1984 Chapter 9
1984
PART THREE
Inside Winston Smith’s Head
Chapter 9
Miniluv
He does not know where he is. He thinks he is in the Ministry of Love, Miniluv, but he cannot be certain.
He is in a cell with a high ceiling and no windows. Its walls are white and made of stone. It is bright with cold light. In this place, he feels, the lights will never be turned out. One moment he feels certain that it is a bright day outside and the next moment he is equally certain that it is black night. "We shall meet in the place where there is no dark," O'Brien said to him. In the Ministry of Love there are no windows.
He thinks of O'Brien more often than Julia. He loves Julia and will not betray her, but he does not think about what is happening to her. Sometimes he thinks about what they will do to him. He sees himself on the floor, screaming through broken teeth for them to stop hitting him. O'Brien must know he is here. O'Brien said the Brotherhood never tried to save its members. But they will send him a razor blade if they can. One cut and it will all be finished.
In his cell, there is a continuous noise from the machine that brings air in from outside. A narrow shelf goes around the wall, stopping only at the door, and at the end opposite the door there is a toilet with no seat. There are four telescreens, one in each wall.
He is hungry. It might be twenty-four hours since he has eaten, it might be thirty-six. He still does not know, probably never will, if it was morning or evening when the soldiers took him. Since then he has been given no food.
He sits on the narrow shelf without moving, with his hands crossed on his knees. He has already learned not to move too much. If you move around they shout at you from the telescreen. But he wants food so badly, especially a piece of bread. He thinks perhaps there is a small piece in the pocket of his overalls. His need for the bread grows stronger than the fear; he puts a hand in his pocket.
"Smith!" shouts a voice from the telescreen. "6079 Smith W.! Hands out of pockets in the cells!"
He crosses his hands on his knee again. There is a sound of marching boots outside. A young officer, wearing a black uniform, with an emotionless face, steps into the cell. He waves to the guards behind him and they bring in a man who they are holding by the arms. It is Ampleforth, the man who re-writes poems for the Party. The cell door closes behind him.
Ampleforth walks up and down the cell. He has not yet noticed Winston. He is dirty, wears no shoes and has not shaved for several days. The hairy half-beard gives him a criminal look that is strange, with his large weak body and nervous movements.
Winston thinks quickly. He must speak to Ampleforth even if they shout at him through the telescreen. It is possible that Ampleforth has the razor blade for him.
"Ampleforth," he says.
There is no shout from the telescreen. Ampleforth stops walking up and down. He seems surprised. It takes him a moment to recognize Winston."Ah, Smith!" he says. "You too!"
"What are you in for?"Ampleforth puts a hand to his head, trying to remember. "There is something…" he says. "We were working on a poem and I didn't change the word ‘God’. It was necessary, in the poem. There was no other word. So I left it." For a moment he looks happy, pleased with his work on the poem.
"Do you know what time of day it is?" asks Winston.
Ampleforth looks surprised. "I hadn't thought about it. They took me - it could be two days ago - perhaps three." He looks around the cell.
"There is no difference between night and day in this place. You can never know the time."
They talk for a few minutes, then, for no clear reason, a voice from the telescreen tells them to be silent. Winston sits quietly, his hands crossed. Ampleforth is too large for the narrow shelf and moves from side to side. Time passes - twenty minutes, an hour. Again there is a sound of boots. Winston's stomach turns to water. Soon, very soon, perhaps now, the boots will come for him.
The door opens. The cold-faced young officer steps into the cell. He waves his arm at Ampleforth.
"Room 101," he says.
Ampleforth marches out between the guards. He looks a little worried but does not seem to understand what is happening to him.
More time passes. It seems like a long time to Winston. He has only six thoughts: the pain in his stomach; a piece of bread; the blood and the screaming; O'Brien; Julia; the razor blade.
Then his stomach turns to water again as he hears the boots outside. The door is opened and a smell of sweat comes in with the cold air. Parsons walks into the cell.
"You here!" Winston cried out in surprise.
Parsons does not seem interested in Winston or surprised to see him. He looks completely without hope.
"What are you in for?" says Winston.
"Thoughtcrime" says Parsons, almost crying. "They won't shoot me, will they? I mean, they don't shoot you when you haven't done anything - just thought? And they’ll know everything I've done for the Party, won't they? I’ll just get five years, don't you think? Or even ten years? Someone like me could really help the Party in prison. They wouldn't shoot me for just one mistake?"
"Are you guilty?" says Winston.
"Of course I'm guilty!" says Parsons, looking at the telescreen as he speaks. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn’t. Thoughtcrime is a terrible thing. Do you know how it happened? In my sleep! Yes, there I was working away for the Party - I never knew I had any bad stuff in my mind at all. And then I started talking in my sleep. Do you know what I said? I said "Down with Big Brother!" Do you know what I'm going to say to them? I'm going to say, ‘Thank you for saving me.’”
"Who told them about you?" asks Winston."My little daughter," answers Parsons, sad but proud. He walks up and down a few more times, looking hard at the toilet. "Excuse me, old man," he says. "I can't help it. It's the waiting."Parsons takes his trousers down. Winston covers his face with his hands."Smith!" shouts the voice from the telescreen. "6079 Smith W.!
Uncover your face. No faces covered in the cells."
Winston uncovers his face. Parsons uses the toilet, loudly and horribly. The cell smells terrible for hours afterwards.Parsons is taken out. More men and women are brought in and taken out again by the guards. One woman is sent to "Room 101" and seems to become smaller and change color as she hears the words.
"Comrade! Officer!" she cries. "You don't have to take me to that place! haven't I told you everything already? I’ll say anything. Just write it down and I'll say it! Not Room 101."
"Room 101," says the guard.
A long time passes. Winston is alone and has been alone for hours. Sometimes he thinks of O'Brien and the razor blade, but with less and less hope. He also thinks, less clearly, of Julia. He thinks that if she is in pain and he can double his own pain to help her, he will do it.
He hears the boots again. O'Brien comes in. Winston gets to his feet. The shock makes him forget the telescreen for the first time in years.
"They've got you too!" he shouts out.
"They got me a long time ago," says O'Brien with a small smile. He steps to one side. Behind him there is a large guard with a heavy stick in his hand."You knew this, Winston," says O'Brien. "You have always known it."
Yes, he has always known it. But there is no time to think of that. The heavy stick in the guard’s hand might hit him anywhere, on his head, ear, arm, elbow…
The elbow! He goes down on his knees. There is an explosion of yellow light. The pain is unbelievable, but the guard only hits him once. They are both looking down at him and the guard is laughing.
Well, one question is answered. You can never, for any reason on earth, wish for more pain. You only wish for one thing - that it will stop. Nothing in the world is as bad as physical pain. With pain there are no heroes, no heroes, he thinks again and again as he lays screaming on the floor, holding his useless left arm.
