1984 Chapter 2

this is for 1984 book 3 chapter 2 its a personal annalizsis

3.2

Existence

O'Brien tells Winston that he does not exist because through the electrocution he is “training”. The purpose of this is to have Winston answer questions provided by O’Brien. However, O'Brien is trying to shape Winston into a better person in the society. It is believed that Winston’s way of thinking is wrong. Basically, O'Brien is conducting an experiment. He tells Winston that he is holding up five fingers when really he is holding up four. He then asks Winston how many fingers he is holding. When Winston says four, O’Brien turns the dial on the electrocution machine as a punishment.

When O'Brien tells Winston that Winston himself does not exist, he tells Winston will never know if the Brotherhood exists. This means that just as Winston does not now “exist”, the Brotherhood does not also “exist”. I feel like O’Brien is not telling Winston or giving him any answers because his “experiment” is to make Winston see and think like the Party. The topic and role of “existence” plays a very important role in the novel of 1984.

There is no explanation to the point of “existence”. There are many ideas to the fact whether it actually “exists” or not. For all we know, the creation of the Brotherhood could be just a myth. A myth to make the people of the society believe in anything. A reason being would be to keep the society under control and peaceful.