Fear of Elevators

               In the novel 1984, Winston Smith is prosecuted for his crimes against the Party. O’Brien directs the severe torture of Winston, which causes him to break down, and conform to society. This is mainly imitated when Winston is strapped down to a chair and forced to face his fear of rats. In Room 101 he is enforced to be imprisoned in a cage of rats. Winston’s fear of rats first came from an unpleasant occurrence in his childhood, when he stole his mother and sisters rations of chocolate, and ran away. When he came back he found rats, giving him the assumption that they were either eaten by them or suddenly disappeared.  Winston’s phobia of rats is mainly derived from his feeling towards rebelling. Rats are similar to Big Brother who preys on the weak and nonconformists, like Winston. 

               My phobia of elevators began when I watched the film, Final Destination 2. In the elevator death scene a woman’s hair gets caught on hooks as she exits. As the elevator begins to go up floors so does she, which results in her head to falling off. It gives me slight nervousness when contemplating a long elevator ride. Many maintenance problems can occur on elevators. One of my biggest worries is reaching the weight capacity, and having a large person step on it, which would cause the elevator to plunge and obliterate everyone on board. Some fully loaded elevators are not operated by multiple cables, but by one large pole. I take caution, by standing on the corners of an elevator, rather than the middle. My agoraphobia of elevators comes with benefit of me often taking the stairs, even if my destinations on the 21^st floor. 

               Winston’s phobia of rats is similar to my trepidation of elevators. Both fears involve risks that may result in death. Rats carry a lot of microbes, bacteria and viruses in them, which may cause infection and demise. Elevators may break down; reason being the weight capacity has been reached, leading to many mechanical problems, causing injury or bereavement. Winston is one of few nonconformists in the Oceania social order, who becomes overwhelmed with torture performed by the Ministry of Love. In my instance, this is comparable to me becoming anxious when an individual whose overweight steps on a fully loaded elevator. Both phobias are simply consequent from past childhood experiences, which were of course terrifying, bringing back depraved memories and self-preservation.