Part 3 Chapter 1:
Winston finds himself imprisoned in the Ministry of Love. Orwell introduces readers to the horrific
but efficient conditions of the prison where telescreens is Winston's cell monitor his every move.
Winston meets several strange characters in jail including a fat old woman who acts as if she could
be his mother, and an old colleague, Ampleforth. Dazed and confused Ampleforth and Winston discuss
their situation until guards take Ampleforth to Room 101. After Ampleforth leaves the cell, Parsons,
Winston's former neighbor moves in. Vaguely proud, Parsons tells Winston that his young daughter turned
him over to the Thought Police. Guards take Parsons to Room 101 and send in a frail, emaciated man
to share Winston's cell. Winston tries to give the frail man a piece of bread but when the man accepts
the food, the telescreens command him to drop the bread. Promptly, a guard approaches to take the man
to Room 101. The man cries, "You've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot
me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years. Is there somebody else you want me to give away?
Just say who it is and I'll tell you anything you want. I don't care who it is or what you do to them.
I've got a wife and three children. The biggest of them isn't six years old. You can take the whol
lot of them and cut their throats in front of my eyes, and I'll stand by and watch it. But not room
101!" (p. 240) Winston momentarily believes that O'Brien will save him but soon realizes that he has
been deceived. O'Brien, who had never been a member of the Brotherhood, enters Winston's cell and orders
a guard to beat him.
Part 3 Chapter 2:
Winston's brutal torture begins. At the hands of O'Brien, Winston endures constant beatings, electric
shock treatment, and psychological abuse. Winston fights valiantly to endure the excruciating pain
but he is powerless. Slowly, as he administers increasingly painful shocks, O'Brien reveals that he
had watched Winston for seven years and that he was taking special care to re-train Winston. Winston
hates and loves O'Brien at the same time. The process of loving his torturer is part of his conversion
to INGSOC. Like a tutor preparing a pupil for a test, O'Brien quizzes Winston on the history of Oceania
and the meaning of subjective reality. He tries to force Winston to believe that two plus two equals
five because that is what the Party says. As the intensity of the electric shocks increase, Winston
begins to lose his mind. Slowly, he begins to concede that O'Brien could be holding up five fingers
when, in fact, he only held up four fingers. As the brainwashing torture overcomes Winston, O'Brien
continues to educate his pupil on the myth and power of Big Brother. Winston asks O'Brien to tell him
about Room 101. O'Brien responds, "You know what is in Room 101, Winston. Everyone knows what is in
Room 101" (p. 263).
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