Motive to Rebel

 To me, one of the more interesting differences between Winston and Julia is their motive to rebel, internally, against the party. In some ways, I feel the difference between Winston and Julia is notable because it is meant to represent larger more general ways that people tend to be driven to rebel against authoritarian regimes. Winston is motivated by a sense of the greater good and feels it is just morally wrong for the party to oppress the happiness and withhold information from people in the society as a whole. He is angry at the party and has an unending need to search for the truth, hoping he can better understand the past and keep in touch with the world that the government aims to separate him from. While Winston has this sense of greater good motivating him, Julia is extremely angry that the government aims to suppress herself and her desires, specifically her sexual desires. She fights them by having sexual relations with as many party members as possible, getting joy from knowing she is corrupting the party’s view of the world. However, she does not seem especially interested in history or the government’s lies, not worrying about the constant misinformation that the majority of citizens believe.

8.6.1