Alteration Of The Past In George Orwell's '1984'

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“Out of those mighty loins a race of conscious beings must one day come. You were the dead; theirs was the future. But you could share in that future if you kept alive the mind as they kept alive the body, and passed on the secret doctrine that two plus two make four. ‘We are the dead,’ he said. ‘We are the dead,’ echoed Julia dutifully. ‘You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them. They sprung apart. Winston’s entrails seemed to have turned to ice. He could see the white all round the irises of Julia’s eyes.” (chapter 10) Winston has hope in the proles. He sees a large woman pass by (this isn’t the first time he’s seen her pass by) and admires her. This makes him remember that he and Julia will never be able to birth children. Winston…show more content…
Our author breaks down what Winston has always believed to be true. Alteration of the past is a reoccurring motif in 1984. Winston then searches for any signs of the past in volume 1. He takes his first act against the Party by going into prole-territory. He asks an older man questions about how the world was before, but the man gives him no answers. Winston tries to remember things throughout volume II. He pulls memories of his mother and wife into conversation with Julia. Winston’s true mission must remain clear, to defeat Big Brother. He reads the book to the now sleeping Julia. The book gives him confidence “He was safe, everything was all right. He fell asleep murmuring ‘Sanity is not statistical’, with the feeling that this remark contained in it a profound wisdom.” (Orwell 179) He has the feeling that he has won (although a little early) Orwell incorporates Julia into this sense of security as well. Orwell keeps writing about how pleasing julias body is maybe foreshadowing on what’s to…show more content…
He relates these stories to Julia. Winston finds out that he can easily mask his feeling because he finds out that his dad left him and his mother and he distinctly remember his mother showing no emotion when this happens. This leads into a conversation between Julia and Winston (they talk about the inevitability that they will be caught). They talk about confessing and Winston regrets how young Julia is compared to him. Winston suggests they just walk out and never see each other again, to save them from being hopelessly lonely when they are forced to separate. Julia shrugs off the thought, she tells him she’s thought about it before. She tells Winston, “I’m rather good at staying alive.” (Orwell 137) Hope is shared between them as they realize the Ministry can only physically kill them; they cannot make them believe anything. This belief that Big Brother and the state of the country are unnatural and wrong is a belief they are not supposed to have. Julia means love while Winston means betraying

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