“The proper thing was to kill yourself before they got to you.” (102)

This concept of killing oneself out of honor draws from the Japanese samurai tradition of Hara-Kiri were they to fall into enemy hands or somehow bring shame upon themselves or their family. In this same vein, Winston shows that death is clearly favorable to being tortured – and eventually killed – in the Ministry of Love. In comparing behavior in Oceania to that in a country that was also so entrenched in control – keeping outsiders out for hundreds of years – Orwell makes it clear that The Party means serious business and is not willing to make compromises for anyone. Citizens are clearly held to the highest standards and achieving anything less is unacceptable.

SOURCE: "Hara-kiri - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 17 May 2010. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hara-kiri.