Winston And Julia In George Orwell's 1984

Towards the end of Orwell’s novel that presents a dystopian society, the antagonist, O’Brien, a close member of the inner party, warns Winston, the protagonist and one of only two reasonable people left, that “We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them” (319). Winston, who has been taken prisoner for his political dissent, receives this grave warning tied down to a chair with O’Brien’s face staring at him from above. This alarming solution to the infamous mystery frightens Winston a significant amount, who after sacrificing so much, has just learned his fate. Orwell has brought about this fate to emphasize the perpetual triumph of the party over its enemies. In George Orwell's 1984, the author creates the totalitarian state of Oceania to warn the reader of the potential corruption and oppression of such a government.

One day, Winston attends a mandatory meeting. While there he sees a man he thinks is a friend. His name is O’Brien. He also sees a dark-haired girl from the fiction department whose name is Julia. Winston believes Julia is against him until a few days later when she hands him a note that says “I love you”. Winston and Julia take a trip to the countryside to plot against Big Brother and the Party. They confess their plans to O’Brien who they believe

All of which brings us to Winston’s desire and the individual with whom he simultaneously has the relationship that makes his miserable, isolated life worthwhile. Winston’s lack of trust

Believing that O’Brien is a member of the Brotherhood and he too is opposed to the Party, Julia and Winston pay him a visit at his apartment. O’Brien tells the two that they must be willing to lose their own lives in order to take down Big Brother; however, when he asks if they would be willing to betray one another, they refuse. Winston’s hatred for Big Brother has accumulated so much that he is now willing to die solely for the sake of taking down the Party. At the start of the novel, Winston could not stand the thought of his own death. The thought haunted him, and he was not prepared for that to happen. As the story progresses and Winston is being oppressed in more and more ways, he despises the Party more than ever, and eventually is

When Winston learns that a secret Brotherhood really does exist, he and Julia are eager to join, even though O'Brien tells them the horrific consequences. Winston and Julia feel so strongly in their hatred of Big Brother and the Party that they are willing to do anything to help the Brotherhood, with one exception: they refuse to never see each other again. The couple's honesty with O'Brien ultimately leads to their destruction as a couple, an irony that comes back to them at the end of the novel. O'Brien tells the couple that, if they survive, they may become unrecognizable to each other, that they may become entirely different people. Here Orwell foreshadows later events.

This friendless situation makes Winston and Julia desperate for allies, also explaining why they are so eager to trust O’Brien and Mr. Charrington at first, both of which turning out to be more dangerous than the people they work with in the Ministry of Truth. This betrayal reinforces the fact that no one can be trusted, that they have no allies, and that they are alone against an army of double thinkers.

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

In the novel 1984, George Orwell sets up a dystopia that reveals basic human qualities occur even when the people are brainwashed out of the,. This story takes place in an alternate society where life is radically different than what the world is today. The government has an extreme control on its people, brain washing them and suppressing every aspect of human connection. The citizens are taught to think that all information from the government is true even when it is blatantly obvious it isn’t. This novel allows the reader to witness the genesis of a primal love through the action of rebellion. Winston and Julia fall in love with each other as the book continues.

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

This is verbally ironic because the atmosphere at the ministry of love is extremely torturous. They force them to express love but only for The Party and what it stands for. O’brien leaves Winston without the love he had for Julia. He would ultimately let her die for him while he is threatened by his worst fear, “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her”(286) The brainwashing that occurred at the Ministry of Love seemingly reverted Winston discovers he loves Big Brother in the end and doesn’t need to fight The Party anymore. All personal opinions Winston had were

Winston at first hates Julia, because he believes she is spying on him and wants to report him to the Thought Police. One day, Julia gives a note to Winston saying “I love you”. They start a dangerous love affair which can get both of them killed or sent to a labor camp, but Winston and Julia don’t care because they have finally found someone who hates the Party as much as the other. O’Brien invites Winston over to his apartment to look at something work related. Winston takes this chance to confront O’Brien about the rebellion and he tells Winston that he is, in fact, part of the brotherhood and gives him a book to read about it. Right after he reads this book, the Thought police arrest him and Julia and send them to a government building called the Ministry of Love to torture

When Winson was about to be exposed to hisgreatest fear - rats - he tells O’brien to hurt Julia instead of hurting him. Was this not the womanthat he was head over heels for five pages ago? Due to the fact that Winston pulled a switcheroo,that makes this betrayal all the more terrible, but also shows just how much relationships makepeople who they are. Once Winston lost his individual relationships, he was completelysubmissive to Big Brother, doing whatever they wanted to. One of the points that Orwell wastrying to make by showing this was that without individual relationships, people can lose theiroverall identity.The point of Winston being brainwashed was so that he would quit rebelling against BigBrother and be just another number amongst the ranks of people. So in this sense, Winston didn’thave complete control over what he was saying or doing because when he betrayed Julia,O’brien had been trying to brainwash him for quite some time already. He did still betray Juliathough, telling O’brien that they should torture Julia instead. When Winston did this, he wentagainst what he and Julia had talked about earlier about how the only possible betrayal for eitherof them would be to stop

Winston is always fearful while Julia is more pragmatic and optimistic. They meet O Brien and believe he’s a member of the Brotherhood. O Brien confirms to Winston that he hates the Party. and gives Winston a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. But in fact, O Brien is a spy from the

As Winston is captured by the government, he is told that there are three stages of his “reintegration”; learning, understanding, and acceptance. Winston refuses to betray his lover Julia until the last stage as he yells to his tormentors, “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia. Not me!” (300). , Orwell) Spewing such harsh and petrifying phrases about his past lover, showcases that Winston under the torment and oppression of the Party has capitulated and accepted Big Brother while breaking the final bonds of his romantic relationship with Julia. Instilling oppression on romantic love ensures that the citizens of Oceania love Big Brother and the government with their full capacity; confirming that the individual will never favour their loved one over the government. Once a courageous individual rebelling against the government, using his relationship with Julia as a weapon, now merrily a shadow of his former past, broken down by the oppression instilled by the government. By betraying his lover, Julia, Winston demonstratesions that the government has won. Contradictory to his initial feeling towards Big Brother, Winston’s love is now dedicated towards the government. In the aftermath of his “reintegration”, “[Winston] loved Big Brother,” (311) , Orwell) leaving no additional room in his damaged heart for Julia. However, Winston is not the only character who suffers with the decision of betraying their loved

     Tired of feeling the way he is, with the monotonous struggle of everyday life Winston decides to oppose the party in more real ways; and begins to deviate from certain set behaviors to free himself from this bondage of the party. “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone-to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone”(25-26). He has realized what the government does to people; how everyone is made to be the same, where no one is allowed to think on their own. The party is omnipotent in all affairs and he will not go along with it anymore. Winston has made up his mind; he is going to do everything he can to bring down the party. He and Julia go to O’Brien’s apartment one afternoon, and Winston’s true hatred is revealed. “We believe that there is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of secret organization working against the Party,