1984 Discussion (Chapter 2, Part III)

• Explain why the Party has made extreme effort to take over the sexual instinct

Remember, this effort is really only demonstrated in the members of the Party. With the proles, they are able to marry, divorce, watch porn, and have sex. For the proles these are viewed as freedoms, but in reality it is another method of control and oppression the Party has over them. They are consumed by these "time sucks" (aka they waste their time with these activities), like sex, the lottery, drinking, etc., that they never really think to question the Party. Now conversely with the Party members, they are more involved in Party politics, they have access to telescreens, they work in the ministries, and generally are closer to Big Brother. Being closer to the action, I would think the Party wants any energy they have to go towards the Party itself. Julia describes that if you are more focused on sex and a relationship, then you will have a decrease in affection and wanting to do good for the Party. All of a sudden you are doing things to just get more sex because of how it makes you feel.

The takeover of the sexual instinct is all a method of calculated control. We have mentioned this before, your only love should be the Party. You should want kids for the Party, it is your duty. You should not want to marry anybody unless its sanctioned by the Party, there is no need for a relationship when you have Big brother...

• What do you think is the main difference between how Julia and Winston view the Party?

The simplest way I can sum this up is Winston all the way back in chapter one wrote in his diary, "Down with Big brother". To me, Julia does not care to start or be a part of a revolution. Winston, being older, remembers vaguely a time pre revolution. He is seeking out more information on it by talking to older people. He knows that the world of Big Brother is a prison and wants to break free. Julia on the other hand, is just trying to stay alive and have fun. She does despise the Party, but only in that it gets in the way of her fun. When Winston is telling the story about his wife and him being on the hike to Julia, there is a moment where Winston could have pushed his wife off the cliff. Julia mentions this, and Winston feels regret over not doing so. He eventually states that this act would not even make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Winston knows that ultimately through everything he has done, writing in his diary to meeting up and having an affair with Julia, he will get caught eventually. Julia still thinks there is a way to keep evading the notice of the Party, and she is perfectly content to keep doing this. To sum it up, Winston is thinking about freeing himself from the system and I think he wants to free other people too, Julia wants to work around the system.