Reflect on the Novel's Ending

                The 1984 ending was somewhat predictable after Winston was released from the Ministry of Love. He was released right after he betrayed Julia. After he was released, Winston said he was better off than he was before. This led me to believe that he may possible have become part of the inner party. Also, he said he could get close to Julia now and it did not matter which again led me to believe he was upgraded in society. He and Julia no longer have a feeling of love for each other; everything is different when they meet up after they are released. Winston no longer has a sex drive. O’Brien succeeded in taking away part of Winston’s humanity from that point.

                Also, while Winston was in the Ministry of Love, he wanted to convert to the “other side” because he was suffering. He wanted to believe that 2+2=5 and into the party’s ideals, but he physically and mentally could not. At the end of the book when the narrator says, “He loved Big Brother,” it is because Winston was trained to love him. Winston’s mind was altered when he was in the Ministry of Love. This ending was very eye opening for me because it shows that with the right tools, a party or government can change a whole mode of thought. It seems that this formula to keep power that the Party contrived worked. It was even able to convert its opposition. Killing the opposition would not be enough because there will always be more, but changing the opposition can be successful. Orwell critiques that unless we change the way the world is going, this is a possible future. The novel shows that we must not let this happen, yet it will be hard to stop it from happening if a superior power has to ability to change the way we think.