Inner Party Member O'Brien

Open Thread - 04-26-24 - 2+2=5

The film clip immediately below is a scene from the movie 1984 starring Richard Burton as O'Brien and John Hurt as Winston Smith.

Here's a quick synopsis of the plot:

Winston Smith (John Hurt), a bureaucratic flunky living in the totalitarian state of Oceania, breaks the law by daring to fall in love with Ministry of Truth worker Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Attempting to escape, Winston and Julia are tracked down by the Thought Police. Both must be "re-educated" into loving the State -- and by extension, the shadowy dictator Big Brother.

Source (See the description below the youtube clip)

In this scene Winston is being physically tortured by Inner Party Member O'Brien to break him emotionally with the end result being Winston's confession that the false statement 2+2=5 is in reality actually true. O'Brien uses pain methodically, to impress upon Winston that the Party is in complete control and to break his will.

Winston is in great physical pain from the torture but it is the psychological fear of even more excruciating pain that ultimately breaks him. He just wants it to stop.

In 1984, "2+2=5" is a false statement created by the Party and an example of the many ways the Party controls people. In making people believe that a random, false statement is an objective truth, the Party distorts and claims control of truth itself. Winston understands that slogans like "2+2=5" are mechanisms of the Party's social control until he is tortured. In the end, he traces the equation in dust, showing that the Party eventually controls him, too.

Source

2:39