Room 101 features in George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’. It’s a torture chamber within the Ministry of Love, one which is effective because it is particularly designed to torture an individual with their own worst fears. The Party, which investigates and spies on every citizen, is in a unique position to know the things which an individual fears the most, and so the torture chamber is attuned to each person. As O’Brien says, ‘the worst thing in the world varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths.’ For Winston, the worst thing in the world is to be in a confined space surrounded by rats. This is enough to break him, to cause him to betray his beloved and to become aligned with the evil plans of a government which do not allow individuality or freedom to flourish.
All of us have ‘worst fears’, things which affect us adversely, and as O’Brien points out, these things may well not even cause a flutter of anxiety in someone else. Fear is not rational, and so it is hard to understand how some people may fear some things. But there is no doubt that fear can be triggered by some creatures (a fear of spiders, birds, insects and other animals, for example) and that the harm done by these things can be very real.
Revelation 9 taps into our worst fears by introducing demonic creatures released to torture those who have not been sealed by God. The images used to describe these creatures are of creatures which may well cause fear (locusts, scorpions), but these creatures are like nothing ever seen before. The locusts have gold crowns and human faces (Rev 9:7), with long hair and teeth as fierce as lions’ (Rev 9:8). They wear armour and have stinging tails. (Rev 9:9-10) This is like a horror movie, with no escape possible. Whether we interpret these creatures literally or see a more allegorical twist (as in modern warfare machinery, for example), the outcome is one that is enough to strike fear into any heart.
Yet it is worth remembering that this fifth trumpet comes to those who have deliberately and persistently rejected God. (Rev 9:4) God’s people do not have to fear this kind of judgment because Christ has taken all the judgment that we deserved. God has given people numerous opportunities to repent and escape these judgments, but as the end of this chapter makes clear, they ‘still did not repent of the work of their hands.’ (Rev 9:20) Rather than being paralysed by fear, God’s people are told that perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:28) We are told that the only one we should fear is God. (Matt 10:28) When we do that and change our lives in accordance with His word, we do not have to live in fear of anything the world can throw at us (even Room 101!) Our lives are safe in God; those who must face these judgments do not wish to change.