Room 101 (Part Three, Chapter Five)

I was locked into a chair so that I could not move, in a fairly large cell, with two tables in it. I felt fear, but I did not know what to be afraid of. Then O'Brien entered the room. A guard came in after him and placed a small box on a table on the other side of the room. O'Brien began talking about the worst fears in the world for different people. I could see that the box on the table had some sort of mask-like attachment on its side. It seemed to be divided into two compartments. Inside each compartment were rats. I felt a terrible fear run through my body. I seemed to have gone wild. I could tell what was going to happen now. I screamed out in blind panic. O'Brien continued to talk in his didactic manner. O'Brien brought the cage over and put it on the table closer to me. I could not think at all. All I could do was yell for O'Brien to stop. He picked up the cage and began to put it nearer to my face. I realized I had to think of a solution to escape. Then I realized I had to interpose the body of another person in between myself and the rats. As the mask started to touch my face, I yelled out for O'Brien to do it to anyone but me. I said do it to Julia. I had left the room in my mind and was flying through all of creation. But O'Brien was still at my side. I could hear the click of the cage shut. I felt a huge amount of relief. But I had betrayed Julia. They had finally gotten me.