5/2/16 Sophie von Kleist

1984 : ANALYSIS OF PART II, CHAPTERS I, II AND III

Compare Julias character with Winstons. How is she different from him? How is she similar to
him? What role does age play as far as their respective attitudes toward the Party is concerned?

In part II of Nineteen Eighty-Four Winston gets to know a girl called Julia. She is 26
years old and works in the fiction department and for the Junior Anti Sex-League. Julia is
against the Party and tries to rebel by having sex with members of the Outer Party. She
also meets up with Winston at secret places. How is Julia different from Winston and how
is she similar to him?

Both, Winston and Julia, have in common that they are against the Party, Big Brother and
the totalitarian government. They hate the fact that the Party forbids things like freedom,
love and sex. Therefore both rebel against the Party with love, as they have a secret affair
and meet at places around London. Winston and Julia also have in common that they
enjoy love, sex and intimacy. Therefore they are not already brainwashed by the Party,
but are still able to love and feel attracted to someone.
Another similarity between Winston and Julia is that both speak the forbidden
language Oldspeak instead of Newspeak that has to be spoken by every Party member.
Therefore they both rebel against the Party and break the rules, as they speak the old
language.

A difference between the two is that Winston is intellectual while Julia is instinctual.
Although both want to rebel against the Party they do it for different reasons. Winston
rebels against the Party because of his ideals of how society should be, as he was born
before the Revolution and knows a lot more about the "normal" life. Winston truly wants
to bring down the government to make life easier for the future generation. Julia,
however, rebels because the Party puts a check on her physical needs and desires. She
wants to be free to express her sexuality which the Party strictly forbids. Julia also wants
to have things like chocolates which in the world of the Party are luxuries. In general Julia
doesnt seem to fully understand nor care about what the government does, but is rather
happy to live in the moment.
Another difference between Winston and Julia is that Julia is a lot more extroverted than
Winston who is rather sensitive and introverted. Julia is more open about her hatred for
the Party as she has many love affairs with Party members to break the rules and rebel
against the Party. Winston, however, likes to keep his hatred inside because he fears
getting caught by the Thought Police. He writes down his experiences in his diary and
tries to find out things about the past, as he buys objects from the past and speaks to
older people.
5/2/16 Sophie von Kleist

To sum up you can say that in some points like the hatred for the Party or the desire to
rebel Julia is very similar to Winston. However, there are also many differences between
the two. Julia is a lot more extroverted in general and wants to rebel against the Party for
other reasons than Winston.
The differences in the way Julia and Winston think about the Party might also be due to
their age difference of 13 years. Winston was born before the Revolution and therefore he
knows how life has been without the Party and Big Brother - without surveillance,
loneliness and oppression. Winston knows how life in freedom is - Julia does not. She is
13 year younger and was born into the Partys totalitarian system. She does not know how
a life in freedom feels like and therefore doesnt miss anything except love, sex and
chocolate.