Asis
reading Goldstein's book, he realizes the importance of both the act and the work he is
absorbing. Winston recognizes the gravity of what he is reading and also understands that the
act itself carries defiance. It is at this moment that Winston has to pause in acknowledging
the resistance he is exhibiting in both his act of reading and choice of what he is reading.
This is not lost on Winston in his pause while he reads:
Winston stopped reading, chiefly in order to appreciate the fact that he was reading,
in comfort and safety. He was alone: no telescreen, no ear at the keyhole, no nervous impulse to
glance over his shoulder or cover the page with his hand. The sweet summer air played against
his cheek.
Winston has to pause to appreciate the
intense urgency of the moment. He pauses in his reading because he is reading away from the
prying eyes of Big Brother. The work he is reading flies in the face of the Party and the
Status Quo of control and repression that is intrinsic to Oceania. It is for this reason that
he pauses. In this pause, Winston recognizes that he is completely alone, immersed in a
condition of freedom. Seeing how this is so absent in Oceania, Winston pauses to appreciate it
and to revel in it. captures the metaphysical experience of reading, something that Winston
has to absorb not only in the act of reading but in the sense of touch that accompanies it. In
touching the page and experiencing the moment, Winston pauses to immerse himself in an
experience that many in Oceania are denied and an experience that those in the position of power
wish to suppress from the body politic.
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