Fear/Torture as Propaganda - Essay Example

Section/# Part II and Part III Summaries: 1984 Part II begins with Winston longing for a simpler world; one that is not defined by the current order. Nonetheless, the section begins with the city engaging with preparations for Hate Week. As such, this act consumes the energies of people within the town. As the summer heat builds so too does he anticipation of the event and the frenetic efforts to prepare for it. Moreover, children are depicted as practicing “Hate Songs” and other preparatory practices are reflected.
Winston is described as becoming increasingly fascinated by the room above Mr. Charrington’s shop; fantasizing that if Katherine were to die, this would allow him to marry Julia. He considers how he would alter his identity and begins confiding in Julia to a greater and greater degree. At the same time Julia is represented to confide in Winston more and more; even relating that she believes the Party enemies to be inventions created by the party as a means of gaining further control. Shocked by this revelation, Winston scolds Julia and labels her a “rebel”. This section of the book also describes the first meeting between O’Brien and Winston; with O’Brien offering to allow Winston to visit him in his home. Although Winston recognizes this as a unique opportunity, he is also haunted by the realization that this will lead him down something of a pre-ordained path; one that is inclusive of his eventual execution at the Ministry of Love. Ultimately, this entire section of the novel represents a transitional period in the life of Winston; one in which Julia comes to serve as the center of his thoughts prior to his meeting with O’Brien and the changes that his portends for all characters involved.
It is within Part III of the novel that the themes of torture and fear come to be recognized as commanding primal attention. As the section begins, Winston finds himself in confinement; sharing a cell with a woman he does not know and faced with the continual threat of being dragged away for further questioning. Winston lives in continual fear that this questioning will cause him to give up Julia and subject her to the tortures that the Party has contrived. Winston perpetually worries about Room 101; a place in which unspeakable acts of cruelty and torture are carried out. This causes an interesting development in the psyche and approach to rebellion that Winston has thus far referenced. Rather than seeing himself as the outsider that is cautious of the “rebels”, Winston instead recognizes that he now has the onus of protecting these individuals within society from the likes of those who have him in captivity. The section is also interspersed with a series of emotions towards O’Brien; as Winston comes to see him not as a captor but as a liberator. However, once O’Brien shows Winston what has been done to him, when he shows him a mirror, Winston once again resents him. The section closes with the dismal outlook that even though Winston had resisted thus far, he will soon be “cured”. Further, O’Brien intimates that even with this cure it does not matter; as all subjects are eventually shot anyway (Orwell, 1985).
Reference
Orwell, G. (1985). 1984 : a novel. New York: Signet Classic. Read More