The method behind the madness: Brainwashing (1984)

O’Brien’s proclamations near the end of the novel prove the true meaning of the entire Party’s point of view. It is a speech about what the party claims to be right. They not only want you to think like everybody else and according to their standards, but they make you believe that if you question the party, you are insane and need to be “fixed” and “re-learn”.
The Party’s oligarichal collectivism only works because they kill all others that disagree and leave no proof behind that those people ever existed. They also must make you “re-learn” what your perception of reality must be, even before they kill you. The Party claims that reality interchangeable according to ones mind but also that the individual mind isn’t capable of creating what the “correct” reality is, so the Party will always change peoples perceptions time and time again to fit to their own liking and political agenda. It is not merely enough for people to want to accept their alternate reality, they really must see it or else they are insane. They must not lie and say they see it because this would be a thought crime. Also, lying would put the party to shame because of their own followers doesn’t agree with their rules. In this situation “Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain.” Winston uses his brain in a way that he has never done. It is just as hard, or more difficult perhaps, to try and change something simple that has been installed in your mind than it is to learn a brand new concept. This process makes you go insane when O’Brien claims it is negating Winston’s insanity for his own good. The Party uses ignorance to lead. This is how all dictatorships lead. They shut their followers out form other worlds. They are only allowed to be exposed to certain things the leader says are right. This Party is especially manipulative because not only do they take away forms of news and media to turn a blind eye to other societies, they want to change the worlds perception of reality so that they cant even question what else exists.
At the close of the novel we see the effects that the party’s interrogations and imprisonment have on Winston. He says he will always pretend he agrees with them until the second before that bullet goes through his brain and for that brief moment he will be a rebel. This extreme need to blend in is driven by fear yet hope in his heart that some day somebody will live to contradict the Party. Sadly, he is overcome by his own confusion and doesn’t understand what he used to think was right or real any longer. O’Brien’s tactics work because when one stars to doubt their lack of common sense, they can never bounce back. It was a form of hypnosis because once you believe you are insane among all others who disagree with you, your mind is gone. What is ironic is the fact that the Party’s entire leadership is based on insanity. The idea that facts aren’t accessible for proof of anything anymore is how they gain control of others. Winston has nothing to rely on when they tell him his perception of reality is wrong. How can he prove that two and two don’t add up to five? He couldn’t. He also gains a shorter attention span because he was now taught not to over think and just accepts what he is told. “A violent emotion, not fear exactly but a sort of undifferentiated excitement, flared up in him, then faded again. He stopped thinking about the war. In these days he could never fix his mind on any one subject for more than a few moments at a time.” This quote towards the end shows that the brainwashing finally reached its peak and Winston was changed. The last four words in the novel, when Winston in envisioning his death, are “He loved Big Brother”. This proves how strongly they provoked him. Even in his last dying thought, breaking his promise to himself, he succumbed to Big Brother. He didn’t think it was possible to doubt the righteousness of the Party any longer. The ending of the novel erased all hope the reader had for Winston throughout the story. Nobody has lived or died going against Big Brother, even in their mind.

Blinded by "Love" (1984)

The relationship between Winston and Julia is a focal point, aside from the total mind control, of 1984. These two are character foils. Their relationship is fascinating because they bring out each others unique traits. We realize that Julia is wiser and knows how to keep the fact that she hates Big Brother a secret. Winston is constantly scared he will be arrested for a “thought crime”. As I was reading I thought she might be smarter than Winston, but as the story went on, I realized I was wrong. His curiosity, although what did him in, was his best quality as a main character. Julia seemed to be oblivious to anything happening around her if it didn’t affect her achieving satisfying levels of pleasure. Winston shows us that all Julia cares about is breaking the party’s sexual rules. He doesn’t seem to mind. Julia brings out more of Winston’s curiosity and makes him wonder how she could be so un-fazed by Big Brother and hate him so much at the same time. Winston even calls her “only a rebel from the waist downward.” Julia thinks that he is too analytical and shouldn’t care about the reasoning behind their lives as long as they are getting away with breaking the rules. Their whole romance seemed forced to me. It seemed that Winston was just using Julia as a way to forget how miserable he was with his life alone. Julia seemed like a head case the entire story, starting from when she slipped Winston a note saying “I love you” before they ever even met. I wondered how she knew he could be trusted at all. She didn’t have any bad intentions but I don’t think what they really had was love. They simply found in each other what they longed for their whole lives: a companion. Their relationship was based on vulnerability and the need to feel needed and cared for. I’m glad the book included their story because it shows that no matter what the circumstances in life are, one can always find comfort in another for one short, sweet moment.