Friday, March 2, 2012

In "1984," what does Winston tell Julia the real betrayal will be?

Winston tells Julie that the real betrayal will be if the Party could make them actually stop loving one another.  They both realize that, under duress, they will inevitably confess their forbidden love, because, as Julie observes, "everybody always confesses.  You can't help it.  They torture you".  Wilson, however, says, "Confession is not betrayal.  What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter.  If they could make me stop loving you - that would be the real betrayal". 

After thinking about it, Julia concurs that "they can make you say anything...but they can't make you believe it".  Both Winston and Julie agree that although the Party may be able to control their actions, they cannot control their feelings; "they can't get inside you".  Sadly, as events will show, Winston and Julia severely underestimate the power of the Party (Part 2, Chapter 7).

No comments:

Post a Comment

In Act III, scene 2, why may the establishment of Claudius's guilt be considered the crisis of the revenge plot?

The crisis of a drama usually proceeds and leads to the climax.  In Shakespeare's Hamlet , the proof that Claudius is guilty...