Love in George Orwell's 1984 Essay Example

Can loving someone change the way people view the world? George Orwell’s 1984 lets us go through a totalitarian society without changing views. Big Brother answers this question with ease in a single sentence demanding that any form of love be banned. Carrying on, Winston and Julia experience the feelings of love in this bleak, white-washed society, only to find the unknown thing they wished they hadn't. Because of Julia's and Winston's affair, they learn first hand that feelings of love do change people's feelings. Winston proves loving someone is a rebellious form of brotherhood and may ultimately be impossible in a totalitarian society. 

At the beginning of the book, Winston feels pure hatred towards Julia. Winston was disappointed and angry when he found out that Julia was a part of the sexless youth group as said wearing, “the odious scarlet sash, aggressive symbol of chastity.”(13)   He had a thirst for her youth and wanted to have sex with her, “I hated the sight of you,” he said. “I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterward. Two weeks ago I thought seriously of smashing your head in with a cobblestone” (107) Carrying on, he kept repeating how he wanted to kill Julia because he couldn't have her, “He could keep on her track till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone.” (90). He also thought that she was a spy for big brother and didn't want to be caught by the thought police. Because being ‘sexless’ is a symbol for being with big brother and saying that Julia was with the big brother he hated her. 

Once Winston found out that Julia was actually against big brother and was not sexless, the love for Julia had a huge impact on Winston, and now every time they met up they would make love. When they were joining the brotherhood which turned out to be a real thing they were asked a series of questions; “You are prepared, the two of you, to separate and never see one another again?” 

“No!” Broke in Julia

Winston decides what to do, not knowing that his feeling toward Julia was more extreme than he thought he finally concluded; “Until he had it, he did not know which word he was going to say “No,” he said finally. (153) He had concluded that he had a feeling for Julia for which brotherhood at all costs they could not be separated. 

“Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is the truth. It is impossible to see reality

except by looking through the eyes of the Party.” (153) As said on page 153 whatever the party said was always going to be true, they could change people's feelings, memories, past, future whatever they wanted they could do. From a very young age children were taught things that in the present time would be unexplainable, “But in any case, an elaborated mental training, undergone in childhood and grouping itself round the Newspeak words crimestop, blackwhite, and doublethink, make him unwilling and unable to think too deeply on any subject whatever.” (188) When joining brotherhood was an easy but difficult choice at the same time, they used and betrayed Julia and Winston to betray each other. 

In the end, brotherhood was there to only fish out the traitors and “fix” them, making them “sane” to love big brother. It was never about betraying big brother, it was all about mutilating people's minds. The torture they did was so bad that even Winston betrayed Julia, “Do it to Julia! 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!” (256) Winston didn't care what happened to Julia as long as it wasn't happening to him anymore. On page 261 Julia explains the importance of forgiveness saying things like they did things to you that would make any person insane, and any person to blame or want to make another person have the torture instead of yourself, and that was okay to think that because she thought it too. 

Winston was always drawn to Julia with feelings that he couldn't describe. He turned his gray and bleak life into something worth living for only to get stripped away and everything he once loved taken from him.