Read the following extract and explain how Orwell uses OBriens words to explore the themes of the novel. This passage is from Part 3, Chapter 3 during Winstons interrogation in the Ministry of Love.

Secondly, Orwell uses this passage to explore the use of physical means for control. In the passage O’Brien that the only way a man can “assert his power over another” is “by making him suffer”. This shows the reader that the party uses torture and other pain inflicting methods to control their subjects. O’Brien also states that “power is inflicting pain and humiliation” showing that he and the Party believe that to be powerful one must harm others. The last line: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face-for ever” gives the reader a good insight into the world of 1984 where everyone is controlled through the use of merciless force.

Finally, Orwell uses this passage to explore how psychological stimuli can be used to manipulate. At the beginning of the passage O’Brien makes it impossible for Winston to argue as O’Brien’s “swift answer crushed him [Winston] like a bludgeon”. This shows that O’Brien always had an answer for Winston’s probing, “unorthodox” questions because of his superior intelligence which suggests that to the reader that O’Brien has the ability to read Winston’s mind. This is shown when O’Brien says “the word you are trying to think of is solipsism” which implies that O’Brien had known exactly the word Winston was thinking of. The fact that Winston isn’t able to argue when “he knew that he was in the right” shows us that Party has the ability to make Winston unable to argue even when O’Brien knew he was right because of their idea of “doublethink”. O’Brien’s belief that “power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together in new shapes” shows in essence the purpose of Winston’s “reeducation”. The fact that the Party has been able to “cut the links between child and parent” shows the reader the great power of the Party as they are not able to control their subjects physically but also mentally. These quotes show that the Party is trying to destroy the family and so that there is “no loyalty except loyalty towards the Party”. The Party is also said to be now attempting to “abolish the orgasm” to eradicate the sexual instinct so that procreation is but a duty with absolutely no pleasure.

In this passage Orwell explores the novel’s major themes including the dangers of totalitarianism and political authority, control through the use of physical means and psychological manipulation.