I’m wondering about the ending. My first take on it is that Winston never did get the cushy job, or hang out at the Chestnut cafe, or meet with Julia again.

O’brien forced him to accept there is no objective reality, it exists only in the mind and Winston was not given any other choice but to accept the party’s reality.

But maybe Winston created his own reality to escape the torture of the rats before he was killed?

I have to read it again.