1984 Ending Explained: What Happens to Winston
At the end of 1984, Winston Smith is broken completely. After months of torture in the Ministry of Love, he betrays Julia in Room 101 when faced with his worst fear, rats. Released, he spends his days drinking gin in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, and in the final scene he discovers that he truly loves Big Brother.
The ending is famously bleak: the Party wins not by killing Winston but by changing him from the inside.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| The arrest | Thought Police seize Winston and Julia in the room above Charrington's shop |
| The Ministry of Love | O'Brien tortures and reeducates Winston |
| Two plus two | Winston learns to see five fingers when O'Brien holds up four |
| Room 101 | Faced with rats, Winston betrays Julia |
| The Chestnut Tree Cafe | Winston drinks gin and waits |
| The last line | Winston loves Big Brother |
How are Winston and Julia caught?
Winston and Julia have been meeting in a room above Mr. Charrington's junk shop, which seems to have no telescreen. After reading Goldstein's book together, they hear a voice from behind a picture on the wall: a hidden telescreen has been watching them all along. Soldiers burst in, and Mr. Charrington reveals himself as an officer of the Thought Police.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in the Ministry of Love?
Winston is beaten, starved and questioned for months. O'Brien, who Winston believed was a fellow rebel, takes charge of him personally. Using a machine that causes pain, he makes Winston say that he sees five fingers when O'Brien holds up four, then truly see them. O'Brien explains that the Party wants power for its own sake and that it will reshape Winston until he loves it. Winston clings to one thing: he has not betrayed Julia in his heart.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in Room 101?
Room 101 contains the worst thing in the world, which differs for each prisoner. For Winston it is rats. O'Brien straps a cage of starving rats to his face. In terror, Winston screams for them to do it to Julia instead. This is the moment the Party wanted: his last loyalty is gone.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens after Winston is released?
Winston is released, given an easy job and spends his days at the Chestnut Tree Cafe, drinking gin and playing chess. He meets Julia once by chance. Both admit they betrayed each other and that afterward you no longer feel the same. They part without wanting to meet again. Winston traces two plus two equals five in the dust of a table.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the final scene mean?
A telescreen announces a great victory over the enemy. Winston, overjoyed, gazes at Big Brother's face, and tears of gratitude run down his cheeks. The struggle is over: he has won the victory over himself and loves Big Brother. He knows he will be shot eventually, but it no longer matters.
The ending shows the total triumph of the Party over the individual. It does not merely punish Winston but empties him of everything that made him human.
↑ Back to the topDoes the appendix change the ending?
The novel is followed by an appendix, The Principles of Newspeak, written as a scholarly essay in the past tense, as if Newspeak and perhaps the Party itself belong to history. Many readers see this as a quiet hint that the regime eventually fell, though Orwell never said so directly.
↑ Back to the topMore about 1984
This guide discusses the whole plot, including the ending.