A Non-Human Existence

Winston defines being human as having feelings, following sensory pleasures, and staying true to those two types of emotions because, “only feelings matter”(146). He also asserts that before the Party when people had individual relationships and “members of a family stood by one another” they were human (26). Winston’s deadened senses as well as his social disconnection, and the lack of import in his daily life after he leaves the Ministry of Love indicate that he has not achieved his goal of staying human.

Winston is very desensitized after he leaves the Ministry of Love, making him inhuman. In the Chestnut Tree Café Winston “took up his glass and sniffed it”(262). This action shows that he has lost the ability to be sensitive to smell. When Winston picks flowers for Julia, he notices “their faint sickly scent”, but when he sniffs his gin he doesn’t register any scent, he just “sniffed”(104, 262). Also Winston describes his gin as becoming “more horrible with every mouthful”(262). Although Winston registers and considers the taste of the gin, he doesn’t take pleasure in the taste, and doesn’t drink something he could enjoy more. One part of being human is following sensory pleasures and Winston is clearly not basing his meals or actions on pleasure.

Also, Winston’s extreme social disconnection proves that he is no longer human. Winston reflects, “no one cared what he did any longer”(262). Before his time in the Ministry of Love, people surrounded Winston all day long. He was forced to wake, stretch and go to work. He ate, worked, and talked to others. But now, “no whistle woke him, no telescreen admonished him” so his life is completely without even these connections. For example, In the Chestnut Tree Café, Winston sits alone at a table where no one else will ever sit. Winston wishes for social connection, but can’t find it, as he is no longer human. So instead, Winston reaches out for the closest thing he can when “as though for reassurance he looked up at the imperturbable face”(263). Some people may say that this action shows that Winston is still human because he is looking and longing for social connection. However, during work when Winston is faced with the chance to connect with other people, he and the others instead end up “looking at one another with extinct eyes”(263). Winston cannot connect to anyone else, through telescreens, work, or even just everyday life.