Torture In 1984

In George Orwell’s book, 1984, the citizens of Oceania live in a dystopian society being run by the Party, while they praise and look up to Big Brother, who is their unidentified leader/God. In this book, as a means of getting their citizens to believe and give their full trust to the Party and undivided praise to Big Brother, they use various types of torture techniques. Including the infamous room 101, to force their loyalty and commitment to the Party and Big Brother, all while trying to make them believe in whatever the Party says is the truth. The United States government have their fair share of secrets that they keep away from the public and their reasoning for it. While I don’t believe that our society today is shaping up to be so much

Just like how the United States government tortures it's prisoners to try and get information from them about their enemy countries and/or terrorist organizations, O’Brien, the Ministry of Love, and the Party all only want to know the people's thoughts and what they have to say that is either with or against the Party and want power over them and to control them to believe everything that the Party says is to be true. O’Brien begins the torture sequence towards Winston. At first it is sheer brutal physical torture, incessant blows all over, reducing him to a cowering animal confessing to anything and everything, implicating everybody if only the pain would stop. Then the guards are replaced by the intellectuals of the Party who inflict subtler kinds of pain and reduce him to a hopeless cringing wreck crying from sheer humiliation and exhaustion. In between, he is administered frequent drug injections which sometimes increase his pain and sometimes knock him out completely. In the last stage, O’Brien takes over personally, with Winston connected to an electric dial by means of which O’Brien can impose any degree of pain he wishes

He is breaking Winston’s fingers, he is stretching his back with a bending machine to the point where it is about to break, and he is also electrocuting Winston. All in all, just to try and make believe that two plus two equals five. Eventually, Winston starts dreaming about Julia in his cell chamber and when O’Brien comes to get him and continue the torturing, Winston cries out in a fit of rage, “I hate [Big Brother]” (1984). As a result of Winston’s response to O’Brien and Big Brother, O’Brien replies, “Good,” and pushes Winston towards the guards and softly says, “Room 101” (1984). And so finally, Winston is taken to the infamous Room 101. We all should by now know that Winston has a fear of rats in the novel, and so O’Brien comes up to Winston with his worst fear of rats inside a box and threatens to put it against his face and let the rats eat his face. Winston is crying in discomfort and pleads O’Brien to stop this torment. And as we are about to hit the climax and discover if O’Brien will let the rats loose and eat Winston’s face, Winston screams out, “Do it to Julia” (1984)! O’Brien, who is now satisfied with Winston’s betrayal of Julia, has set him free to