Personally, I enjoyed reading 1984 by George Orwell. I really liked the storyline and plot, I enjoyed the characters and the themes shown throughout most of the novel, but I did not like the ending considering how the book unfolded. I found this ending to be quite ineffective for the plot and honestly very anticlimactic for the reader. Throughout the story, I was expecting an exciting ending after the climactic and unexpected capture of Winston and Julia, but ultimately the ending was a letdown. I was hoping Winston would finally rebel against the Party and Big Brother, however, he did almost the exact opposite by giving in and betraying his former beliefs to avoid physical pain and torture. Although this ending wasnt very effective for the plot and storyline it was quite effective to demonstrate the key themes throughout the novel. Some of the key themes in Orwell’s book were psychological manipulation and the dangers of totalitarianism. The whole story and especially the ending show what it is like for a person to be under total psychological manipulation, all of Oceanias society are not allowed to have independent
thought including thoughts that are against Big Brother. This form of psychological manipulation corrupts independence and democracy by streaming constant propaganda influencing these ways of control and extreme punishment for those who disobey the government. The ending of this book also demonstrates the dangers and consequences of totalitarianism in a society. Considering Orwell wrote this as a political novel with the purpose of warning his audience, he presents the ideal totalitarian society with Oceanias government controlling and watching every aspect of their lives as well as using multiple techniques to control their citizens. These themes are represented very well throughout the ending when Winston gives in to the torture and becomes psychologically manipulated by the government which also represents the consequences of a totalitarian society. By giving in to the strict beliefs and thoughts of the controlling government, Oceania is seen as a totalitarian society based on its dictatorial empowerment and obedient societal members. Overall, after reading Orwells 1984 I clearly had mixed feelings about the ending.