The Novel on Text of 1984

[Libba]

You've obviously missed the whole point of the significance of the affair between Winston and Julia. It's not about the sex, or betrayal of Winston's long since gone wife, who at this point is a non-issue anyway. It's the fact that Winston and Julia find pleasure in sex and have therefore struck a silent (well, not really silent) blow to the Party, which has done everything in it's power to remove pleasure of any kind from the lives of its inhabitants. The goal of the Party is to keep its citizens entirely in a frenzy of hate and victory, for which there is no room for physical pleasure, or love. Therefore secual pleasure, as it says in the book (in these EXACT words) becomes a "political act."

[The Vee]

Second response not much better: The goal of the party was not to remove physical pleasure from the citizens but to remain in power: to be collectively immortal and omnipotent. Therefore, the party disallowed the sex act to eliminate party members from having loyalties or loves for something other than itself or Big Brother. This also explains the party's subsidiary goal of keeping its citizens in a frenzy of victory and hate.<br><br>The first comment is based on an alternate moral basis (that states that adultery is wrong) whereby it acknowledges an unwitting overlap with the party's morality. In any event, Libba correctly notes the irrelevance (to the story) of the moral issue of the affair.

[Jennifer Powers]

I have read the novel. It some what ways I do think its right for Winston and Julia to be sent to the Ministry of Love because they both had an affair which isnt right. I dont believe in affairs. I dont think its right at all to be married to someone then you go to a party and meet someone fall in love and have an affair. When you marry someone you're committing your whole life to them. You need to make sure you want to marry the person and that the person is right for you.