Winston's Transformation In 1984 George Orwell

992 Words2 Pages

In totalitarian societies there will always be the rebels and the heretics. The entire dystopian genre is founded on the idea that a handful of people will persevere through pain and torture to usurp an oppressive government. Unfortunately, the reality is that a person cannot be brave in the face of pain. George Orwell’s 1984 shatters the illusion of bravado through the transformation of Winston as his personality is stripped apart. Winston’s transformation into the perfect Oceanian citizen is divided into learning, understanding and acceptance.

The first portion of Winston’s transformation in the Ministry of Love is learning. He is first beaten repeatedly, and mercilessly by the hands of the guards prior to his “learning” session with …show more content…

There are three specific methods that O’Brien uses for Winston’s understanding to occur. The first method O’Brien uses is physical torture-- specifically electrocution, to force Winston to obey his demands, "‘remember throughout our conversation, that I have it in my power to inflict pain on you at any moment and to whatever degree I choose?’" (3.2.30-108). O’Brien's first use of physical torture is to initially force Winston into submission. Once Winston demonstrates that he is listening, O’Brien electrocutes him less frequently, and puts on a parental/mentor-like mask. As Winston becomes more complacent, O’Brien switches to psychological manipulation. At this point Winston’s personality is slowly breaking, and he begins to "understand" what it is to be citizen of Oceania: "His mind contained Winston’s mind. But in that case how could it be true that O’Brien was mad? It must be he, Winston, who was mad. … ‘Do not imagine that you will save yourself, Winston’" (3.2.46-108). All of O’Brien’s manipulation impacts Winston psychologically, as he begins to doubt himself, and believe that O’Brien may actually be the sane one. Finally, O’Brien succeeds in completely shattering Winston by taking him to room 101, "‘for everyone there is something unendurable… Courage and cowardice are not involved. …rats. For you, they are unendurable… a form of pressure that you cannot withstand’" (3.5.88-108). He slowly …show more content…

Winston becomes complacent and submissive, “[gin] had become the element he swam in. …No one cared what he did any longer, … Occasionally, … he went… and did a little work, or what was called work” (3.6.101, 102-108). He lives apathetically— a shell of what he once was. He is kept complacent with all the gin that he is served every day, he no longer questions facts fed to him by the Party, like the good citizen he is. Winston is unable to focus on one task or think in a complex manner like he could prior to his torture, “he could never fix his mind on any one subject for more than a few moments at a time” (3.6.93-108). Intelligence, or long strands of cohesive thoughts in Oceania are dangerous to the Party. Since Winston cannot think like before, he also can no longer pick up fallacies in the Party’s information, not that he tries to anymore either. Winston finally experiences true love and loyalty for Big Brother: “the struggle was finished… He loved Big Brother” (3.6.107-108). A citizen that loves Big Brother is a citizen that will never rebel. Love for Big Brother is the final piece that Winston needs to become the perfect Party member, now that he possesses it, he devolves into the perfect

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