Julia and Winston In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith, and Julia are complementary characters. Although they both want to rebel against Big Brother, they do it for different reasons. Winston’s rebellion is in the hope that future generations will be free from the party and not be denied the truth. He wants future generations to be able to live in a time where they are free to think what they want. Julia does not care about future generations and is only interested in rebelling to please herself. Winston and Julia are complementary characters because of how their morals, views on history and their political views differ. Winston and Julia are complementary characters when it comes to their morality and ethical views. …show more content…
Due to Winston’s age, he has some memories of what life was like before Big Brother, but Julia is young and only knows what life under the power of Big Brother is like. Also, Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he deletes obsolete documents, when Julia works as a mechanic for the machines in the Ministry of Truth. Therefore, Winston is more aware of all of the lies Big Brother tells the people of Oceania. Winston understands the technique of using false history, but does not understand why Big Brother thinks it is necessary. At the end of the novel, Winston is able to admit to O’Brien, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 260). This shows Winston finally understands why Big Brother creates false history - to break down the psychological independence of the people of Oceania, while Julia has very little knowledge about why Big Brother does this. Any knowledge she knows, she could care less about because she accepts whatever the Party says, not caring if it is the truth or a lie. This is complementary to Winston’s view about history because Julia is young and does not know or care about the time before Big Brother was in charge, unlike
Winston and Julia differ on their morality and ethical views. Although Winston and Julia both despise Big Brother, they execrate Big Brother for completely different reasons. Winston hates what Big Brother stands for: totalitarianism, while Julia only despises Big Brother when the Party’s doctrine touches upon her own life. Although Winston believes that everyone is subject to fatalism, he continues to rebel against the
The relationship that was formed between Winston and Julia is another example of betrayal between the characters. After their arrest, Winston and Julia were separated and forced to betray each other. When Winston asked O’Brien what happened to Julia, he replied, “She betrayed you, Winston. Immediately-unreservedly. I have seldom seen anyone come over to us so promptly. You would hardly recognize her if you saw her...It was a perfect conversion, a textbook case" (Orwell 259). However, Winston did not betray Julia right away. Naomi Jacobs, a Professor and Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences wrote, “For we know—as, of course, did Orwell himself—that minds do not always break under torture, that some people suffer appalling pain and fear and yet refuse to betray their loved ones and their comrades in arms” (14). Unfortunately, it was inevitable that the
Accordingly so, Winston’s relationship with Julia is about much more than merely rebellion against the party or even sex it is about trust, love, connection, security, loyalty and the face of mankind. It also is primarily concerned Winston’s honest attempt to achieve self
While interrogating Winston, O’Brien tells him, “[Julia] betrayed you Winston. You would hardly recognize her if you saw her. All her rebelliousness, her deceit, her folly, her dirty-mindedness – everything has been burned out of her” (272). Through systematic torture, Big Brother was able to change everything Julia believes in and who she is as a person. When placed in Room 101 and faced with his greatest fear, rats, Winston exclaims, “Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” (289). Winston loved Julia, but has been tortured and broken to the point where he is willing to betray her to save himself. As Winston looks up at a picture of Big Brother on a telescreen, he feels happy and safe and acknowledges that “he loved Big Brother” (300). Winston once passionately loved Julia and hated Big Brother, but torture has changed him to accept and love everything the Party says and
Through the beginning sections of the novel, the severity of the consequences from Julia and Winston’s affair become quite prominent after the realization that they are taking part in one of the ultimate acts of defiance to Big Brother. Because Julia and Winston are risking a lot to be with one another, the secrecy of their relationship is a key factor in the suspense that builds towards the climax of the story. The suspense greatly affects the plot of the story by
Even though he is married, he and Julia have an affair that combines their personal desires as well as their desire to fight against the Party as it is explicitly stated in the novel. Winston and Julia both willingly participate in the affair because they are both moved to action by the Party’s acts of injustice. Winston is aware that the Party has blatantly outlawed “love” and Winston wants to feel romance in order to spite the Party. Both Julia and Winston would do anything to spite Big Brother. In addition to the love factor, Winston isn’t just participating because Julia is youthful, more so because he is drawn to the act of power. Winston isn’t just resisting power, he feels the need to hold
Described as “young”, “free-spirited”, and “practical”, Julia differs from Winston in many ways. She is open about her sexuality, and sleeps with several party members before she meets Winston. Although these acts are frowned upon in the eyes of The Party, Julia doesn’t intend them that way, and tells Winston that it is only to satisfy her own desires. Julia only “..questioned the teachings of the party when they in some way touched upon her life”(153). She was too young to remember a life that contradicted The Party’s teachings, and because she believed all Party propaganda to be lies, Julia had no interest in what those teachings were anyway.
Winston a grey and rough skinned, emaciated, fearful, thirty nine year old man with a varicose ulcer on his leg, who hated a woman named Julia. Winston described her as not handsome, attractive, natural looks, and he liked her hips. Winston has many thoughts about mortally wounding her. (Winston) Julia a twenty six year old woman, known as a rebel from the waist down and she’s a product of the Party. Julia wanted to experience love with someone, in this case Winston. Why did Julia like Winston? One reason Julia liked Winston happened to occur because he wanted to revolt against the party. (How) Winston’s rebellion takes place on a more "intellectual" level than does Julia 's. (How is) Winston hated
Julia and Winston differ in many ways throughout the book 1984. Julia is a much younger women and knows exactly what she wants. Winston is much older middle aged and unattractive in appearance man. They both have different views against the party. Winston wants Oceania to change how its society is ran and hates what its government is changing it to be now. Also Winston wants to change Oceania to be normal and let the natives of the society have an opinion but instead they are changing everything for example changing words into newspeak which makes the words smaller but is also making the society less intelligent. . On the other hand Julia’s views are much different. She wants to value her
Julia is first shown as a sexless figure since she is a member of the Anti-Sex League. When Winston first sees Julia, he does not know her name. He only knows that she works in the Fiction Department. Winston “disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones. It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy” (10). This demonstrates that at the beginning of the novel, he does not like Julia. He thinks that she is dangerous, and wants to get him in trouble. He thinks that she is a member of the thought police and that she will turn him in. This proves the assumptions of men and how Winston just assumes that Julia is dangerous. According to Meia, a writer for Medium, “Winston started out hating Julia simply because he wanted to have sex with her. In knowing, or assuming, that that would never happen, Winston finds himself cheated out of something that he feels he ought to have” (Meia). Winston does not like Julia because he feels like she will get him in trouble, but he has an attraction toward her. With her Anti-sex League sash, he thinks that she will follow the rules of the Party. He feels like if he would have sex with the young and beautiful Julia without getting caught, then that would be the ultimate rebel and they will defeat Big Brother. Winston thinks that all women in Oceania are all complete followers of the Party and will not disobey the laws. However, Julia's appearance deceives Winston, and he finds out that she is unorthodox and has the same intention as he
An indication stated by Winston “You’re only a rebel from the waist down” (Orwell 163). This observation shows that instead of thinking her body was pure and should stay virgin till marriage. She thought her body was more of a tool used to rebel against big brother ridiculous restrictions. A second indication is “He worries there might be microphones hidden in bushes, but feels reassured by the dark haired girl’s evident experience. She tells him that her name is Julia, tears off her Junior Anti sex League sash. Winston becomes aroused when they move into woods and make love (Spark Notes). That claim proves that Julia is not looking for anything serious as she is greatly quick to undress herself and bed herself with Winston. This claim also proves that she had been in that type of predicament with other guys witch shows that Julia is the relationship type. The third indication is “Julia replies in a typically shallow fashion she is only interested in herself and Winston in the present” (Enotes 2). This shows the Julia is not looking for anything long term in Winston, but like the pleasuring feeling that he gives her currently. This confirms that the relationship Winston wanted is not what Julia was looking for and reminds the readers that she is only looking out for
3. Describe Julia’s character as it relates to Winston. How is she different from him? How is
Winston fell in love with a woman he worked with named Julia. He and Julia shared the same beliefs and frustrations with the government. They both felt like they needed to rebel against the country's regulations. Winston wanted to outwardly rebel against the government. He wanted to make life better for future generations with freedoms and individuality. Julia knew that cooperating with the party outwardly and rebelling in
and the point Orwell is trying to prove. Both Winston and Julia desperately want to continue their
Usually heroes are strong, but some readers are more used to female heroes, where in it could be argued that Julia is actually the main hero, in Orwell’s eyes, as she is brave, headstrong and until she met Winston, she was getting by quite well. Usually, in novels, the stronger character is the hero, the weaker one is sometimes the love interest but foolish Winston is weak and hopeless and is not the hero, more like the one who needs saving. Julia could effectively be the hero, as arguably, she is the one who saved Winston. She is not a fool like Winston, but she trusts him and that is her mistake. Winston Smith: It's not so much staying alive, it's staying human that's important. What counts is that we don't betray each other. J: “If you mean confessing, we're bound to do that. Everybody does. You can't help it.” W: “I don't mean confessing. Confessing isn't betrayal. I mean feelings. If they can make me change my feelings. If they can stop me from loving you, that would be real betrayal.” J: “They can't do that. It's the one thing they can't do. They can torture you, make you say anything. But they can't make you believe it. They can't get inside you. They can't get to your heart. “ It is clear that Julia, unlike Winston actually understands the plight of Big