Blog Post 7

 The ending of the book brought many emotions, to say the least.

For one, I think the Party’s choice to keep Winston alive was interesting. Even though O’Brien thinks he’ll be shot and Winston himself thinks he’ll be shot at some point during his time at the Ministry of Love, they keep him alive. Maybe they keep him alive to reflect on his past or  serve as a living example of people who even think to rebel-- either way, it seems like they wanted him to live his life in fear, with the awareness that he could always be taken away and shot because of his past. In a sense, this is true. He does live with that awareness, he admits to himself. But is it fear? At one point during the whole torturing process, he says it doesn’t matter if he dies, because at least he’ll die sticking to his morals. (Well, not verbatim, but you get the gist) In this situation, Winston hasn’t stuck to his morals and values, and that’s what makes it so jarring. This thing he was willing to die for, it all changed with physical torture. And as the Party keeps taking advantage of the vulnerability of the human body and mind, then they can keep controlling people in this way.

So in a sense, I wouldn’t say Winston is afraid to get shot. But I wouldn’t say he isn’t either.

What would you say?