About that Ending

The ending of 1984 is quiet, with Winston living his life as a loyal party member who realizes that he can no longer love Julia. It sees the triumph of repression and totalitarianism over rebellion, and it sums up Orwell's message about the dangers of authoritarian rule because of how anybody can be broken into believing anything that they are told. In many ways, this is similar to the ending of Brave New World, where John's rebellion against the state withers away as he is exiled, then succumbs to the temptation to join the orgy and tragically takes his own life. 

However, I felt that the books kind of took opposite paths in how they got to that sort of ending. In Brave New World, we are introduced to a society that seems almost perfect and where everybody is happy. Rebellion or brewing sedition in the society is impossible because everybody is conditioned to be happy with their place in life, and John is virtually all alone as the only person from the Savage Reservation who comes into conflict with the World State. 1984 starts out with Winston already feeling discontented and disillusioned with his place in society, and even though he is defeated by the power of the party, he ends up happier in the end of the story because of his brainwashing. 

I guess we can say that 1984 has a happy ending for Winston, who now feels comfortable with his place in society and loves the totalitarian regime. No longer does he have to live in fear of being found out by the Thought Police and executed. But as the readers, we see this ending as bittersweet, as the totalitarian government once again proves that nothing can stand in its way.

Comments

  1. L. MoffittMarch 8, 2021 at 7:33 AM

    Ooh, this is a good comparison. I hadn't really thought much about the two endings and how they contrast. As depressing as BNW's ending is, one might possibly say that John at least chose how his life ended, whereas Winston was defeated.

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  2. Alice GaoMarch 8, 2021 at 7:34 AM

    I really like this comparison. It's very hard to make sense of the ending of 1984, but put this way it pretty much completes Orwell's grand message. I wouldn't say I saw the ending as "bittersweet", but more as dissatisfying. It sure is an ending but not one that makes it feel like the story went anywhere.

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  3. Prithika RaviMarch 8, 2021 at 7:36 AM

    I think this is a really interesting analysis of 1984. It really is a give or take, and Orwell makes a bold statement about morality, weakness, and how people can really be broken so quickly. It's scary, but the ending just makes it more horrifying-- that somehow succumbing will make you happier.

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  4. KiranMarch 8, 2021 at 7:37 AM

    The difference between BNW's ending and 1984's is that in BNW's John actually managed to keep true to himself, he managed to keep his own beliefs to the end so he could be satisfied with any ending. Winston on the other hand is unable to do this. He has his beliefs ripped away from him, and this ending is the only one he is getting. He can only be happy with because Winston has lost what made him who he is, and has been rebuilt by the Party.

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  5. Charlotte EbelMarch 8, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    This is an interesting comparison that I hadn't thought about before. However, I don't think Winston is really as happy as people keep saying he is. He's an alcoholic, he has no will to live, and he has deep emotional trauma and (presumably) physical scars from his time with O'Brien. I don't think he's happy as much as he is broken, gaslight and tortured into believing himself to be insane.

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  6. KatelynMarch 8, 2021 at 7:40 AM

    It goes to show that this book, while under the guise of being about a rather depressing character arc for Winston, was actually always about the Party and the Party's lack of a character arc. As the book says, white always beats black

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    Replies
    1. L. MoffittMarch 8, 2021 at 7:43 AM

      Oh that's interesting. Yes, O'Brien says the Party is all about eternal power -- the image he presents is a foot stomping on a neck forever.

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  7. NiiicoMarch 8, 2021 at 7:41 AM

    In BNW, John is a character who more or less thinks like us. His death at the end of the book is perhaps 'understandable' from our viewpoint, as we wouldn't want to live in that society. 1984 ends on what we'd consider a bleak note, but maybe to Winston, his story ends happily?

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  8. RayMarch 8, 2021 at 7:41 AM

    The idealist in me wishes that Winston had stayed true to his values, but as it as I'm glad he was able to find some sort of peace within the Party.

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  9. KeshavMarch 8, 2021 at 7:50 AM

    I also felt as though John was more angry with society rather than the ruling class, while Winston, throughout the novel, was angry with the Inner Party. I would personally characterize the ending of both novels as ambiguous and ironic, given the characters' anger towards the authoritarian regimes. I agree that 1984's ending is a bit "happier" comparatively, but it's also bleak as well. I think the conflicting arguments we've seen on the blog posts can both exist and be true simultaneously.

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  10. AnonymousMarch 8, 2021 at 7:56 AM

    I feel like Winston may be happy, but his happiness is like BNW in that he's conditioned to be happy, even in unhappy situations, and just as the "paradise" in BNW was unsettling to me, Winston's ending doesn't seem happy because he's contented, but out of self preservation and not actual happiness.

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