Book 3,Chapter 2Dan Landy/Pd. 4

Character Analysis

Winston Smith- In Chapter 2 Winston is engaged in a conflict with himself. As we know from previous chapters Winston has always prided himself upon his morals and ability to recollect the actual past. Now as he spends his days, in what appears to be the Ministry of Love, Winston is broken down as he is ripped apart from the morals he has built himself upon.

Orwell does not use direct characterization in this chapter because all the information we gather about Winston is from how he responds to O’Brien’s torture.

“Even after his eyes were open he took in his surroundings only gradually.”

-When humans are excited by their new surroundings they usually scan their environment with a sense of urgency, the absence of urgency in Winston’s behavior shows his fear and uncertainty triggered by his new environment.

“Everything was all right, there was no more pain, the last detail of his life was laid bare, understood, forgiven.”

-This quote is the first time Winston had no longer feared death because he felt it to be an obligatory punishment he would receive. Winston almost feels a sense of pride that he was going to become a martyr for his beliefs that were unable to be changed.

“You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one.”

-O’Brien shows us that Winston’s inability to lie to himself was his eventual downfall as he needed to lie himself to fit the government standard of sane. He goes on to say how Winston is a minority of one showing Winston’s incapacity to make a change in their society.

O’Brien- Winston finds out in chapter two that O’Brien set him up and the conspiracy against the party was an attempt to expose Winston's lack of allegiance to the party. Although O’Brien is the apparent ringleader to Winston’s suffering, Winston feels a sense of loyalty to O’Brien because he is the only party member of‘Miniluv’ that Winston is familiar with. At one point Winston actually wrote in his dairy, “that it did not matter whether I(O’Brien) was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who understood you and could be talked to.”

Julia- Although Julia makes no appearance in this chapter the first question Winston asked is about her safety. O’Brien tells Winston that she betrayed him immediately, without guilt. Although it seems that this would be a devastation to Winston, O’Brien is not a very reliable source at this point in time.

Newspeak/Vocabulary Erroneous (adj)- straying from what is moral,

decent, proper, etc. -”It is intolerable to us that an erroneous

thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it may be.”

Heretic (n)-a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.

-”In the old days the heretic walked to the stake still a heretic, proclaiming his heresy, exulting in it.”

Lunacy (n)-insanity; mental disorder. -”O’Brien had tortured him to the edge of

lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death.”

Literary Elements

-Orwell’s writing style in this chapter varied to express a variety of moods. The sentences start off lengthy but taper off as the suspense dies down. The long sentences did a excellent job to build the tangible suspense the reader experiences.

-The tone of this chapter is very suspenseful because the author has built up many possible scenarios for Winston but has not hinted toward any of them. Orwell’s technique is very effective because it provokes the readers to continue on to unravel Winston’s fate.

-The author choosing to write this book in third-person limited really put a touch on this chapter. If the reader now understood the thoughts of the party the suspense would not have mounted and it would be only Winston who did not know his fate.

“There were times when he rolled about the floor, as shameless as an animal, writhing his body this way and that in an endless, hopeless effort to dodge the kicks, and simply inviting more and yet more kicks, in his ribs, in his belly, on his elbows, on his shins, in his groin, in his testicles, on the bone at the base of his spine.”

-This sentence demonstrates multiple literary elements. First it uses personification comparing Winston to an animal, and then it goes onto use imagery giving the reader a picture of how Winston responded to the violence.

“He felt very cold, he was shaking uncontrollably, his teeth were chattering, the tears were rolling down his cheeks.”

-This quote was extracted from the paragraph following Winston’s torture. The imagery is effectively used to portray the vulnerable state that O’Brien has left Winston in.

“For a moment he had clung to O’Brien like a baby..”

-This simile coincides with the previous quote to show the state Winston is left in. Winston’s comparison to a baby shows us his fear and insecurity he feels regarding his suffering and the future.

“Their real weapon was the merciless questioning..”

-This hyperbole is used to exaggerate the toll that the questioning took on Winston, their real weapon as we read was violence. It is also used to show the ruthlessness of the questioning the violators endure.

Discussion Questions

What does Winston make of the fact that Julia has supposedly betrayed him?

Winston doesn’t pay much attention to it as he has more troublesome issues of his own to attend to. Also Winston doesn’t want to speculate information that may or may not be accurate.

Why does Winston feel as if O’Brien is his protector?

Although O’Brien is inflicting the torture tactics, he is also the one who seizes them. Winston feels as if the party is inflicting the pain, not O’Brien, resulting in a lack of hard-feelings toward O’Brien.

Has Winston’s intelligence contributed to his series of unfortunate events?

Yes, Winston’s intelligence encouraged him to commit to the underground movement scam. Even once Winston is captured and interrogated he refuses to accept the party’s facts about war with Eurasia and Eastasia, and that O’Brien’s four fingers are accepted as “five”. Winston will not accept the fact that O’Brien is holding up “five” fingers because he said in a previous chapter the government will have complete control when they convince people that 2+2=5.

What does O’Brien think of Winston?

O’Brien is surprisingly fond of Winston, he even said Winston’s mind appealed to him, especially his memory and ability to recall historical events, such as the photograph of Rutherford in New York. O’Brien views his mind to be modeled after Winston’s, with the exception of Winston’s being “insane”.

Does Winston agree with the accusations of him being mentally insane?

Yes… and no. Winston believes he fits the governments standards of insanity which derives basically from insubordination towards the party. Winston also believes he is not insane in a literal sense because he is able to interpret situations and reason better than his fellow comrades.

Summary/Analysis

In this chapter Winston starts out in a group cell where he is left with nothing to do except predict his future torture. Winston becomes restless, as the telescreens on the wall monitor his every movement. Winston goes through periods of his hunger pangs where all he can think about is his pursuit of a meal, and when the pangs seize his mind cannot drift from the thoughts of his future torture. Eventually a group of men come for Winston and put him through a rigorous series of beatings, questioning, and sleep deprivation. As

Winston mentally and physically tires the beatings seize and are used as more of a threat than anything else. Next, O’Brien subjects Winston to a machine in which Winston is tied down at the limbs and subject to electrical impulses being pumped through his body. Winston feels as if this treatments continues he would much rather be dead. At the end of Winston’s final session O’Brien gives Winston an attempt to gather any information he sought. Winston asking about Julia shows his loyalty, but Orwell once again arises suspense with Winston’s next question.

When Winston asked O’Brien what Room 101 is, O’Brien simply told Winston that everyone knows what Room 101 is. From previous knowledge of the man who begged to be spared from Room 101 we can assume that it is not only a gruesome torture, but the destiny of those who enter is death.