Winston and Julia are betrayed by Mr. Charrington, the apparently kindly old man who operates a shop. They had rented a room from him in the part of town where the proles live. They believe that they will be safe from the prying eyes of Big Brother there, and indeed they meet many times in the room. One day, as they awakened in the room, they are shocked as they hear a voice from another room, indicating that they are under arrest. It turns out that there is a telescreen behind a picture on the wall, and that Mr. Charrington is actually much younger than he appeared. One of the great ironies of this passage in the book is that Winston, having thought so much about the Thought Police, realizes only when he sees Mr. Charrington out of disguise that he is knowingly looking at a member of this dreaded secret group. Another irony is that Winston has come to believe that the only hope for the future of freedom lies with the proles. Yet with his betrayal and arrest it becomes clear that even they can't be trusted. Their sanctuary, the one place they believed they were safe and beyond the gaze of the Party, was actually under surveillance the entire time.
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