After his arrest, Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love, where he is incarcerated for rebellion against the party. The torture begins soon after his arrival and takes a number of forms.
Firstly, the party starves Winston. In Part 3, Chapter 1, for example, Winston feels a "gnawing" in his stomach and is unsure if it has been 24 or 36 hours since he last ate. Whatever the case, the party has not fed...
After his arrest, Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love, where he is incarcerated for rebellion against the party. The torture begins soon after his arrival and takes a number of forms.
Firstly, the party starves Winston. In Part 3, Chapter 1, for example, Winston feels a "gnawing" in his stomach and is unsure if it has been 24 or 36 hours since he last ate. Whatever the case, the party has not fed him since his arrival.
Secondly, the party uses violence to torture Winston. This begins at the end of Part 3, Chapter 1, when O'Brien first visits Winston and reveals his true identity. A guard beats Winston with his truncheon and laughs at the "contortions" of his body. This incident leads to routine beatings by the guards.
Eventually, the beatings subside, and Winston is subjected to a third form of torture. This is carried out by "Party intellectuals" who take it in turns to work on Winston for ten or twelve hours. These men slap him, pull his ears, pull his hair, make him stand on one leg and prevent him from urinating. While they do this, the men question him about his rebellion. This form of torture so confuses and humiliates Winston that he confesses to all manner of crimes, like spying and murder, none of which he has actually committed.
Next, Winston is tortured by O'Brien using a machine that he calls the "dials." This machine is controlled by a lever which inflicts varying degrees of pain on Winston.
As O'Brien questions Winston, a man in a white coat places "some heavy piece of apparatus" behind Winston's head. Two soft pads are then placed onto Winston's temples and he experiences a "blinding flash" but no pain. This represents a fifth form of torture that the party uses on Winston: they directly manipulate his mind so that he accepts their logic and authority.
But no method is more effective than Room 101. Here, O'Brien challenges Winston to face rats, his ultimate fear. The thought of facing this fear is so terrifying to Winston that he immediately recants of his rebellion. This represents the climax of Winston's transformation from party rebel to party lover. No longer considered a threat to the party, he is released from the Ministry of Love and allowed to return home.
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