Preview

Truth And Untruth In George Orwell's '1984'

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1660 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Truth And Untruth In George Orwell's '1984'
Orwell explored the perils of “truth and untruth” in his classic novel, 1984. It is through Julia and Winston’s forbidden affair that they discover that “Love is a lie”. Do you agree? Discuss.
George Orwell, identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society with his novel 1984, reveals the relationship amongst the meticulous Winston and Julia in a manner that alters people’s perspectives. It is through their condemned affair that the pair evinces that love is admittedly a fraudulent lie. Powerlessly living in a restricted and manipulated world, Winston and Julia have their lives subjugated through a convoluted system of cultural conditioning. Betrayal is fortified by the government, in an attempt to ultimately diminish
…show more content…
Although, of the love adduced by the citizens, none is genuine. From the moment Winston looked in the eyes of Julia’s, he gathered an immediate emotion of antagonism towards her. He believed it was because of the “atmosphere of hockey-fields and cold baths and community hikes and general clean-mindedness which she managed to carry about her. He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy.” (Pg. 11) Winston had instantaneously become suspicious of the bold-looking girl. She somewhat presented an obscurity upon herself. He believed she was an ardent member of the party, working surreptitiously to procure all those against Big Brother; those committing the deplorable act of thoughtcrime. Malignant and abrasive visions infiltrated Winston’s mind, where he would callously rape and murder Julia. Quite instantly, Winston’s assumption of Julia deviates from wanting to entirely slaughter her, to developing an unfathomable …show more content…
We always long for the forbidden things, and desire what is denied us. Desire is the essence of the human soul; the secret of our existence. Dispel this desire from our world, and you get a world of tedious beings that have no reason to live, and no reason to die. 1984 is all about dispelling such desire. The people of Oceania are induced to believe they have no reason to live other than for the legacy of their leader. It is a world where no independent thought can exist and individual pleasure is ludicrous. Winston is lost and embedded in this world. He can no longer stand such perpetual confinement; he is tired of being an anonymous object. In Winston’s journey, he tried to find ways of defining himself. With the arrival of Julia, there was more impudence for Winston to find his identity. Even if the person he found, in this case Julia, was nothing more than his quintessence of his hatred for the Party, he had still found a position for which he could discharge his gap of nonexistence. “And what he wanted, more even than to be loved, was to break down that wall of virtue, even if it were only once in his whole life. The sexual act, successfully performed, was rebellion. Desire was thoughtcrime.” (1.6.16) Sex was seen simply as a politically rebellious act by Winston. Such rebellion elucidated him. He could finally exist with a purpose other than that of Big Brother. A perceptible

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    After all, what did it matter who had invented airplanes?” (Orwell 193) Julia’s logicality portrays her as more insightful than Winston. She is a bit skeptical and hard to be convinced on events such as that the battle with Eurasia was a deception: “the rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the government of Oceania itself, just to keep individuals frightened” (Orwell 193). The author proposes that Winston’s picture combined with Julia’s practical, daily mechanisms of fighting dictatorship are crucial.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Julia Quotes

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Within the novel 1984 lie multiple characters, some more complex than others, but one character truly stands out above the rest, Julia. Julia is quite young and mostly obeys the Party’s rules, she usually defies the little rules but claims to be breaking the “big” ones. Julia makes it clear that she hates the Party, yet does not want them to be eradicated? Surely Julia keeps heads spinning, this is certainly true in Winston's case. Winston is quite special himself, at the beginning of 1984, the feelings he felt towards Julia were more or less violent.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Different but are still similar. In George Orwell's 1984, Winston and Julia are two people who meet each other and think that they can relate to each other in a society where nobody can freely express themselves. They both try to fit into society but think about society differently.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell’s novel, 1984, depicts a totalitarian society, Oceania, commanded by the all power holding “Big Brother”. The Party, the government of the nation, controls everything from the nation’s history down to the citizen’s language. Early in the novel, the main character, Winston, discovers a secret society against Big Brother titled “the Brotherhood”. O’Brien, a member of the powerful Inner Party, recognizes Winston as a non-supporter of Big Brother. This begins O’Brien’s multitudes of deception toward both Winston and Julia. O’Brien’s motives were simple and his plans beautifully executed. His deceitfulness was driven purely by his loyalty to the Party and contribution to the organization’s psychological manipulation of the citizens of Oceania. O’Brien’ character development also adds to the novel’s overall theme.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1984, George Orwell, English novelist, delivers a dystopian fiction novel about the future possible world of 1984. Orwell creates the character, Winston Smith, the protagonist of the novel. Winston Smith is solely against the party and is curious as to where his rebellion against the party will lead him. While still attending hate week, working for the party, and being under surveillance 24/7, Smith attempts to figure out his way to the Brotherhood. Along with Smith’s hate for the party, Orwell uses rhetorical devices such as tone and imagery to develop Winston’s character.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1984 Hero's Journey

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1984 is a novel about a man who lives in a country called Oceania. He is part of a party who is not allowed to think for themselves. They are constantly being monitored via a telescreen, Winston, the main character of this dystopian novel does what he is not supposed to do. He gets into a relationship with a girl named Julia. They meet in a room on top of a store where Winston bought his diary to write down his crimes.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984 Contradictions

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In 1984, three outwardly misleading characters include Winston, O’Brien, and Mr.Charrington. Since the beginning of the novel, Winston hates the authoritarian rule of the Party and constantly expresses his hatred through suppressed means. For instance, he writes obscenities against the Party in his diary, he secretly has sex with Julia as an act of rebellion, and he attempts to join an organization that opposes the Party. Yet despite all this, he acts loyally when he is being watched; for example, he alters documents wherein he praises the Party for its numerous exploits and achievements. It is fitting that by the end of the novel, he is brainwashed to love the Party: “he had won the victory over himself. He loved big brother” (Orwell, 311). This double contrast highlights the discrepancy present within reality, as in the end, his character is directly at odds with who he initially is in reality. O’Brien is an ambiguous member of the Party who Winston initially comes to trust as a result of a dream where O’Brien says “[w]e shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (Orwell, 2). This statement itself is contradictory, as Winston initially thinks that O’Brien is referring to the joyful time when the Party is finally overthrown and people are free, but it proves to be a bright room where Winston is endlessly tortured by O’Brien. Winston believes that O’Brien shares his enmity towards the Party, but is proven wrong when O’Brien turns out to be a member of the Thought Police and his subsequent torturer. Thus, O’Brien reinforces the discrepancy between appearance and reality, as his sympathetic character proves to be a trap. Finally, Mr. Charrington, the humble owner of a small shop with a room upstairs that Winston and Julia use…

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    While it can be looked upon in more depth, it is stated clearly that the lovemaking that the characters share is not actually love, rather just an impure “political act” to rebel against the Party. For example, Orwell writes, “No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act” (138). There are many examples in this novel that clearly portray this relationship as just a simple act of rebellion, this being one palpable example. The author describes their embrace as a battle, implying a battle against the government; their “climax a victory,” implying that that climax had just been what they were hoping for, a blow to the face of Big Brother. This embrace screams, “Look at us, we wanted to battle against you and we were handed the trophy just following the climax.” However, Winston might as well have also been yelling out that he had no idea who the woman was that he just had sex with since “even now he had not found out her surname or her address. However, it made no difference [to him], for it was inconceivable that they could ever meet indoors or exchange any kind of written communication” (139). With this stated, once again, it shows that Winston is not concerned about the actual human that Julia is, rather…

    • 2082 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Quote Analysis

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Any signs of physical attraction to another member or Prole can result in becoming an “unperson”. “He thought of her naked, youthful body, as he had seen in his dream. He had imagined her a fool like all the rest of them, her head stuffed with lies and hatred, her belly full of ice. A kind of fever seized him at the thought that he might lose her, the white youthful body might slip away from him!” (p. 109-110). This quote proves that Winston indeed has a physical attraction to Julia, but not because he loves her, but because he wants to prove a point against the Party without them actually knowing. By stating that she is “a fool like all the rest of them, her head stuffed with lies and hatred, her bell full of ice”, Winston attempts to mock the Party by presenting a case where he has attracted a devoted Party member and therefore broken their stronghold. But as later seen in the novel, physical attraction may not only be the main idea behind the ‘love’ Winston has for…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a person’s peace of mind is compromised, so is their sanity. The early parts of the novel display the thoughts of Winston as he commits the epitome of thoughtcrime, writing “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”, repeatedly. This series of events being placed in the beginning of the novel throws the reader right into the oppressive government that is The Party, and shows the reader what they are all about. Rebellions are started by those who feel oppressed by their superiors, people who feel like they have no way out unless they fight their way out, start a revolution. Winston’s feelings of oppression are transferred into intense desires to rebel against The Party, specifically wanting to break one of their cardinal rules, no sexual encounters with anyone. He meets a fellow member of The Party who feels an urge to rebel, it is a selfish urge however as she only enjoys the personal thrill. Her name is Julia, and she has an affair with Winston to rebel against The Party, the two fall in love. This proves how quickly rebellious thoughts can turn into life changing scenarios, with Winston and Julia both committing crimes that can change their lives…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1984 by George Orwell, novelist and essayist creates a dystopian novel that features his frightening vision in 1949 of the world we were soon to become. Orwell’s purpose in this passage is to convey the effect of Winston's stolen and mysterious past. Orwell uses foreshadows and symbols. He adopts a nostalgic and mysterious tone in order to hypothesize a horrific ending.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is apparent that there are many themes present in the book 1984 and there have been many arguments as to which one is the most significant, but it seems obvious that the most prevalent one is that love is the best aspect in life. While the world of 1984 is one where love is nearly impossible to exist, a pair of souls, Winston and Julia, beat the devastating odds and loved each other despite the certain doom they faced. There has been some argument as to whether Julia and Winston really loved each other, but after closely analyzing the book it is clear that they do. If love can have such a significant effect on one in the present world, just imagine how it could change life for the better for one in the world of 1984. This is why the only good thing in Winston Smith’s life is his relationship with Julia.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    1984

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Betrayal is a concept of one losing hope and trust in another. Unknowingly, one can be misled by individuals closest to them, allowing them to lose hope. For example, one can be a victim of deception by the disloyalty of a close friend they trust. Similarly, George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-four demonstrates one losing hope in the individuals they meet. The interwoven themes of hope and betrayal are evident through O’Brien, Julia, and Mr.Charrington as they betray Winston, and Oceania’s society since they are misled by Big Brother.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book 1984 by George Orwell, we are presented with an intriguing portrayal of love. The bond the two main characters Winston and Julia once shared, is completely destroyed by the tortures within the Ministry of Love. During their commitment to go through with some of the most cruelest acts such as murder, suicide, and possibly throwing sulphuric acid in a child's face still, they refuse to be separated from one another. With this being said, the risks that were taken between these two lead to torture, betrayal, and their love towards Big Brother.…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George orwell, "1984"

    • 1473 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In George Orwell's "1984", Winston Smith and Julia live in Oceania, where their actions become a subversive force that the "Party" must control. Oceania, located in Europe, represents a totalitarian society in its purest form during the 1940s. Many aspects of Wilson's and Julia's daily life in Oceania are monitored and controlled by the "Party." From the telescreen to the thought police, every action is under constant surveillance. In order to rebel against Big Brother, Winston and Julia commit a series of crimes without knowing that O'Brian, a member of the Inner Party, is watching them intently. O'Brian then deceives Winston and Julia into believing that he is part of the revolutionary group called the Brotherhood. Winston and Julia's betrayal becomes inevitable after their capture because of the psychological supremacy of O'Brian and the Party. Winston's physical and mental torture and brainwashing by O'Brian and the Ministry of Truth in the name of the Party is what ultimately leads to his psychological break down.…

    • 1473 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays