Betrayed!

“Mr. Charrington came into the room. The demeanor of the black-uniformed men suddenly became more subdued. Something had also changed in Mr. Charrington’s appearance…It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life he was looking, with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police.”

-p 224

I must admit, this little plot twist greatly surprised me. It did not surprise me that the Thought Police eventually caught Winston and Julia. Considering how few pages were left in the novel, it seemed unlikely that enough plot development would occur unless they were arrested. What did surprise me, however, was the fact that Mr. Charrington was the leader of the Thought Police squad. When we were first introduced to Mr. Charrington, I suspected that he would play the role of a spiritual guide and counselor, similar to that presented in a hero cycle. This guess was seemingly affirmed by Charrington’s support of Winston’s purchase of the upper room. This room, I thought, would allow Winston to gain a stronger belief in the humanity that he still held inside him. Instead, Charrington was actually a villain, not a guide. This reversal of expectation reflects one of Orwell’s favorite tools in this novel: like O’Brien, it is Winston’s supposed friends who turn out to be his greatest enemies. In Orwell’s world, Winston learns quickly that he can trust no one.