Rajiv Goswami Writing II
Rebellion, Freud, and Sex In 1984
In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s use of language helps convey the qualities of a bildungsroman, showcased by a narrator’s rise in self-confidence in the face of the Party. The Party’s repression propagandized as a utopia is what the narrator, Winston, resolves to fight. The narrator’s resistance to the erosion of his individuality by said state is developed by Orwell as a main motif. Winston is initially shown to be loosening from the grasp of leader Big Brother and the Party, which he gradually rebels against by pondering about “taboo” subjects, writing in his journal, and acting on his lust, concluding with his diabolical torture at the hands of the Party. Orwell …show more content…
The Party is fervently against any forms of sex for recreational purposes. In Chapter 3, Book 2, Winston says, “The sex impulse was dangerous to the Party, and the Party had turned it to account,” (Orwell, 168). The reason that the Party’s suppresses sex and other intimate pleasurable acts is in order to stop the thoughts of desire—a thoughtcrime. The Party cannot afford to have their citizens devoted to a significant other since it takes away from their affection for Big Brother. Not only is the Party trying to suppress conscious thoughtcrime, but Orwell suggests that the Party is also trying to force itself into the id, the Freudian concept whereby sex and the libido are innate within humans. The Party’s reach into the depths of the human psyche is shown in Winston when he meets Julia, a younger female with the Junior Anti-sex League. As they initially meet in the countryside, Winston is beholden to tell her about how he fantasized about sexually invading and murdering her, as he first thought that she was part of the Thought Police. This is revealed in Chapter 2, Book 2 when Winston confesses, “'I hated the sight of you,' he said. 'I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards. Two weeks ago I thought seriously of smashing your head in with a cobblestone...,” (Orwell, 152). The fact that Winston felt the need to tell Julia that he wanted to rape her is erotic to him. His sexual drive has been suppressed by the Party for so long that it is plausible that he would have turned feral by raping her viciously in order to satisfy his sexual urges. This would have been a huge transgression in the eyes of the Party; such an act would have definitely been impossible to carry out within the urban areas that they had to resort to meeting in secret away from the city, even though the threat of being caught persisted. From the beginning of
Rebellion, Freud, and Sex In 1984
In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s use of language helps convey the qualities of a bildungsroman, showcased by a narrator’s rise in self-confidence in the face of the Party. The Party’s repression propagandized as a utopia is what the narrator, Winston, resolves to fight. The narrator’s resistance to the erosion of his individuality by said state is developed by Orwell as a main motif. Winston is initially shown to be loosening from the grasp of leader Big Brother and the Party, which he gradually rebels against by pondering about “taboo” subjects, writing in his journal, and acting on his lust, concluding with his diabolical torture at the hands of the Party. Orwell …show more content…
The Party is fervently against any forms of sex for recreational purposes. In Chapter 3, Book 2, Winston says, “The sex impulse was dangerous to the Party, and the Party had turned it to account,” (Orwell, 168). The reason that the Party’s suppresses sex and other intimate pleasurable acts is in order to stop the thoughts of desire—a thoughtcrime. The Party cannot afford to have their citizens devoted to a significant other since it takes away from their affection for Big Brother. Not only is the Party trying to suppress conscious thoughtcrime, but Orwell suggests that the Party is also trying to force itself into the id, the Freudian concept whereby sex and the libido are innate within humans. The Party’s reach into the depths of the human psyche is shown in Winston when he meets Julia, a younger female with the Junior Anti-sex League. As they initially meet in the countryside, Winston is beholden to tell her about how he fantasized about sexually invading and murdering her, as he first thought that she was part of the Thought Police. This is revealed in Chapter 2, Book 2 when Winston confesses, “'I hated the sight of you,' he said. 'I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards. Two weeks ago I thought seriously of smashing your head in with a cobblestone...,” (Orwell, 152). The fact that Winston felt the need to tell Julia that he wanted to rape her is erotic to him. His sexual drive has been suppressed by the Party for so long that it is plausible that he would have turned feral by raping her viciously in order to satisfy his sexual urges. This would have been a huge transgression in the eyes of the Party; such an act would have definitely been impossible to carry out within the urban areas that they had to resort to meeting in secret away from the city, even though the threat of being caught persisted. From the beginning of