Breaking Point

 

The Breaking Point

In book two chapter ten of George Orwell’s 1984, Julia and Winston had been captured and imprisoned after months of blatantly acting out against Oceania’s government in the form of sexual intimacy. In book three chapters 1-3, it explains how both of them had been sent to jail in the Ministry of Love, it describes the conditions of the jail, how Winston has been treated, and it began to go into detail about how Winston was being tortured. A human being can only take things such as pain, distress or persecution for so long, and Winston finally broke down after being exposed to a rat. He had been beaten, had his limbs broken, and had even been starved almost to death, but what made him break was a rat. Rats are evidently not the only breaking points, seeing that everyone’s limit is different, especially depending on the situation. I have not had many situations in my life in which I ultimately broke down, but the few that I have had have taught me a valuable lesson about myself.

To give an example of when I have broken down, about a year ago I unfortunately had spread confidential information to a couple of friends, without realizing what I was doing. When I was first confronted by a family member about what I had done, I did not yet have a full understanding. But, later on, I realized that I in fact I had severely hurt my family, and that many were extremely disappointed in me. After coming to this conclusion, I broke down and cried. Just knowing that my whole intimate and extended family were disappointed and angry with me tore my soul into pieces. Knowing this was ultimately worse than any beating (which was carried out for disciplinary purposes) that I had ever had. I was embarrassed, hurt, upset, among other things. I just cannot take knowing that others are dissatisfied of me. This is not my only breaking point, for this particular verge of collapse doesn’t necessarily cover a multitude of situations. I am still very young, and I do not know exactly what my other breaking points are, but I do know that every human being has at least one, because everyone can only take so much.