Julia from 1984 shows how human nature naturally rebels against tyranny.
This blog post offers an in-depth exploration of Julia’s character and her impact on Winston Smith.
With page numbers for easy reference, delve into the heart of ‘1984’ through Julia’s lens.
Julia 1984 Character Character Traits
Julia, a character from George Orwell’s 1984, is a complex, rebellious figure. She embodies a unique blend of rebellion fueled by personal desires rather than philosophical reasons.
Julia is first introduced to readers through a note she passes to Winston Smith, which reads, “I love you.” This demonstrates the power of love in a society where emotions are suppressed (Page 108).
She is intelligent and strategic in her dissent against the Party. She emphasizes, “If you kept the small rules you could break the big ones” (Page 129).
Her actions contradict her external appearance and activities. Despite being a troop leader in the Spies and spending countless hours voluntarily working for the Junior Anti-Sex League, she secretly holds strong sentiments against the Party and its principles (Page 121).
Julia instinctively identifies others who share her secret resistance against the oppressive regime, stating, “I’m good at spotting people who don’t belong. As soon as I saw you, I knew you were against THEM” (Page 122).
Her love for Winston is not only personal but also symbolic. Julia’s past relationships only deepen his affection for her, as she says, “The more men you’ve had, the more I love you” (Page 122).
Julia and Winston’s bond is further illustrated by their shared fascination with the songbird and its uninhibited expression of freedom (Pages 123-124).
Julia uses her understanding of the Party’s manipulation of human emotions to her advantage. She explains, “The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same” (Page 131).
Julia has a unique perspective on sexuality in Orwell’s dystopian society. She believes that “Any kind of organized revolt against the Party, which was bound to be a failure, struck her as stupid.”
Instead, she views sexual encounters as an act of rebellion, stating, “When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that” (Page 133).
She understands and articulates the Party’s use of sexual deprivation to induce hysteria and redirect it into war fever and leader worship (Page 133).
Despite her strategic rebellion, Julia also acknowledges the bleak reality of their situation, stating, “In this game that we’re playing, we can’t win. Some kinds of failure are better than other kinds, that’s all” (Page 135).
Julia’s dissent, although not fueled by philosophical reasons, is profound. She counters Winston’s grand vision of a revolution against the Party, stating that there’s “no such thing as happiness,” and it’s better to consider oneself dead once one declares war against the Party (Page 135).
The echo of “We are the dead” reflects the defeat the characters experience, unable to escape the Party’s oppressive reach (Pages 135-136).
Julia, however, retains her humanistic perspective, noting that “So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing” (Page 136).
Eventually, Julia’s presence and influence become a physical necessity for Winston. Her hair, the taste of her mouth, and the feeling of her skin infiltrate Winston’s existence, symbolically showing her powerful impact on his life amid the constant surveillance and repression.
Julia 1984 Quotes With Page Numbers
“I LOVE YOU.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia’s note to Winston, Part Two, Chapter 1, Page 108
“At the sight of the words I love you the desire to stay alive had welled up in him, and the taking of minor risks suddenly seemed stupid.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia and Winston, Part Two, Chapter 1, Page 109
“I was a troop-leader in the Spies. I do voluntary work three evenings a week for the Junior Anti-Sex League. Hours and hours I’ve spent pasting their bloody rot all over London. I always carry one end of a banner in the processions. I always look cheerful and I never shirk anything. Always yell with the crowd, that’s what I say. It’s the only way to be safe.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 121
“It was something in your face. I thought I’d take a chance. I’m good at spotting people who don’t belong. As soon as I saw you I knew you were against THEM.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 122
“The more men you’ve had, the more I love you.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Winston Smith to Julia, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 122
“Winston and Julia clung together, fascinated. The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, never once repeating itself, almost as though the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity. Sometimes it stopped for a few seconds, spread out and resettled its wings, then swelled its speckled breast and again burst into song. Winston watched it with a sort of vague reverence. For whom, for what, was that bird singing? No mate, no rival was watching it. What made it sit at the edge of the lonely wood and pour its music into nothingness?”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Winston Smith and Julia, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 123-24
“I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two. Chapter 2, Page 125
“Not merely the love of one person, but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Tow, Chapter 2, Page 126
“No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 126
“If you kept the small rules you could break the big ones.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 129
“Any kind of organized revolt against the Party, which was bound to be a failure, struck her as stupid. The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 131
“When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 133
“What was more important was that sexual privation induced hysteria, which was desirable because it could be transformed into war fever and leader worship.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 133
“In this game that we’re playing, we can’t win. Some kinds of failure are better than other kinds, that’s all.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 135
“She did not understand that there was no such thing as happiness, that the only victory lay in the far future, long after you were dead, that from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse. ‘We are the dead,’ he said.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 135
‘We are the dead,’ he says. ‘We are the dead,’ repeats Julia behind him. Suddenly an iron voice declares behind them, ‘You are the dead.’
~George Orwell, 1984, Winston Smith and Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 135-36
“So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 3, Page 136
“The smell of her hair, the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her skin seemed to have got inside him, or into the air all around him. She had become a physical necessity.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Part Two, Chapter 4, Page 139
“And do you know what I’m going to do next? I’m going to get hold of a real woman’s frock from somewhere and wear it instead of these bloody trousers. I’ll wear silk stockings and high-heeled shoes! In this room I’m going to be a woman, not a Party comrade.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 4, Page 142
“So long as they were actually in this room, they both felt, no harm could come to them.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Part Two, Chapter 5, Page 151
“Even the one plan that was practicable, suicide, they had no intention of carrying out. To hang on from day to day and from week to week, spinning out a present that had no future, seemed an unconquerable instinct, just as one’s lungs will always draw the next breath so long as there is air available.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Part Two, Chapter 5, Page 152
“She only questioned the teachings of the Party when they in some way touched upon her own life. Often she was ready to accept the official mythology, simply because the difference between truth and falsehood did not seem important to her.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Part Two, Chapter 5, Page 153
“I’m quite ready to take risks, but only for something worth while, not for bits of old newspaper.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 5, Page 155
‘You’re only a rebel from the waist downwards,’ he told her.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Winston Smith to Julia, Part Two, Chapter 5, Page 156
“If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.”
~George Orwell, 1984, (The narrator about Julia), Part 2, Chapter 7, Page 164
“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. They can’t do that…They can make you say anything—anything—but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 7, Page 166
“It’s the one thing they can’t do. They can make you say anything – anything – but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Part Two, Chapter 7, Page 166
“They could do nothing except stand gazing into one another’s eyes. To run for life, to get out of the house before it was too late – no such thought occurred to them. Unthinkable to disobey the iron voice from the wall. There was a snap as though a catch had been turned back, and a crash of breaking glass. The picture had fallen to the floor uncovering the telescreen behind it.
‘Now they can see us,’ said Julia.
‘Now we can see you,’ said the voice.
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia and Winston and Julia , Part Two, Chapter 9, Pages 221-22
“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”
~George Orwell, 1984, Winston Smith about Julia, Part Three, Chapter 5, Page 286
‘I betrayed you,’ she said baldly.
‘I betrayed you,’ he said.
She gave him another quick look of dislike.
‘Sometimes,’ she said, ‘they threaten you with something – something you can’t stand up to, can’t even think about.’
~George Orwell, 1984, Winston Smith and Julia, Part Three, Chapter 6, Page 292
What are the quotes of Julia rebelling in 1984?
“I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Page 125
“If you kept the small rules you could break the big ones.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia, Page 129
What does Julia symbolize in 1984?
In George Orwell’s 1984, Julia symbolizes rebellion, sexuality, and survival. She uses her sexual and emotional freedom to protest against the strict authoritarian regime by channeling her energy towards love, emotions, and memories rather than glorifying Big Brother and Oceania.
How does Winston describe Julia quote?
“Not merely the love of one person, but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces.”
~George Orwell, 1984, The Narrator about Julia, Page 126
What does Julia say attracted her to Winston?
‘It was something in your face. I thought I’d take a chance. I’m good at spotting people who don’t belong. As soon as I saw you I knew you were against THEM.”
~George Orwell, 1984, Julia to Winston, Part Two, Chapter 2, Page 122
Did Julia Actually Betray Winston?
Yes, Julia did betray Winston. After they were both captured and tortured by the Party, Julia confessed and handed over Winston to the authorities, effectively corroborating the Party’s version of their illicit affair and sabotaging any chance of them presenting a united front against their tormentors.