O'Brien's Questions in 1984 Essay

One of the party's problem within Oceania is the brotherhood, a secret organization that does everything in it's power to make Big Brother and his oppressive ways of ruling disappear. Or is it the party that created a fictitious organization to attract all the thought criminals? For Winston and Julia the Brotherhood is reality and they want to be a part of the organization that fights for their rights. In order to achieve this, Winston and Julia managed to get in contact with someone they believe is working for the brotherhood. To be accepted they had to be questioned by O'Brien to see if they were good candidates for the brotherhood, but what Winston and Julia did not know was that organization was created by Ingsoc.

In this passage we see both Winston and Julia's apprehension and joy to soon be part of the brotherhood, we see that Ingsoc uses every possible technique to get their hands on criminals. O'Brien asks Winston and Julia if they are ready to do whatever the brotherhood asks them to do. Step by step the questions become more and more precise but both of them are willing to accept the consequences of their future acts especially Winston who almost seems to be willing to separate and never see Julia again.

From the start of the passage, Winston is shown as the only one O'Brien could speak with and seemingly forgets about Julia. This appears to show that the party is mainly after Winston and don't care as much about catching Julia as a thought criminal. At this point the reader is drawn into the book and awaits the conclusion of this important meeting. Maybe the reader is even more exited than Winston and Julia because he has followed their every steps from the beginning and want to see Winston and Julia become heroes by destroying the party and maybe discovering who Big Brother actually is. For Winston this seems probably impossible but the reader knows that anything can happen in a book so he gets captivated and is waiting for the final decision of O'Brien. As always in Oceania the people are being manipulated and in this case they make Winston and Julia believe that the brotherhood exists and we can see that Winston gets tricked and is ready to anything the party wants. At this point Winston almost seems to want power, to finally be able to fight against the people who destroyed his family. This shows how powerful the party is and that they are used to make lies become reality in peoples mind.

Through O'Brien's questions, Winston doesn't seem to be aware of the acts he is willing to take. At first the questions asked are maybe violent and immoral like You are prepared to commit murder? but when they become more and more precise, If, for example, it would somehow serve our interests to throw sulphuric acid in a child's face are you prepared to do that? Winston is condemned, by accepting to do this, he gave enough proof to Ingsoc that he is a thought criminal. By simply mentally manipulating Winston after his future arrest, they would have no problems to make Winston think he actually threw sulphuric acid on a child's face.