In the next section will be about phobias and how they are used in 1984. A phobia is an intense and persistent of certain situations, activities, things, animals, or people. The main symptom of this is the excessive and unreasonable desire to avoid the feared stimulus. Musophobia is the fear of rats.In 1984, we see how phobias are used against prisoners in Room 101.
What is room 101? In the words of O’Brien, “The thing that is in room 101 is the worst thing in the world.” (296)
Room 101 is a room in the ministry of love where a prisoner is exposed to his/her worst nightmare or ultimate phobia. In this room, fear is used to gain utter control over the prisoner and then convert them to big brothers ideal.
One thing that we see in the early stages of Winston’s capture is the fear amoung prisoners of Room 101 itself. If the other prisoner’s treatment in the ministry of love was anything like winston’s they probably did not know what room 101 was but they feared it because others feared it. The following quote shows the ultimate fear that people have of Room 101 Itself.
“Just say who it is and I’ll tell you anything you want. I don’t care who it is or what you do to them. I’ve got a wife and three children. The biggest of them isn’t six years old. You can take the whole lot of them and cut their throats in front of my eyes, and I’ll stand by and watch it. But not Room 101!” (249)
I think that this quote quite accurately displays the fear of Room 101. The part about the family is rather disturbing and shocking. The fact that this man is ready to sacrifice his family and young children to avoid room 101 portrays room 101 as a place of absolute horror. And by all means it is.
On that note/Before I begin analysing quotes about room 101 and phobias, would anyone like to share their worst fear, phobia or most traumatising experience.
I’m crawling some distance underground. I’m not sure because I’ve lost track of time. The black darkness is thicker than molasses. I haven’t been able to see for the longest time. As a scrape my body along against the cold gagged floor of this never ending tunnel I realise the tunnel was getting skinner. I realised ages ago that turning around wasn’t an option. The tunnel narrows and I squeeze my shoulders through a skinny segment and then I’m stuck. The tunnel was holding me like a lobster clamps it prey.
With my heightened hearing I hear a faint gurgling sound. There is water rising. The lapping of the water crescendos and I feel its frigidness licking my fingers. After crawling up my arms, it begins to lap at my face. Within moments I covers my mouth and I prepare to take my last breath. I begin to trash around but I can’t I’m tied down. My breath runs out.
Use of cold imagery and description.
Are your classmates more likely to understand your fear or most frightening moment if you simply state it or if you describe using adjectives and imagery?
Do you think that George Orwell and most other authors take this fact into consideration when they write? Hell yes.
As you can see use of imagery and description allows for a more vivid experience by the reader. So it would make sense that Orwell uses lots of imagery and powerful words to describe Winston’s phobia and room 101. To develop this fear, Orwell uses diction and many literary devices such as imagery, cacophony, sematic fields and similes.
Here is the quote used when the rats are approaching Winston.
“They were enormous rats. They were at the age when a rat’s muzzle grows blunt and fierce and his fur brown instead of grey.”(298)
“These starving brutes will shoot out like bullets. Have you ever seen a rat leap through the air? They will leap onto you face and bore straight into it. Sometimes they attack the eyes first. Sometimes they burrow through the cheeks and devour the tongue.”(299)
“The cage was bearer; it was closing in. Winston heard a succession of shrill cries which appeared to be occurring in the air above his head. But he fought furiously against his panic … Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. There was a violent convulsion of nausea inside him.” (299)
The following quote really displays the way which the thought police are portrayed in 1984.
“Wiston suddenly realised whose voice it was that he had heard a few moments ago on the telescreen. Mr Charrington was still wearing his old velvet jacket, but his hair which had been almost white, had turned black. Also, he was not wearing his spectacles. … His body had straightened and seemed to have grown bigger. His face had undergone only tiny changes that had nevertheless worked a complete transformation. The black eye brows were less bushy, the wrinkles were gone, the whole lines of the face seemed to have altered; even the nose seemed shorter. It was alert, cold face of a man of about five and thirty”
This quote demonstrates how the thought police are portrayed in the novel. This is demonstrated by showing the transformation of a little old man into a member of the thought police. One of the ways which Orwell illustrates this change is through the use of colours. Most people would say that white represents good, heaven, innocence ect. And that black represents darkness and evil. So when Mr Charrington’s hair turn form whit to black it represents how the thought police blend in a pretend to be good when really they are evil. Mr Charrington’s transformation into a younger, bigger, stronger man shows the strength and power of the thought police. Also, we see that Mr Charrington’s face transforms from a face described earlier in the novel as warm and kind to a cold mean face.
This transformation represents the thought very well and portrays them as evil, mean and deceitful. This description shows why the citizens fear the thought police.
What does the party use fear for?
Mass Control. The party uses fear to control and imprison citizens. Have you all heard of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon? A panopticon is a prison system arranged so that an observer or guard can observe any prisoner at any time with out the prisoner knowing. The fear of being watched and being caught keeps the prisoners in check. This prison system has been implemented all around the world in both rich and poor countries.
In 1984, the party has a giant panopticon by using telescreens.
“So long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment… you had to live- did live, form habit that became instinct-in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.” (Orwell 5)
With this quote, we can see that the fear of being caught by the thought police caused by telescreens causes all the citizens to obey the law. It is almost like a prison. You may ask why are the citizens afraid to get caught. There are two reason, the first is the punishment which has been described above and the second is the fear of the thought police.
