Physical and Emotional State in the Cell

In the beginning of Book Two in "1984," Winston faces the ultimate challenge of survival, not only in the physical state, but also in the mental state in a way that he must stay sane among all the horror that is surrounding him. When Winston is in the cell, he does a immense amount of thinking and observing everything around him which includes his own feelings and physical pain he is enduring. "The dull pain in his belly never went away...when it grew worse he only thought of pain itself...when it grew better, panic took hold of him...he felt the smash of truncheons on his elbows and iron-shod boots on his shins...he saw himself groveling on the floor, screaming for mercy through broken teeth" (Page 228). The dark actions he describes and the images he claims he sees going through his head are horrifying and clearly show the reader that the physical pain is affecting his state of mind and also bringing emotional and mental pain to him as well.
One of the main aspects of Winstons life that is being affected by his situation in the cell is Julia in a way that he becomes worried about the fact that things may change between them through all that is going on. "He hardly thought of Julia. He could not fix his mind on her. He loved her and would not betray her; but that was just a fact. Known as he knew the rules of arithmetic. He felt no love for her and hardly wondered what was happening to her" (Page 229). What Winston means is that nothing had changed between him and Julia as far as his love for her. And that wont change. However, in circumstances like his, it is easy to lose track of something or in this case some one. He may find himself forget about her completely when his mind is more focused on the horror surrounding him. That is what he is afraid of.

What is your worst fear?

Every human being has a fear more horrible than death a fear that can shatter all bonds of love and friendship. Winston asked O'Brien what was in "Room 101" early in book three. In chapter five the question is answered, "The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world... In your case the worst thing in the world happens to be rats," O'Brien says to Winston. O'Brien and the Party use people's fears against them to break the last of their spirit and force them to obey big brother. They do this by putting the people in a situation where all bonds with other people are broken and the only bond that can save them is the one with Big Brother. Winston breaks the last of his spirit and all other bonds that were sacred when he cries out,"Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!" This breaking the bond with the one he loved was the final stage in the destruction of his spirit. Now that he has faced his fear and lost to it he let big brother win. When talking about fear one must discern the difference between pain and fear. Pain can be endured and withstood and over time expelled from the mind but fear is immediate it is irrational it controls you and it can make you bend to the will of others and forget those you love.

Book Three Blog Post - Due Monday, 03/14

Hi all - here is your assignment for this post :

1) Choose an index card with a chapter from Book Three.

2) Compose a blog post of at least one paragraph in length in which ...

• You make a clear and original claim about a significant aspect of the chapter.
• Support the claim with two pieces of evidence.
• Follow each piece of evidence with at least two sentences of commentary.

You may have till the end of the day to complete as needed.

Winston in denial

Although his true feelings are against it, bottling up his hatred, Winston tries to make himself believe the the Party slogan. Winston begins to write out on a slate he is given in attempts to believe the slogan in Chapter 4. "He accepted everything. The past was alterable. The past had never been altered... He had never seen the photograph that disapproved their guilt. It had never existed; he had invented it. He remembered

remembering contrary things, but those were false memories, products of self-deception" (page 228). The syntax used in the quote shows his distress with the use of short choppy sentences. He is tryin

g to convince himself that Big Brother is right and he has gone crazy and made everything up in his head. He thought he was

doomed no matter what and to just give up when he found him self shouting Julia over and over and realized that he still hated Big Brother. " He obeyed the Party, but he still hated the Party. In the old days he had hidden a heretical mind beneath an appearance of conformity" (page 231). Winston is feeling a pain of sorrow and anger. He hates the Party and disagrees with them but is unwillingly obeying their rules. He is trying to tel himself to follow their sayings but finds it hard to do so. He finally admits to himself that his new thoughts are wrong and he really does hate Big Brother.

Mind over Matter

In book three of 1984 Winston is taken hostage by the party and repeatedly tortured for his disobedience to the party. The means in which he is tortued varies; one way is physical torture, and another is mental torture. The physical torute easily breaks him, but he is relatively resilient to the mental torture conducted by O'Brien and by the fequent interogation. Winston's weakness to physical torture is seen when he says, "I will confess, but not yet. I must hold out till the pain becomes unbearable. Three more kicks, two more kicks, and then I will tell them what they want" (241). This was going through his head during one of the beatings, and it shows his weakness to physical pain. Although he is not blatantly giving in, he is acknowleding that he will give in. By thinking like this, he is admitting his weakness to the party and providing it with a way to break his rebellious spirit. During a torture spell, O'Brien is attempting to get rid of Winston's independant mind by holding up four fingers and asking Winston how many there are. O'Brien tells Winston there are five, but there are claerly four so Winston continues to say four despite the increasing pain. Winston's resilience to this sort of torture is seen when the author says, "He knew that the fingers were still there, and still four. All that mattered was somehow to stay alive until the spasm was over" (251). In this, Winston is staying true to what he believes despite what the party is telling him (represented by O'Brien). Winston's refusal to accept what the party tells him to be true sybolizes his rebellious spirit that is present troughout the entire book, and also shows his ability to use reason to prove something to be true.

The Inner Party

In chapter 3, of book 3 in 1984, it is shown that the way the inner party presents themselves to the public is an complete front of how they really are behind closed doors. An example of of what the party presents to the public being true rubbish is is Goldstein's book. When O'Brien is asked by Winston if the contents of the book is true he responds by saying, " As description, yes. The program it sets forth is nonsense...The rule of the party is forever. Make that the starting point of your thoughts." This shows that the party's goal is to trap and rid of those that go against them. O'brian stresses that the party is impossible to overthrow. Another example of what the party presents to the public is not true, is that they make the community think their interested in thier own good. This is shown when O'brian says, " The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power." This shows that the party's primary goal is to gain as much power as possible no matter how unhappy the communtiy becomes. In light of above, The party does not show to the public that all the care about is the power of the party rather than the happiness of the public.

The Power and Immortality of the Party

In chapter three, it is shown that the party has power over everything and that O'Brien is immortal. The party is described as omnipotent and the creator of all that exists inside the human mind. O'Brien claims, "Already our control over matter is absolute... we make the laws of nature...nothing exists except through human consciousness."O'Brien is stating that the Party has control over the human mind and through the human mind they have control over life, nature, history, and everything. O'Brien also says, "If he can merge himself in the party so that he is the the party, then he is all powerful and immortal." O'Brien is saying that by submitting your body and mind to the party then you could be immortal by living through the party thoughts and ideals. O'Brien tells Winston that he helped write the Goldstien book but for all we know he could just be saying that he wrote it metaphorically by just being part of the party.8