Julia as the Only Point of Relief and Contrast against the Horror of the Orwells 1984 - Essay Example

"Julia is the one point of relief and contrast against the nightmarish horror of the book...in Orwell's work she stands out as his liveliest and most perceptive study of a woman". (Rees, R. George Orwell: Fugitive from the Camp of Victory (London: Secker and Warburg, 1961)) Traditionally women are considered as the source of life and every good aspect on this earth. Every single aspect that is beautiful, tender and encourages the vitality of life is considered as embodiment of womanhood on this earth. Astonishingly, almost in every age the society has denied the essence of motherhood and tenderness that women are entrusted with by the cosmos, the universe. Women have always been commoditized and regarded as objects of torture, oppression and sensual pleasure. Despite such approach, artists and literary figures of different ages have identified the plight of women. They have raised their voice in defense of the universal womanhood. George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984 is of no exception. In this novel, adopting symbolic way presentation, masterfully Orwell has portrayed about a society, which is essentially corrupted from the core. Human existence and humaneness both are distant dreams, shrouded by aggression, inhumanity and degradation values. Under such situation presence of Julia presents the signs of life, optimism and quest for achieving the good things on earth, including love, humanity and universal brotherhood. After studying the character of Julia in 1984, Rees commented in his book, George Orwell, Fugitive from the Camp of Victory, that Julia is the one point of relief and contrast against the nightmarish horror of the book and that in Orwell's work she stands out as his liveliest and most perceptive study of a woman. This paper aims at studying the process of evaluation in Julia’s character through the growing course of the novel. At the same time, it aims at justifying the Rees’ observation and understanding of Julia’s character. To understand and evaluate the character of Julia and the role played by her in the gloomy circumstance of the novel, it is important for us to receive an overview about the settings of the novel. Exploration of the “nightmarish horror” that prevails throughout the novel is important. It will help us to understand to which extent Julia contradicts such bleak existence and emerges as a figure of optimism, hopefulness and relief in the novel. As a reader starts reading 1984, he is immediately overwhelmed by the coldness of narrative. A society, a civilization is dead and Orwell’s coldness of narrative represents the same chilling touch of death. It is mastery of Orwell’s narrative that focusing over different intricate details, he makes a reader to visualize the whole scenario, as if he is the guide through the paths of the novel and reader is simply following him. He helps the reader to look at the situation through his eyes but gives liberty to the person to interpret the scenario according to his own ways. In the 1984, narrative coldness of the novelist not only chills the reader but at the same time he is haunted by images of abused humanity under the influence of an evil system. Lord of the system is the Big Brother, who is an embodiment of the evil corrupting the essence of human existence in the modern era. He is ornamented with “terror and technology” and is completely devoid of any kind of humane virtues, namely, “liberty, spontaneity and equality.” (Llosa) The prevailing social scenario of the world is brutally represented through Orwell’s narrative. Socialists, revolutionists and benevolent people on this earth have ever quested to attain Democracy that will be characterized by equality, liberty and fraternity. Technically the modern social system appears to contain all these features but while we judge over true nature of our existence, we feel scared to observe our existence amidst inhumanity, moral corruption and mechanism. These aspects are gradually overpowering the essential virtues of the long cherished dream of “equality, liberty and fraternity.” The cosmos of 1984, is actually a symbolic representation of the current human existence. “In this nightmarish world, language also obeys power, and has been transformed into “newspeak”, purified of all inventions and all subjectivity, metamorphosed into a string of platitudes that ensures the individual’s slavery to the system.” (Llosa) Humanity has almost gone astray in the prevailing social pattern of 1984. It can only be saved through spontaneity of life, marvel of creativity and orientation of the human genius. Julia in Orwell’s narrative represents the figure, which is capable of resettling the life and human existence. Flow of life is often considered as the flow of river. In the 1984 society that flow is stagnant. Julia, representation of womanhood in the world has the capacity of opening the barriers against that flow and brings back the spontaneity of life, creativity and the essence of universal brotherhood. General reader of the text does not turn the reader’s focus to that much over Julia’s character. It actually reflects upon the emotions of Winston and how they underwent a transformation. However the change is not for the better, rather it was the degradation that percolated into the life of the stubborn, independent minded and individualistic intellectual Winston Smith. The story shows how Winston experiences his resentment against the ruling Party or the Big Brother (the governing body of Oceania after the First World War) because he hates totalitarianism and perhaps is in favor of Socialism. The resentment takes its form in his stubbornness to believe in the Party’s ideologies. The first step he takes against the Party is by orienting his thoughts against it and thinking against the will of the Big Brother. During this time frame, thought is supposed to be a crime - “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death” (Orwell, 28). Big Brother closely monitors the people and the slogan “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell, 2) emphasizes the presence of the omnipresent Big Brother. People are not entitled to have a personal life or a personal thought. The most common example is that maintenance of a diary is forbidden since one can put down his personal opinion there. Winston ignores this rule and maintains a diary. Later on when he is tortured, O’Brien refers to this saying, “Do you remember writing in your diary…that it did not matter whether I was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who understood you and could be talked to? You were right. I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.” (Orwell, 259) O’Brien whom he once thought to be against the Big Brother and belonging to Brotherhood (anti-Party) also fools him and later tortures him in the Ministry of Love. Winston was given a book by O’Brien, written by Emmanuel Goldstein where he describes the the Party's slogan, "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.” (Orwell, 4) The phrases are contradictory to what we normally believe but in “1984” the world is in a state of continuous battle where no one is free and offcourse everyone is ignorant. The slogans are logically incorrect but they represented the Party. Anyone who dares to think otherwise (like Winston) is supposed to be arrested and finally executed after the person is forced to love Big Brother. This is obviously due to fear of rebellion. The first part describes the way Winston sees the world, that is, with resentment towards the Party. Despite knowing his probable fate he does not participate in the expected way in Two Minutes Hate. It is a film during which people are supposed to cheer against the Party’s enemy. The second part reflects upon his relationship with Julia and his urge to rebel against the Party while the last part deals with his arrest and torment in the Ministry of Love until he finally comes out of the room without any personal emotions and with love towards Big Brother. This makes the goal of the Party successful, the goal of conquering the mind. As mentioned by O’Brien, it s the mind where the Party rules - “we control matter because we control the mind. Reality is inside the skull” (Orwell, 264). This transformed state of Winston is entirely opposite to the time when, fierce urge to rebel made his pen smoothly write DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER repeatedly to fill up half a page. Thus the author reveals how easily torture and suffering could brainwash Winston and transform him as a person. Winston is definitely the protagonist of the novel but presence of Julia in his life and the kind of relationship that he shares with her, gives the novel a different kind of boosting. It has been already mentioned that the sense of prevailing coldness of death and haunting images of abused humanity scare the reader. Presence of Julia in the novel signifies the vitality of life. Though Winston hates the system and his hatred is equally directed against the tyrannical approach of the Big Bother, but he is futile to the system that he is governing, just as a mere human being is powerless before titanic strength of an institution. His quest to triumph over the system governed by Big brother, he is develops a strong affair with Julia. There are instances of physical intimation between these tow characters in some chapters of the novel. More importantly, it is George Orwell’s technique of symbolic representation, that man, despite his complete effort to bring change in the system, cannot triumph over it, unless he receives a true companionship from a woman. Winston’s psychological and physical union with Julia signifies the perfect union between man and woman, to introduce new changes in the society. Their joint effort provides new hopes to the reader and he, amidst such bleak existence, hopes for a bright and newer existence that would support immortality of humanity. Later on, as the novel progresses, the reader sees that Winston and Julia both attempt to be in touch with Brotherhood, “the rumored underground oppression”, (O'Neil, 1182) whom they believed to be their survivor against tyranny of Big Brother. Finally their attempt fails and they are taken into custody. Winston’s punishment and torture in the police, as it has been explained to him, is not to make him confess his guilt but to recover him from the false ideas that he has developed against the system of ruling of Big Brother. Under such torture and tremendous oppression he finally puts all the blame over Julia and begged for his release from the system that he planned to rebel once. As he is completely broken and loses the voice of his own, he is considered cured by the system and is released. His next meeting with Julia is replete with indifference and he has lost all interest in his love. Finally, the reader sees that Winston has completely submitted himself to the system of Big Brother but it is no spontaneous submission. It is characterized with oppression and fear of being re-tortured. Though he finally announces, sitting in front of the TV screen that he is also a supporter of the system, the reader feels pity for his plight. At the same time he loses all hope for incarnation of the humanity. The situation was no better for Winston from the very beginning. He simply used to hate the system and its controller but at the level of execution and fighting against the system, he has done nothing. Passivity of his action is characterized by a proper support, which he never received before Julia came to his life. Like other people in the system, he has not completely submitted himself to the system but at the same time, he also did nothing to protest against its onslaughts. Such passivity makes him equal to other people, who simply accepting their plight without any kind of protest. Julia’s presence in the novel not only gives hope to Winston but also to the reader. Together they have tried to develop an anti-system that would demolish the system of Big Brother and will celebrate the triumph of humanity. May be execution of such dream was beyond their human capacity to reach a particular level of success against the system but with their attempts the reader gained courage and hope to get rid from the chains of oppression. It is true that 1984 reflects Orwell’s pessimism and he has left no room for the revival of humankind. While being tortured by the police, as soon as Winston utters the name of Julia and puts all blames over her, the last hope of the reader is also lost. Winston’s utterance of Julia’s name actually blocked the very source humane inspiration that could have changed the course of human life in the nihilistic settings. He is released from the prison, being completely psychologically traumatized. Winston is not only traumatized due to the torture that had to undergo in the prison but at the same time, he was also suffering from guilt consciousness of what he has caused to Julia. He, for the rest of his tried to run away from facing the only truth of his life. Orwell has clearly implied that escaping from Julia has become one of his primary targets. Horror of the torture and his sense of betrayal have made a creep out of him and he tried to find solace not through any more rebellion but only pretend to be a part of it. This is the sole aim of an anarchist, starting from Macbeth to Big Bother that he always wishes to rule the society by the power of fear. He always wishes to make a creep out of a human being so that no body dares to protest against his actions. Winston is just a representative of the humankind. Through his transformation the novelist has expressed the tragic plight of the whole humankind. When Winston, almost at the end of the novel again meets Julia, he shows a completely different attitude towards her, full of indifference and desperate attempt to deny any kind of emotional expression towards her. This part is also symbolic. Here Winston ends up being completely an archetype of the patriarchal society. He accepts his existence as a non human entity but he would never go ahead to express his feelings for spontaneous impetus of love. Julia, as Winston’s true counterpart in the course of the novel has done everything to support him but after coming out of the custody, when she desired to have support from the Winston, he turns his face away from her. Chapter II of the novel helps the reader to explore the character of Julia to the best extent. Julia is completely independent in nature and at the same time she also like Winston rejects the authority of the system over human existence. Her hatred for the system is described through a “number of profanities.”( Orwell, and Brodeur, 49) She her hatred for the system differs from than that of Winston’s. His disliking for the system has been generated from different types of ideological differences but Julia, like a simple human being, has only wished for the good time to come back in the society. Karen Brodeur has commented, “Orwell explores the basic instinct of sexuality through Julia….In this area she far more intelligent than Winston. Unlike Winston, she realized the true meaning of the Party’s puritanical stance on the issue of sexuality.” (Orwell, and Brodeur, 50) Later on the reader gets a clear impression behind truthfulness of Julia’s observation as the leaders of the party have given enough indication regarding Julia’s view. Julia’s presence as the source of hope and humane spontaneity is more thoroughly reflected through her approach towards life. He understanding of the situation has clearly suggested her that it would be impossible for her and Winston to escape the murdering claws of the system. Still she urges herself to live in a secret world, where an individual can be free and relish his freedom. Taste of such freedom is sufficient enough to give him sufficient impetus to achieve triumph over the system. It will help him to fight against his plight. She feels that if a person needs to win over a system, all that he is “needed was luck and cunning and boldness.” (Orwell, and Brodeur, 50) She has received perfect combination of the last two virtues but the support of luck she has not received in her quest to bring back the good time in the society. A great part of the novel is based on the setting of Soviet Russia and “Big Brother is modeled on Stalin,…” This novel has clearly expressed amidst its bleak surrounding that the system of 1984 may be symbolic but in real life we are not alien to such social systems. Stalin’s Russia is not only characterized with this kind of totalitarian social approach, but it “went the way of totalitarian fascism in Germany and elsewhere; and soon thereafter it began to deteriorate also in China, and in anachronistic Cuba and North Korea.” (Llosa) Derogation of the humane values and moral cripple are prevailing in the society and such approaches are actually giving rise to the totalitarian approach of governance. It is the mutual effort of human beings that can end up such tyrannical situation in the whole world. In the 1984 mutual journey of Winston and Julia commenced to Brotherhood but the attempted has failed completely due to Winston’s betrayal over Julia. Julia has remained “Like the thrush that sang so beautifully in the meadow” and “represents hope and spontaneity” to the reader. (Orwell, and Brodeur, 50) Works Cited 1. Llosa, Mario Vargas, The premature obituary of the book. Why Literature?, 2001, retrieved on March 21, 2009 from: http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/vargasllosa.htm 2. O'Neil, Patrick M., Great world writers : twentieth century, Marshall Cavendish, 2004 3. Orwell, George, Brodeur, Karen, George Orwell's 1984, Research & Education Assoc. 1995 4. Orwell, George, 1984, Signet Classic, 1990 Read More