Rereading Nineteen Eighty Four – Part III Chap. 5 (recap)

This was what O’Brien wanted, what The Party wanted; to destroy all relationships between Winston and anyone else.

And they had been successful.  

Winston, threatened with torture; threatened with what was his greatest fear;  had thrown Julia to the rats… he had ended the love he felt for her, sacrificed her.

It is vital when reading this chapter to fully comprehend that destroying a person is not simply pain or deprivation but to get them to turn against those they love to sever every link between the Victim and other people.

Torturing Winston has always been pointless as he never threatened the Party and had behaved as the standard citizen.

In earlier chapters we noted how children would report their parents to the Thought Police.   We also noted that Winston’s marriage was without emotion.   It was done as one would go from Grade One to Grade Two in a primary school.

What the Party wants is that people lose all sense of connection, the ability to care or feel and become organic robots.