by making people suffer. The idea of ripping the mind apart just to put it back together is an interesting idea. This relates to many historical events in which the population was brainwashed into blindly following the ruler. However, the Party does this on a larger scale, resulting in obedience on a larger scale.

            I was surprised when in Room 101, O’Brien stopped the punishment only because Winston asked him to punish Julia instead. This shows that O’Brien knew that Winston was still holding on to something from his life before the arrest, and that was keeping him back from full obedience to the Party. Winston finally breaks the ultimate promise to himself and betrays Julia.

            Winston’s encounter with Julia is also interesting. The two no longer have any kind of attraction, and Winston actually finds the idea of having sex with Julia repulsive. Julia was the last glimmer of hope for Winston, and now even she arouses no emotion. This shows that Winston has officially broken down and completely accepts the Party. The scene with him in the coffee shop shows that Winston’s life has come full circle, and now he has been tortured into obedience just like the Jones, Rutherford, and Aronson, who he saw in the same café so many years before. Just like the three men, Winston has been tortured into obedience so that he no longer poses a threat to the Party. The last four words are the most haunting in the sense that the Party won; they got inside Winston’s head and messed with his thoughts. The morale of Winston and Julia was that the Party could never changed what they think and how they feel, yet at the end of the novel, they are both proven wrong.