It is true that rebellion is the thing that unites Julia and Winston; however, the more I read, the more differences i m able to recognize. First taking a step back we can see the different physical and background elements. Being free, and young in contrast to Smith being older and unhealthy man in a poor physical state ; her ideologies slightly differ from his. As we have seen, Winston has this obsession of the past and trying to find out what was hidden by it. He expresses that through the collection of objects , such as the coral object he bought at the junk shop. That leads us to see their different concepts of truth. As they speak of the news she claims that she doesn't watch it because they are "all lies anyway". In contrast to Winston who these kind of things revolt , she seems to have a pacifist approach, she does not seem to care that much about truth and lies. One can not deny their huge hatred for Big Brother , in fact it s what makes them fall in love. However she is less about taking action."She hated the Party... but she made no general criticism of it. Except when it touched upon her life she had no interest in Party doctrine." You can see that as long as she was left to live happy alone, she did not mind. Her life is about getting as much pleasure possible and of course covering up for herself. As we see, she is extremely involved in various activities which backs her up well. Concerning their relationship, Winston is a little more paranoid about it, or rather realistic, he knows their days are numbered meanwhile Julia seems to believe that her game is smarter than the parties and that she can go on without any danger. Also, for Winston's side, Julia is his first love experience that makes him gain courage and a little more hope in humanity, a hope for a better future.
The image posted above, is something I found randomly and though it'll be interesting to look upon our society, are we truly free? Would love to hear your opinions
As a society that lives in a world where we have equal rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc, then yes, one could say that we are free. We have these things that give us freedom, these abilities to express ourselves, but still, people question it. There are the contoversial topics that one is not able to talk about their faith or smoke in places that they would like to. Things like these aren't a question of freedom though, they are a question of choice. Using my example from before, people do indeed have the right to smoke as they please. The only limitation is that they have to move to a place where it is permitted. Therefore, they essentially are able to choose their actions/behaviors. Even with conflicting ideas of what "freedom" is, we should all agree that one is entitled to freedom of choice.
ReplyDeleteFreedom of choice is one thing, but does our society truly have the freedom where one's own constrictions are solely their own? No, I don't think so. Taking into consideration laws, acceptable communication, and boudaries in school, there are many restrictions as to what one can or can't do. We all are raised to obey these "rules" in order to function in society. So without these limitations on our freedom as human beings, there is no saying what our world would be like. Whether I agree with it or not, controversy about differing aspects such as religion, government, and appropriate behaviors would definitely arise.
I like the points you made Hafsa as well as the fact that Winston points out, "You are only a rebel from the waist down." In that I believe Julia is definitely a rebel without a cause. She knows she hates Big Brother but she does not know for what reasons. But you can't blame her. She remembers nothing of the past before this new government took over and thus grew up with Big Brother. So how could she know of a better past, she only knows that it is wrong. Whereas Winston does have some semblance of a past life, and as his job being that he re-writes history, we can see why he has more of a compound and concrete animosity towards Big Brother. And being older and more knowledgeable he understands there is more to rebellion than simply undermining simple rules. A for if we are truly free, I believe in most respects we are. That quote is an over exaggeration of what the every-man does. It states that those who obey the rules of society aren't free, which I disagree with, being free is being able to send your kids to school and it is being able to watch TV. Whereas in some countries you simply can't do that, in the Western world we are lucky to have a democracy and sure they are a bit intrusive at times, but that's the price you pay. I would much rather live in a world where the government is a bit intrusive than one such as Saudi Arabia where women can't drive.
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