Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four omniscience of the state in the society of "Nineteen Eighty-Four" that even a citizen's nightmares are known to the Party. The nightmare, and therefore the threatened punishment, of the protagonist Winston Smith is to be attacked by rats. This is manifested in Room 101 by confronting Smith with a wire cage that contains two large rats. The front of the cage is shaped so that it can fit over a person's face. A trap-door is then opened, allowing the rats to devour the victim's face. This cage is fitted over Smith's face, but he saves himself by begging the authorities
Nineteen Eighty-Four a facial expression, can result in immediate arrest and imprisonment. Thus, citizens, particularly party members, are compelled to obedience. "The Principles of Newspeak" is an academic essay appended to the novel. It describes the development of Newspeak, the Party's minimalist artificial language meant to ideologically align thought and action with the principles of Ingsoc by making "all other modes of thought impossible". (A linguistic theory about how language may direct thought is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.) Whether or not the Newspeak appendix implies a hopeful end to "Nineteen Eighty-Four" remains a critical debate, as it is in Standard English and refers