Plot Overview

Plot Overview

Winston Smith was born before the World War 2. He became an orphan when his mother and his sister disappeared one day. He is a member of the outer party and works in the Records Department in the Ministry of Truth, rewriting and distorting history. In 1984, Winston begins writing a diary, keeping negative thoughts and opinions about the Party – an act punishable by death.

One day, at the mandatory Two Minutes Hate, Winston catches the eye of an Inner Party Member, O’Brien, whom he believes to be an ally. He also catches the eye of a dark-haired girl from the Fiction Department, whom he believes is his enemy and wants him destroyed. Days later, Julia confesses her love to Winston by handing him a paper. Winston takes pain to meet her, and eventually they arranged to meet in the countryside.

They make love and begin their allegiance against the Party and Big Brother. Winston is able to secure a room above a shop where he and Julia can go for their romantic trysts. Winston and Julia fall in love, and, while they know that they will someday be caught, they believe that the love and loyalty they feel for each other can never be taken from them, even under the worst circumstances.
Eventually, they confess to O’Brien, believing he is a member of Brotherhood, their hatred for the Party. O’Brien welcomes them to the Brotherhood and asks them to read a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book.

In the secure room, they read the book. To their amazement, they were disturbed by a noise behind a painting in the room and discover a telescreen. They are dragged away and separated. Winston finds himself deep inside the Ministry of Love, a kind of prison with no windows, where he sits for days alone. In there, he meets Parsons and Ampleforth (his colleagues).

Finally, O’Brien comes. Initially Winston believes that O’Brien has also been caught, but he soon realizes that O’Brien is there to torture him and break his spirit. The Party had been aware of Winston’s “crimes” all along; in fact, O’Brien has been watching Winston for the past seven years. O’Brien makes Winston go through 3 stages of “Brainwashing”.

Winston spends the next few months being tortured. O”Brien employs the concept of doublethink, the ability to simultaneously hold two opposing ideas in one’s mind and believe in them both. Initially, Winston opposes the brutal kicking, starving, fist bashing and finally, he was brought to Room 101, the most dreaded room of all in the Ministry of Love, the place where prisoners meet their greatest fear. Winston’s worst fear is rats. O’Brien threatens to release the rats and chew on Winston’s skull. Due to fear, Winston screams,” Do It to Julia!”, relinquishing his last vestige of humanity.

Thereafter, Winston is a changed man. He sits in the Chestnut Tree Café, watching the telescreens and agonizing over the results of daily battles on the front lines. He has seen Julia again. She, too, is changed, seeming older and less attractive. She admits that she also betrayed him. In the end, there is no doubt, Winston loves Big Brother.