Abuse Of Power In George Orwell's '1984'

This quote gives us a dark and miserable look at just how manipulative Big Brother and his Party can be. Before Winston had gone through this torture he believed that the only thing that the party couldn't control was the inner workings of the human brain. However after this quote we see just how horrible the party can be. They were able to find Winston's weakness and exploit them so that he had no choice but to conform to what the party wanted. He was broken down as a man and had lost all of his ideas of rebellion. He had even betrayed his own lover, Julia. He had given up all of his friends and secrets. He was brainwashed by the Party and no longer retained any of his intelligence that allowed him to see through all the lies that the party …show more content…
This is a major part of their manipulation tactics. They switch the meaning of a word so that it can best suit the needs of the party. They turn peace into war and change the minds of the people to think that war is necessary. They turn truth into lies so that they can lie and the people believe anything to be truth. They turn plenty into shortage so that they can give the people the bare minimum but still tell them they are better off. They turn love into torture so that they can torture rebels and prisoners alike and the people believe that is their own fault for having betrayed their Big Brother. This irony is the Party’s foundation of their power and manipulation. It is never explicitly said but the sure way to mental manipulation is physical torture. The constant fear alone is enough to get the majority of people to succumb to all the lies that the party produces. However there are still a few people that oppose the party and must endure the horrible and creative torture that the party has to offer. Winston had to endure this form of torture and he lost the mental battle along the way. He betrayed all his friends and even his love Julia. They were able to turn him against her someone he thought he would never betray. They put him up against immense pain that was so unbearable he soon believed that 2+2=5. They also put him up against his deepest darkest fear rats. This is how they were able to turn him against his love. While Winston was moments away from getting his face eaten off by rats he admitted that he would rather have Julia in his place. Even after all of this torture and Winston finally admitting that Big Brother was the right answer he is still shot in the head. This is just for the party to show they had no use for a rebel but still had the power to change him. When they had achieved their goal the disposed of him