1894: What do you guys think of this?
In 1984 the character Julia raises some interesting questions.
I was just thinking, Julia was kind of a "tramp" if you will. She had mentioned she slept with a lot of men always party members yet somehow she remained free, when those men were taken to minilove they must have ratted her out.
They must have confessed to having slept with her since Winston was exposing everyone he ever met whether they did anything or not.
Do you suppose the powers that be, after hearing man after man confessing the same "sin" with the same woman, her name constantly coming up, purposly let her remain free as a sort of bait to hook the thought criminals?
Another interesting thing about Julia is that she was younger than Winston, and wasn't even alive before the revolution, before the change of power. Winston was just a boy and still had memories (questionable memories but memories non-the-less) of life before the revolution, it was those memories that drove him, those memories that made his bones creek, made his mind ache, it was because of those memories that he knew life should, and was once different!
Julia on the other hand had no such memories, but she still knew somehow that life should be different. She still had the rebellious spirit that Winston had, she stil had that yearning to be free, which makes me wonder if there is in fact hope in the 1984 world.
The Proles serve as a memory of how life was, they are the only ones who are truely free in that world. They can do as they wish they are not concerned with the party, they could care less. They are affected and pushed down by the party but besides being poor and hungry they live happy normal lives. They can sing, they can dance they can be happy they dont have to smile when they are sad.
They are not under control if they so choose they COULD rise up and take over the whole country, the problem for Winston, et al. Is that the proles see no reason to do so. They are not concerned with party matters so they see no reason to get rid of it, for them the party is purely symbolic. They are happy, they have families and are kept busy by the with their lottery games and such so that they wont rise up. The party keeps them free for its own existence, prole happiness is essential for the parties survival.
But the existence of the proles, and the lives they lead. Being able to marry whoever they want and do whatever they want, etc. Is I think what made Julia realize there is more to life, that woman should be woman, and men should be men not commrades that everyone has the right to sing, to wear dresses and make up, to sleep in a warm dry bed to have privacy.
Its true that fear keeps people from doing anything about this feeling they get, but the fact that it is there in the 1984 world shows that there is still hope that humanity still exists that the dream is still alive, whether or not the passing of time would shut out that possibility is hard to say, whether or not humanity will still exists 20 years from 1984 when Newspeak is the only language and the everyone is a mindless sheep is hard to say, but if there is any hope it does lie in the proles!
Re: 1894: What do you guys think of this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by WinstonSmith
[The Proles] are the only ones who are truely free in that world. They can do as they wish they are not concerned with the party, they could care less. They are affected and pushed down by the party but besides being poor and hungry they live happy normal lives. They can sing, they can dance they can be happy they dont have to smile when they are sad.
They are not under control if they so choose they COULD rise up and take over the whole country, the problem for Winston, et al. Is that the proles see no reason to do so. They are not concerned with party matters so they see no reason to get rid of it, for them the party is purely symbolic. They are happy, they have families and are kept busy by the with their lottery games and such so that they wont rise up. The party keeps them free for its own existence, prole happiness is essential for the parties survival.
Does this remind you of anyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wanderer
[The Party does not need bait. The Party probably kept Winston and Julia momentarily because it needed their services. Hope may lie in the proles, but there is almost no chance of them revolting. Orwell is warning us that once a totalitarian rule is established, it will be impossible to bring down. Therefore we should keep this in mind so we can overpower potential "Parties" before they estaablish their reign.
That was the feeling i got when i reached the end of the book. My take on the classes of 1984 (party members and proles, basically), is that the party members are the ones monitored by the big brother because they KNOW what is going on, and the proles do not. Sure, most of the party members are subdued by the party's control and propaganda, but not all of them are loyal (Winston and Julia, for example) and those who are, end up vanished or taken to torture anyway (Syme, Parsons). What I think Orwell was trying to say is that the ones who know what is going on in the world (intellectuals, wise people, call them whatever you like) are the really dangerous ones, while the proles (the 'average' people, if you will) are nothing but cattle that can be hearded towards submission. Winston believed that the proles were the only hope, but in the book, the only 'rebelion' against the BB comes from Winston and Julia, members of the party.