Book 3 Chapters 1-3

"He had the feeling that O'Brien was his protector, that the pain was something that came from outside, from some other source, and that it was O'Brien who would save him from it. 'You are a slow learner, Winston,' said O'Brien gently. 'How can I help it?' he blubbered. 'How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and tow are four.' 'Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.'" pg.207

After Winston was arrested he is taken to the Ministry of Love to be interrogated. When he is questioned about what he knows and what he remembers he lies. O'Brien, who is interrogating him, tells him to say the truth or he will be shocked so he does as told. However when O'Brien holds up four fingers and Winston keeps saying four and getting shocked. He does not understand why it's not four and O'Brien says that it's whatever the Party says and that it is difficult to become "sane." I think it is absolutely absurd how O'Brien calls this a sickness and needs to be cured. Because how can someone cure common sense and what someone sees?  Winston felt that the pain from the shock was coming from an outside force and that O'Brien was his savior as he carried Winston while he had been shocked too much. To me, I saw the "outside force" as the Party who oppress him and O'Brien the savior from the secret society. I'm eager to see what will happen in the near future and if Winston will be "cured."

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 22, 2017 at 10:25 PM

    I love the literay style of the passage. I agree with your interpretation of the "outside force". I find it intriguing how Winston mentioned how O'Brien was his saviour. In some sense maybe he has gone dillusional. I find this passge very interesting and your quote quite revealing.

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  2. UnknownDecember 5, 2017 at 1:47 PM

    Amazing quote and explanation given. The way you analyze the quote was really deep and it was actually interesting. The way Winston was torture to think the same way the Party wants him to think was painful to think. I liked the comment about how how are you supposed to cure common sense. Again really good quote and explanation. Great job.

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  3. UnknownDecember 9, 2017 at 6:57 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your interpretation of the quote. I also think its ludicrous how O'Brien can call that a sickness!

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  4. UnknownDecember 10, 2017 at 7:19 PM

    The way the O'Brien tries to trick Winston is cruel. I concur with what you said about O'Brien and what he did to Winston. He tried to "cure" him of his "insanity". However, Winston cannot gauge what is wrong when he answers how many fingers O'Brien is holding up. To say that The Party is always right is to say that there is no more facts or evidence in the world, just The Party and Big Brother. All meaning is thrown out the window and must follow it too.

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  5. UnknownDecember 19, 2017 at 11:12 PM

    I could feel the emotion in your writing and tell you feel very strongly about this as do I. I feel bad Winston has to be punished for making sense. But in his world, the only thing that makes sense is that the Party and big brother are everything.

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