1984 Part 3

In my opinion, it cannot be fully established whether Big Brother won or lost. In some aspects he has won, and in some he has not. The major way in which Big Brother did not win is that although people who commit thoughtcrime are brainwashed or killed, this does not prevent thoughtcrime from occurring, which is the major weakness and problem of The Party. “We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed. The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about” (209). By saying this, it proves that the thought is the Party’s weakness. Though they can get rid of it, the Party can not stop the thoughtcrime from happening in the first place, and in this aspect Big Brother has lost.

However, in another aspect, Big Brother has won. Throughout the book, Winston is clearly against The Party by saying things such as “Down with Big Brother!” (19) and rebelling against their laws by sneaking around with Julia. His goal is to bring The Party and Big Brother’s rule to an end and to make life better. Because of this, Winston is tortured and brainwashed, and in the end states that he loves Big Brother (245). As readers we know that Winston most definitely does not love Big Brother, so this shows that The Party has successfully brainwashed Winston and made him a content supporter of The Party. In this case, Big Brother has won.

I don’t really see a way of The Party losing power. I would say a massive revolt would do the trick, but under the circumstances I don’t know how well that would work out. Another possibly is if by trying to gain more power, life gets unbearable even for members of the Inner Party. Again, I don’t know the odds of whether or not that would work out.