In a totalitarian government, the citizens have no say in how a country is controlled. There will be a few individuals who feel barricaded and want to liberate themselves from the oppressive government. In George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 both main characters, Winston Smith and Guy Montag, want control over their lives but it is destroyed by the oppression of individual thinking under a totalitarian government. Two factors that help create control in their life are the relationships they form and access to information. However, in the end of each novel, Winston is not able to find the control he wants in his life, whilst, Guy is able to liberate himself and have control over his own life. In both novels, many relationships are used to find control in their lives. In Orwell’s 1984, Winston forms a relationship with Julia so he can rebel against Big Brother, showing that he is still able to control parts of his life. The only connection that Winston and Julia have with one another is the desire to rebel against Big Brother. This is shown when the narrator says: “His heart leapt. Scores of times she had done it: he wished it had been hundreds thousands. Anything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope. Anything to rot, to weaken, to undermine! "Listen. The more men you 've had, the more I love you. Do you understand that?"(111) This shows that his only reason to be with Julia is in fact to rebel against the totalitarian government
Julia’s physical relationship, while it initially satisfies Winston’s desire to find someone of the same mindset, becomes obsolete
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
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
Julia rebels over the control the Party has over her life. Some of her rebellion takes the form of relationships with men, which Winston doesn't know about. Julia rebels against Big Brother for freedom and being able to love whomever you want. Julia enjoys doing her sexual activities that she does and she refuses to let the Party tell her otherwise. She also rejects the mental controls the Party tries to do.
At first, Winston felt no true attraction to Julia, but in their second time making love, Winston felt the physical loyalty that is involved in relationships. Winston was in love with Julia and they had created a bond of loyalty together which is very dangerous to do so
Before Winston met Julia, his body was wasting away and he believe he didn’t have anything worth living for. He started a journal and wrote “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” all over a page, even though he knew he would be killed for committing thoughtcrime (19). However, when he sees “the words I love you [on Julia’s note,] the desire to stay alive had welled up in him, and the taking of minor risks suddenly seemed stupid” (91). Not only has Winston’s appetite for life returned because of Julia’s affection, but he becomes physically healthier as well. He “had grown fatter, his varicose ulcer had subsided… [and] his fits of coughing… had stopped” (124). Julia’s love strengthens Winston. After detailed planning to assure the Party could not eavesdrop on their date, Julia and Winston spend a whole afternoon in the countryside together and make love (98-106). This adventure is even more special to them because it is an act of rebellion against the Party, though they realize the fact they are able to be together is all that is important. Through each of their rendezvouses, Winston and Julia’s relationship grows stronger. Whenever they meet, “they [sit] talking for hours” (108). All the time they spend together leads
The love between Julia and Winston made both of them reckless in a dangerous situation. The temptation of being together was enough to cause their capture and ruin their relationship. By the end of 1984, both the lives of Julia and Winston were altered negatively due to their carelessness caused by their love.
The different themes we talked about this year in class all relate to the books, letters, documentaries, and passages we read or watched. Unit one was all about the importance of reading and why we need to read and go to school. It’s an important topic because reading is power and thought and when you take away thought you take away free speech, which is a theme we went over this year; the importance of free speech. Unit 2 was about the american dream and the importance of being able to choose your own destiny.
The first of many things that Julia and Winston don’t have in common are their characteristics. Both Winston and Julia have a contradicting physical appearance and personality. Winston is a small, frail figure with very fair hair. His face is naturally optimistic looking and his skin is rough by the continuous use of coarse soap, blunt razor blades, and the cold of winter. Winston is thirty-nine years old and has bad health. He coughs violently in the morning and suffers itching and inflammation from a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. The symptoms of the ulcer grow worse the more he retains from sexual activity and starts to alleviate once he starts the affair with Julia. Winston is very thoughtful and observant and is very concerned with the Party’s philosophy and how they control the history. Winston also has a unique sense of fatalism and is extremely paranoid. On the other hand, Julia has very dissimilar characteristics than Winston. Julia is dark-haired and twenty-six years old. She plays the act of a zealous Party member by wearing an Anti-Sex sash and passionately participating during the Two Minutes Hate. The real Julia is
At the beginning of the story the book begins about Montag the main character, he works for the fire department and it talks about his feeling towards burning books and how he likes it. Also, it talks about how he feels about the life he lives and it doesn't seem like he likes it very well the description he gives seems like he misses the way things were. He visits Clarisse, in which they have a very detailed conversation about his feelings, what he does for a living, and history, and how houses have always been fireproof, Clarisse, the teenage neighbor of Montag, believes that montag is unhappy, and that he knows nothing of history correctly. He then goes to his “home”. Their homes are very simple. They have a set curfew, set jobs, certain
Next, Winston demonstrates breaking his loyalty to his wife by having the “affair” with Julia. If Winston was a loyal
When the Party was rising up in power, they took her away from Winston. Winston love for his wife was also lost. (Orwell 135) When discussing to Julia about his wife, he told her that he would have pushed her off a cliff. Their relationship ends in separation because his wife kept on pushing her away. In the end, there is no room for love beside in the relationships that can be
Ray Bradbury and George Orwell share a very similar theme in their two novels, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Winston Smith and Guy Montag work within an authoritarian organization, in which, they have opposing views of the authority. The novels are placed in a dystopian setting that the authority believes is a utopia. The dystopian fictions both have very similar predictions of the future. The predictions from these novels have not happened. However, it could be a short matter of time until the authors predictions on the future become reality.
Both 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 predict a dystopian future where information is tightly controlled and the populace seems to care little for the fact that they are being lied to and manipulated into working for the ambitions of their government. Both governments in the story have taken control of the media and this the population, and both characters are apart of agencies that help keep the government in control of the people. In Fahrenheit 451 the man is a fireman and burns all of the books that he can find, this keeps the population dumb and easily controllable. In 1984 Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, its job is to help edit news and entertainment in order to keep the party in line and be able to misinform the prolls. Both of these characters unknowingly worked for the party and political establishment.
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