1984

"'Sometimes,' she said, 'they threaten you with something-something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, "Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself that way. You want  it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself.'" (pg 240) After being released, Winston ran into Julia. He explains how Julia has gotten thicker from the hips. A woman being more thick in this area usually is thought of making her more desirable, but the thought of having sex with her now seemed horrifying, he couldn't even think of the word sex as he addresses it as "that". Then they adm...

"And once- Winston could not remember whether it was in drugged sleep, or in normal sleep, or even in a moment of wakefulness- a voice murmured in his ear: 'Don't worry, Winston; you are in my keeping. For seven years I have watched over you. Now the turning point has come. I shall save you, I shall make you perfect.' He was not sure whether it was O'Brien's voice; but it was the same voice that had said to him, 'We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness,' in that other dream, seven years ago." (pg 201) Here it's as if O'Brien sees himself as Winston's savior. O'Brien is acting as if Winston is not perfect the way he is. The Party has the citizens so under control, that if someone does something the Party says is wrong, they are seen as not perfect. The only way O'Brien thinks he is able to make Winston "perfect" is by changing his beliefs by torturing him. Winston begins to agree with the ideas that O...

"For what evidence had he in reality that O'Brien was any kind of political conspirator? Nothing but a flash of the eyes and a single equivocal remark; beyond that, only his own secret imaginings, founded on a dream. He could not even fall back on the pretense that he had come to borrow the dictionary, because in that case Julia's presence was impossible to explain. As O'Brien passed the telescreen a thought seemed to strike him. He stopped, turned aside, and pressed a switch on the wall. There was a sharp snap. The voice had stopped." (139-140) O'Brien portrayed someone Winston always wanted or expected him to be. O'Brien gave Winston hope. He hopes O'Brien will be the person he expects him to be, that he even took the risk to go to his house along with Julia. Winston risks not only his life, but Julia's life by saying they are against the Party. After O'Brien explained "The Brotherhood" to Winston, he was ready to join. It was a q...

"Under the window somebody was singing...Whenever her mouth was not corked with clothes pegs she was singing in a powerful contralto: 'It was only an' opeless fancy, It passed like an Ipril dye, But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!'... But the woman sang so tunefully as to turn the dreadful rubbish into an almost pleasant sound." (114) The women's song was a sense of hope for Winston. He's tired of the Party, he wants to overthrow them. He's hoping for this change and he hopes it will happen soon. He focuses on the song and he's hopeful that one day the Party will be overthrown. He wants this all to end. This song reminded me of the song in the musical  Les Miserables  "Do You Hear the People Sing?". This song is sung in the song twice throughout the musical, making it a very powerful song in the movie to invoke the act of rebellion in the people. The song is sung by the cast ...