The Cold March Day

[reader]

When reading other peoples comments in forums about 1984 it is apparent that several scenes leave a lasting impression on readers. Most commonly the horror of "Room 101" and the last four words of the novel seem to create strong emotional and intellectual reactions from sadness to revulsion, to anger. While I find those sequences to be horrifying I want to comment about something that comes between these parts. For me, the moment in the park, where Winston and Julia meet, after their love has been destroyed is the darkest, most despair filled piece of fiction that I have ever read. From the description of the frigged weather and dead vegetation, to the seeming indifference and contempt that Julia and Winston have for one another, the novel creates a mood and reality that have wrenched my soul. The complete loss of hope and love is something that the word despair does not adequately describe. The last shreds of the human spirit have been obliterated. I find that this feeling actually overshadows the often talked about last sentence of 1984. When Winston and Julia talk in the park, I want to insert myself into the scene, scream at them, tell them to keep fighting and try to find their love again. I do not know how Orwell was able to bring himself to write about such darkness.

I believe the effect of this scene is dependent on first buying into the spiritual and intellectual renewal of Winston and Julia brought about by the relationship that bloomed earlier in the book, it seemed to be a beautiful awakening, and secondly, by buying into the way that that relationship is stamped out in the Ministry of Love.

I have just been wondering if anyone else feels the way I do about this or if that scene just happened to push some o buttons unique to myself.

[DumbLikeAPoet]

I felt exactly the same way the first time I read the book. It is the probably one of the saddest parts of the book.

Jonus

[Falstaff]

would most people break like a twig in room 101?

yes

would such torture do psychological damage to a person?

probably

would a relationship eventually disintegrate over time after a man and women were tortured and manipulated in the ministry of love?

possibly

would such an experience wipe out a persons love for another as if a switch were turned off?

no

a very unrealistic part to an otherwise powerful and important novel.

[AbdoRinbo]

I disagree. Tell me that you love your mother as I wave a razor before your unpruned genitals.

[reader]

I do not know if the mind control techniques used in 1984 would really work or not. As presented in the book they Seemed very real. I think it would be interesting to hear the opinions of real psychiatrists and psychologists on this one.

This has gotten me thinking about something else. If Winston and Julia were somehow removed from the ultra oppressive universe that they inhabit, and if they were given intense professional psychiatric help, could they they recover something of their selves, perhaps their love? Or have their spirits been too utterly annihilated?

[Larry2112]

Its amazing what a good therapist could do. I'm sure Dr. Phil could help :D . They would be left with an awful bad case of post traumatic stress syndrome though.