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Nineteen Eighty-Four ChapterSummaries
PART THREE
Chapter 1
Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love where he is imprisoned. Whilstin prison he sees someone he recognises from the poetry dept. the Ministryof Truth, imprisoned for leaving the word god in a poem. He also sees Parsonshis neighbour and colleague, who explains that his children reported himfor saying things against Big Brother while he was asleep. After a longtime O'Brien comes into the room and at first Winston assumes that he isa fellow prisoner, but it turns out that he too is a member of the thoughtpolice. He watches while Winston is beaten.
Chapter 2
Winston wakes up in a room with O'Brien looking over him. This beginsa long regime of brutal beatings and questioning in which Winston is forcedto confess to many various crimes that he has not committed. O'Brien thensubjects him to electric shock torture to convince him to say that he believesin party doctrines telling him that he is mad, and that all this is merelyto help cure him of his madness. In order to be cured Winston must voluntarilyforce himself to see the world the way the rest of the party sees it. Theview of the majority is reality.
Chapter 3
The torture and questioning continues. Winston breaks down into tearswhen he is shown what he looks like in a mirror. He is thin, dirty and gauntwith his teeth and hair falling out. He is however still proud that althoughhe betrayed Julia in his interrogations, he has still not betrayed her byceasing to love her.
Chapter 4
Winston left on his own gradually begins to convince himself that theparty must be right, that there is no objective reality except that agreedby those in power. O'Brien is pleased with Winston's progress until he criesout Julia's name one night in his sleep. Then O'Brien decides to take Winstonto Room 101 for the final stage of his treatment.
Chapter 5
Inside room 101 Winston is subjected to his worst fear, rats. As therats approach him to gnaw on his face he yells out in fear that they should'do it to Julia instead'. With that betrayal he realises that he no longerloves her and would do anything to save himself, even sacrifice her.
Chapter 6
Winston is then released from prison having lost hisself-respect, andhis ability to care for other people, and so his humanity. He accidentallybumps into Julia one day and they both confess to betraying each other andno longer loving each other. After that they never see each other again.Winston spends all day sitting in a cafe drinking gin, and worrying aboutthe war. As he celebrates Oceania's victories he realises that he has infact come to love big brother and the state he represents. So, O'Brien andthe party have won just as surely as if they had shot Winston.