Friday, April 27, 2012

Although she hates the Party, why can Julia be called "apolitical"?

Julia hates the Party because she sees through it to what
a corrupt fraud it is, not because of any adherence to a particular politics. She's a
materialist, interested in her own physical and psychological well-being, and she
understands that the Party blocks people from achieving either one. She understands that
the Party wants to use her energy for its own ends, and she resists that. She, rather
than Winston, perceives that the Party wants to prevent sex not only to keep people
miserable but to channel their energy into achieving Party goals. She wants her energy
for herself. She also doesn't care whether the Party changes history, and she works from
the a priori or beginning premise that the Party
lies.


Orwell leaves it an open question as to whether
Julia's pragmatic self-interest or lack of any illusions about politics is better or
worse than Winston's desire to believe in a dream of a better and more truthful world.
It's also an open question as to whether Julia is truly "apolitical": can anyone so
cynical about the state not be seen as having a political position? Certainly Big
Brother sees her as a political subversive, even if she has no coherent
politics.

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