O'Brien forces Winston to see five fingers

O'Brien holds up four fingers and asks Winston how many he sees. Winston says four, and O'Brien increases the pain until Winston finally screams 'Five! Five! Five!' But O'Brien says he is lying, because he still thinks there are four. Winston begs him to stop, saying 'Four! Five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!' Later, under further torture, Winston is forced to say he sees five fingers and to believe that two and two can make five. The experience demonstrates the Party's power to destroy objective reality.