Case Kokkarinen, Act III: In the Ministry of Love

[Act I][Act II]

‘Do you know where you are, Ilkka?’ she said.

‘I don't know. I can guess. In the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Office.’

‘Do you know how long you have been here?’

‘I don't know. Days, weeks, months — I think it is months.’

‘And why do you imagine that we bring people to this place?’

‘To make them confess.’

‘No, that is not the reason. Try again.’

‘To punish them.’

‘No!’ exclaimed O'Ridley. Her voice had changed extraordinarily, and her face had suddenly become both stern and animated. ‘No! Not merely to extract your confession, not to punish you. Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Ilkka, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured? We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed. The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them. Do you understand what I mean by that?’