1984 Blog 9

Winston was tortured in various ways, one of the most common was through shock "therapy". But even before he was at that stage of torture, Winton was locked inside of a room sometimes by himself, and sometimes with other people. He had no food or drink, and a telescreen was set up in there to restrain from any sudden movements. Winston tried to move around from his uncomfortable position, or he tried to talk to one of his comrades, but the telescreen would yell at him. Winston had no idea what time of day it was and lost count of time, so he remained confused as to what was going on outside his world and even how long he was going to be held there. The shock therapy was used to reform Winston and make him believe what O'Brien wants him to. The Party only wants the right answers, but Winston is told not to lie or anything. But, while he tries to remain honest, if he says what he's really thinking, O'Brien electrocutes him. The combination of the confinement and the shocking have made Winston weak, and when he looks at himself in the mirror he sees how emaciated and disgusting he looks. To me, I felt like Winston really did feel like he didn't exist. After this point he is given more food and he becomes fatter and a lot healthier looking. This is because he is weakening to the ideals of the Party, yet he has not denounced Julia. The last part of his torture was with the rats in the cage that was going to be put on his face. Deathly afraid of rats, Winston denounced Julia and wanted her to get the punishment instead, and he actually meant it. This was the final act of torture for Winston, he had been completely broken down and had betrayed his innermost thoughts and feelings to the Party. I think the broader message of the book is that people may say they'll do anything in the name of freedom and justice, and they may think other people are just conforming to the world, but when it comes down to it, no on really knows how they will react. Though some individuals seem strong spirited, individualistic, etc, everyone can be broken down.