The current passage, however, confirms Winston's belief, and stops Julia from denying the existence of a conspiracy group. They meet a man named O'Brien, who tells them that he is a part of the Brotherhood. After this discovery, the tone becomes hopeful for the first time in the novel. The Brotherhood's existence is also significant because it shows the benefit to Winston's hopeful thinking. While Julia rejected the possibility of the Party ever being conspired against, Winston considered it as a possibility and was correct in doing so. By juxtaposing these two characters, Orwell shows the importance of caring beyond your own survival, as Julia does at first.
Julia and Winston eventually understand how their survival is not as important as the creation of a quality society. They even realize that they will most likely die soon, but hope that it will be for a positive cause: "Out of those mighty loins a race of conscious beings must one day come. You were the dead; theirs was the future." (278) In other words, although Julia and Winston will not live much longer, their actions will help the future generations.
To conclude the passage Winston and Julia's illegal activities are discovered by the Party, and they are taken away. Seconds before they are discovered, though, they show that they understand their sacrifice by both saying: "'We are the dead.'" (278) Although it is a seemingly hopeless ending to the passage. their sacrifice was for a reason. They admit that they will die, but they give their lives because it is the price for the freedom of future generations.
This revelation that the society matters more than oneself is an interesting point that, I think, shows up repeatedly throughout history. Your recalling reminded me of the White Rose group who spread anti-Nazi pamphlets in Munich. They eventually gave up their lives for their cause after getting caught. There is an eerie correlation between the actions you describe and those of the White Rose. I wonder if Orwell got some of his ideas from this. Sophie Scholl, to some degree like your character Julia, jumped in to help the resistance group when she found out about. Just thought that the correlation between 1984 and the White Rose was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think you've hit on an important thematic idea related to power and those who seek to undermine it, whether we agree with those who want to undermine those in power or not: they are willing to give their lives for the benefit of all. As Evan notes, it's commonly seen in history, but it's certainly something a bit harder to fathom in our own lives. What idea or belief do we feel strongly enough about to die for?
ReplyDeleteIs sounds like this book is about another dystopia. Do you notice any connections or similarities between other dystopian novels we have read this year, like The Handmaid's Tale and Brave New World?
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