Post #9

Following his capture, Winston undergoes a process of “philosophical cleansing” and “re-education.” He fights valiantly against this. Discuss the methods of torture and their results. What do you think this ending is saying about the hope Winston had for himself and for mankind at the beginning of the book? What do you think the broader message of the book is?

Winston was tortured in a variety of ways. For starters he was locked up in a room with no food and no idea of where he was or when it was. He was cut off from everything in order to change him completely. If he is in a room with nothing and no idea of where or when then he has no reference point and that makes it harder for him to oppose the party. After this he is then strapped to a table and tortured with electricity. This torture with electricity is to reform him. O'Brien keeps asking him how many fingers he is holding up, he also tells Winston that he is sick and hallucinates and that he O'Brien is only trying to help him. From there Winston begins to be reformed to the ways of the party and he starts becoming healthier but he has yet to denounce Julia. Because of this O'Brien takes him to room 101, where he is tortured with rats (his greatest fear) to the point that he betrays Julia. I think what the end of this book is saying is that the individual can't survive against the masses. If they have no one else to relate to then they have no way of knowing that they arn't crazy. I think this is also the broader message of the book and that is the warning that this book gives. We may think that if it doesn't affect us its fine and we're strong enough to keep our individuality but what this book says is that if your the only one like you out of everyone else that is the same you won't survive.