Healing In 1984 By George Orwell

Healing is described as making someone physically, emotionally, or spiritually healthy to better their whole self. In George Orwell’s 1984 Winston Smith is described as mentally insane and must be 'healed' to become sane once again. His lover Julia helps him to withstand the change due to their love. Also, his torturer O'Brien pushes the idea of his unhealthy mental state challenging Winston’s mind. Finally, his own self is responsible for his healing process.

In 1984, Winston Smith is a rebellious character who is against the inner party and Big Brother. The party believes in complete control of all citizens. They control the privacy with surveillance cameras, microphones, the telescreens that are never allowed to be turned off, monitoring

every motion and word spoken. Furthermore, they say whatever they feel is necessary to remain in power over the people and if it doesn't agree in the future, they will change the past to agree with the present and destroy any evidence that they were ever wrong. Nevertheless, marriage is only kept in the eyes of the party as a duty to have children; any sex outside of the marriage is rebellious. Finally, they create new dictionaries of Newspeak where words are removed in order to remove any form of communication that is considered personal to prevent rebellious thoughts and conspiracies.

Continuously as a society love is considered to be blind and corruptive. People continually say how they did not know they were involved in blinded love since it felt so real in the moment. Julia is Winston’s lover throughout the entirety of 1984. They have a rebellious sexual relationship due to the coincidence that it is forbidden for the simple pleasure one may gain. Winston reveals how he see’s the interaction as breaking down the government by claiming, “ Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the party.” (Orwell, 133). Coincidentally, as their interactions become more frequent, Winston begins to feel love for Julia when he exposes, “ the more men you’ve had, the more I love you,” (132). The proof that he begins to fall for her is based on the development of his thinking previously to their interactions, “ smash her skull in with a cobblestone” (105). When Julia and Winston meet O’ Brien, whom they thought was a part of the brotherhood rebellion, they are asked a series of questions. Upon the answer to the final question, Winston and Julia were completely satisfied with giving their lives to the party to protect the brotherhood. Contradicting, on the last question Julia expels, “NO” (180) due to the fact it was based on the ending of the relationship she had created by Winston.
Once caught, Winston is put through a cycle of torment and excruciating pain.

When O’Brien shows Winston his deteriorating self and tries to persuade Winston into believing that he did it to himself, Winstons fights back, recalling that there is only one thing he did not betray, “ I have not betrayed Julia…. Had not stopped loving her”(286-287). The only way for the Party to gain full control is for them to gain Winston’s emotional behavior and thinking since that is what Winston proves to hold on to since he has yet to betray Julia. Julia is proven to be the greatest contributor to Winston’s healing. When Winston is in room 101, he has gone through every torment and still believes he has not betrayed Julia since he still loves her. As Winston is put to the final test, rats, he cannot withstand the rats and forfeits his emotions stating, “ Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her!” (300). Winston is deemed saved and released back into society. The love that Winston had for Julia in a way blinded him so that he continued to have uniqueness compared to the rest of the environment. When he gave up on her, he became a “sane” person

again.

Most would say it is our own actions and necessities that direct us to our destined fate.

In the case of Winston, he drives himself to rebellion. He is considered a rebel due to his lack of commitment to the party and has a relationship outside of marriage with Julia; he is not fully involved in the idea of Newspeak and has rebellious thinking that is against the party and Big Brother. He is not a firm believer in the wants of the party and how Oceania is dictated so, he begins with his first written rebellious thoughts, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (20). This is the greatest treason since Big Brother is considered the God. Once he is captured and placed in torture, he pushes himself to believe that he is not deteriorating, he is not betraying Julia, he is still human, “ Do you consider yourself a man? Yes.” (282). After a continuous struggle Winston is able to carry out his rebellion. However, when room 101 is put into a factor of torture in Winston’s world, he gives up hope in a change occurring in the way Oceania is governed. Winston no longer cares for Julia or rebelling against the Party. He lives out his days drunk and lenient to what occurs around him, moving with the constant flow, “Through the midday hours he sat with glazed face, the bottle handy, listening to the telescreen” (307). The final transformation was completed when he began to love Big Brother. He had restored all the rebellion within him and thought his final thought, “I love Big Brother” (311). Winston

transforms from a Big Brother hating, sexual loving individual, to a praiser to Big Brother, whose only love is alcohol.

In the aspect of 1984, The tormentor is claimed to be also a priest, a doctor, a teacher. O'Brien is revealed as earlier in the text as part of the rebellion. He invites Winston and Julia into his house, asking them a series of questions, and being friendly giving them insight into the Brotherhood. Contradicting, we come to learn that O'Brien is a part of the torture. He says without hesitation to Winston, “ for seven years I have watched over you” (256). He reveals that he knew that Winston would be rebellious and had fused his instincts to rebel, “ We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (256). Winston is put through trauma and torment and the idea of this pain is to scare and “heal” ones mental state so that they become fully controlled by the Party (265). O’Brien reveals that Winston will be healed only after he has learned, understood, and accept the Power that is not in his hands. O’Brien is not the main contributor to the healing of Winston due to the fact that Winston is able to hold on to Julia through every single torment except his own fear. However, O’Brien is the priest who heals Winston of his sin, the doctor for his pain, and the teacher who teaches him right from wrong.

In conclusion, Julia, Winston, and O’Brien contribute to Winston being healed from his insanity. Much like the three contributors indirectly helping Winston achieve the Party’s goal of sanity, In an essay by Charles Scaliger, he says, “ Unless Americans soon find a way to put this train in reverse, our children and grandchildren may inherit a world … orwell’s horrifying vision.” (Scaliger, 5). It applies to the modern day society of everyone working together so that we may not achieve this level of government. Finally, in the end, it is Winstons altered emotions, the one thing he said could never be won over him, that defeats him.