"The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakenly four" (250).
When I first read this part of the passage, it was kind of frustrating to read at first knowing that Winston was saying the right answer and being punished for saying the right answer. O'Brien also kept increasing the amount of pain that Winston felt every time he answered the question "incorrectly". The pain that would be inflicted into Winston was so strong that it even made him forget why he was being punished and what he was trying to figure out.I disagree with the view that O'Brien has with all the people that are captured and brought to the thought police. O'Brien states that he is doing Winston a favor by making him "sane". He is also forcing him to be a whole new person who would fill in the requirements that are expected from a party member.
"No! Not merely to extract your confession, nor to punish you. Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured? (253)
I thought that the passage was kind of weird to understand at first because I was wondering what is the point of going through all that trouble if O'Brien is going to end up killing him, and Winston was wondering the same thing. O'Brien states that Winston must be cured first before he is killed and I just found this pointless because either way he is still going to end up dead. I disagree with the actions that O'Brien and the thought police do in order to cure their "sick" people. It doesn't really make sense to torture them and inject stuff into them so they can convert them and capture their minds into the system that they currently live in because once they are converted they end up dead. This passage relates to the story as a whole because it shows the reader the real reason of why all these people are captured and taken to be cured.
"You are rotting away," he said; "you are falling to pieces. What are you? A bag of filth. Now turn round and look into that mirror again. Do you see that thing facing you?" (272)
When I first read the passage that described Winston's physical appearance, I thought that the conditions in which they have him are very inhuman and that a person in that type of condition should not keep on getting tortured and mistreated. Not only are the conditions that Winston is in, horrible, but the way that O'Brien describes Winston and how he makes fun of him even when he is in constant pain is horrible for any person. O'Brien keeps on torturing Winston and claims that he is not responsible for the physical appearance of Winston, but that it is at Winston's fault. I disagree with O'Brien's claim because so far I still don't see the point of curing Winston if they are going to end up killing him. What would be the point of making him starve and look horrible if he is going to end up dying?
I liked all three of your quotes but the one that really caught my attention was the second one. I also found it very pointless to try and cleanse someone right before killing them, at first at least As I kept going, I started to realize that O'Brien and the party have a sort of moral obligation that they must follow. This obligation pushes them to make sure that everyone in Oceania is loyal to the party and loves Big Brother. O'Brien later also implies that if someone dies consciously hating the party, it is an act of rebellion that cannot be countered. For this reason, O'Brien has to make sure that Winston has completely let go of his rebellious tendencies. Its a weird idea but I can understand why it is so effective.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed all of these quotes that you have picked out from the chapters. I liked how you mentioned the quote that had to do with the time with O'Brien and his four fingers. This part of the story really had me feeling internally conflicted; I felt the same as you. When Winston would be injured for saying the right answer, it really made me uneasy. Overall, I agree with your interpretations for all three quotes.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought is was stupid to try and change someone's views before they kill them, but no i see that the Party was trying to keep some morals. They were trying make an excuse as to why they were killing people. The Party's was of stopping rebellion is to change the peoples thoughts. if they still feel hatred or are still rebellious to the Party when they die then the Party can never do anything about it. Your interpretations of the quotes were very good and I can completely agree.
ReplyDeleteThese quotes really explain the views of each character really well. In the reading you can see how they were trying to make an excuse for their bad deeds. I really like how in depth you went into explain this quote. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI like that you picked quotes that show the different stages and types of torture Winston has to endure.Though O'Brien is the torture it is not his fault that he tortures Winston. He himself is a product of the inner parties teaching and method. The reason I feel that they want to cure him is to make an example of him to other rebels.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the quotes you chose. Your interpretation as well was very interesting. I agree with you, it is very odd that the party is changing to change Winston even though they are ultimately going to kill him. Maybe they won't kill him or are testing the strength of the rebels to see how much they can endure. Maybe, it's a way for them to show their power, if they can break Winston easily then for them that is a good sign. To be honest like you said it was kind of frustrating to read, knowing that they might kill him once they "cure" him. Good Job.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way reading the second quote you chose about O'Brien at first; why would anyone go through so much trouble just to kill someone. But, I think it does a good job of showing what the party's intentions are. They don't just care about killing people or keeping them silent, they care about control and manipulation: power.
ReplyDeleteHello Luis, I liked all three posts that you have chosen. The one that interested me is the second quote on how the party wants to manipulate your mind to be 100% sure you "cured" and nothing gets leaked. I agree how dumb it is to cure someone when they are just going to end up killing them after
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