Final 1984 Reading

Big Brother has won. There's not really much to doubt with that one; the ending is that Winston loves him. If anything, that is winning more than anything. Winston, who, throughout the book, might have had differing opinions about the state based on what had been going on around him at the time, had always hated Big Brother. Even during the Two Minutes Hate at the beginning of the book, Winston doesn't like Big Brother, even as he is yelling for the downfall of the state's enemies. He thinks during the Two Minutes Hate, "And yet the rage that one  felt was an abstract, undirected emotion...thus, at one moment Winton's hatred was not turned against Goldstein at all , but, on the contrary, against Big Brother..." (16). Even while he was swept away by the people around him, he could still bring himself to hate Big Brother. Yet, at the end of the book, he hears the new bulletin and is practically filled with warm fuzzy feelings for Big Brother and the entire system. That, to me, constitutes winning.

One way that I think the State could possibly be brought down was touched upon in the book: through the Proles. The problem with this, is that it is a very slight chance. They aren't educated, and they have no reason to believe that things were ever better for them; they have no records to look at, and no way to realize that they are being oppressed. Because the Party feels they are important, they aren't monitored near as much as the rest of them, and there are so many of them that they could swamp the government, could they possibly manage to band together. Yet, they have no way of getting information around or trying to get together a rebellion. Another way this could be accomplished is if the tide of war turns, and one of the countries conquers another or a part of another. This would cause a whole indoctrination, which could not possibly be as effective as the doctrine forced on the rest of the population. Not only that, but it is stated in the book that the Party would never take over a part of another country for this very reason. Overall, the Party runs a pretty tight ship.

As for what happens to Winston, there's not really much to guess at. He managed to get pulled back into the people even thoroughly than before. He will probably live out the rest of his days like the zombie he is in the last portion of the books. The State has no reason to kill him now, not when he's a seemingly productive member of society, at least enough to keep up appearances. He managed to get himself to fall for the whole two plus two equals five method they wanted; he wanted to believe that everything was okay. So everything was okay. Winston would live out the rest of his life without much thought, just as the Party wants for him to.