The common
criminals seem to be proles, as evidenced by the "enormous wreck" of an older woman
who comes in struggling and is dumped on 's thighs. Because they are proles and not Party
members, as the political prisoners are, they are of far less interest to the state. They are
prostitutes, racketeers, homosexuals: people engaged in petty crime. There appears to be no need
to reprogram them, and the guards treat them with "a certain forbearance, even when they .
. . handle them roughly," which is far differently from how Party members are
treated.
People like Winston and Ampleforth, who are Party members, have to
be restored to orthodoxy, which calls for far different and more terrifying treatment. The view
screen "barks" at them to remain silent, and they seem to be singled out for
systematic torture, including the frightening but at this point mysterious room 101.
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