1984 Reading Journal #3

I believe that Big Brother has won. At the end of the book, Winston is in support of Big Brother, which is what the Party wanted all along. The only chance there was for Big Brother to lose was if Winston lived his whole life with his thoughts against Big Brother or acted upon them. Through torture, Winston was brainwashed into believing that Big Brother should be trusted and his thoughts against the Party were gone. I believe that the One State could be brought down if a member of the Party began having feelings similar to Winston's against Big Brother. That person could use their power to influence other's opinions little by little. Soon, many people would have these same ideas and the Party would not be able to control them. At then end of the book, I believe that Winston was brainwashed. Orwell wrote, "He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother." Throughout the entirety of the story aside from the very end, Winston had negative views of Big Brother. For him to think that loving Big Brother is a personal victory, I believe that something must have been wrong with his mind.