1984: Book 3 Chapters 4-6

Passage:
"The circle of the mask was large enough now to shut out the vision of anything else. The wire door was a couple of hand-spans from his face. The rats knew what was coming now. One of them was leaping up and down, the other, an old scaly grandfather of the sewers, stood up, with his pink hands against the bars, and fiercely sniffed the air. Winston could see the whiskers and the yellow teeth. Again the black panic took hold of him. He was blind, helpless, mindless.

It was a common punishment in Imperial China,' said O'Brien as didactically as ever.

The mask was closing on his face. The wire brushed his cheek. And then -- no, it was not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. Too late, perhaps too late. But he had suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment -- one body that he could thrust between himself and the rats. And he was shouting frantically, over and over.

'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!"' (Book 3 Chapter 5 Page 286)

Response:
I chose this quote particularly due to the fact that this event in the book really tested Winston's loyalty, not only to the party, but towards his love for Julia. This quote primarily dealt with the Inner Party taking Winston into Room 101 in which O'Brien states that the worst thing in the world would happen in this room. That worst thing in Winston's case was rats, which are his greatest fear. Being rats to be Winston's greatest fear, the party used this fear of his to test his loyalty to people he most associates with. Unfortunately, this fear of his expressed a betrayal to his private love relationship with Julia. His love for Julia always seemed so sacred, but with his life at risk, he expressed his betrayal towards his love for Julia.

When reading this part of the book, I was very surprised with what O'Brien had in store to threaten Winston's life. Unfortunately, his threat was so good that Winston had to betray. I was impressed that O'Brien used Winston's fear of rats to get out his betrayal, but in my opinion, I think Winston didn't have to express his betrayal. I feel that Winston should have sucked up his fear and take one for the team, rather than having another person being involved in the Party's torture. Also, if he really loved Julia, he wouldn't want her to be tortured. I feel that his betrayal was sort of selfish since in my own life I would take partake in anything just to save the lives of my family and loved ones. I feel that if Winston was truly a gentleman and really cared for Julia, he wouldn't have shown this betrayal.

In my opinion, I related this scenario regarding Winston, Julia, and the Party with Julius Caesar. I related this to Julius Caesar since Brutus, one of Caesar's good friends betrayed Caesar just like Winston just betrayed Julia. Brutus betrayed Caesar in hopes to save the Roman Republic, and after all we can see that Winston sort of betrayed Julia in hopes to save his life, and save the Party. This expressed his loyalty towards the Party rather than Julia. From here, another connection to Julius Caesar is the death of Caesar since Brutus was involved in the stabbing of Caesar, and in this case Winston is sort of involved in the torturing of Julia since he was the one that motioned for them to get her rather than him.

Questions to ask Winston:
1) Was betraying Julia always in the back of your mind?
2) Since you have now expressed your betrayal towards Julia, are you now accepting the morals of the Party?
3) Was this selfish act all for show, and you want to further rebel to the Party?
4) Do you realize that throwing Julia under the bust will make her experience what you experienced?
5) By now getting set free, will you continue to rebel or now obey Big Brother?

Questions to ask Julia:
1) Did you ever realize that Winston had the nerve to betray against you?
2) Was betraying each other always a plan for both of you?
3) How were you able to escape the Party's confinement?
4) Do you think Winston's betrayal a selfish act that's why you also betrayed him?
5) Like Winston, do you now obey the Party and look up to Big Brother?

Questions for Big Brother/Party Members:
1) Are you content now that Winston and Julia, two who often rebelled, are now obeying you?
2) How was Julia able to escape confinement with only a few scars?
3) Do you always use people's fears for them to accept the Party?
4) Will Oceania change for the better or for the worse?
5) Do you fear that Winston and Julia will link up once again to rebel even more since they know how the system works?