1984's julia
why is julia so infuriating?!
this summer, i had to read 1984 for my summer reading assignment, and boy do i have THOUGHTS. (this will be me ranting about julia because none of my friends who have finished the book care about me complaining for 10304030430 minutes)
this is a HATE POST about JULIA (sorry for hating on like the only woman in this book but someone needs to use a time machine and nuke these mysogynistic authors who either portray their female characters as stupid, evil, or hypersexual)
in the worst way possible, she serves as a symbol for the all-consuming need to falsely "rebel." what's worse about this is that there are so many people that exist today who do the same thing. part of what makes her so unlikeable is the fact that there are so many people like her in the real world. she, like many people in our society, acts to fulfill an innate desire to be different (no, not in the pick-me way). now, there's nothing wrong with that. i think we would all like to be seen as an individual. however, julia takes it up a couple hundred notches because she lives in a DICTATORSHIP and her need to be unique is completely internal; she does not care about the ways that her dislike of the party's rules can be transformed into a way to create change to the party's rules and their system of governance.
she claims she has the urge to rebel against a system that she cannot stand, yet when the opportunity rises, she is not only complacent but content with the horrors of The Party and has ZERO interest in actually making change. julia claims she "rebels against the system," but when she is presented with the option to REBEL AGAINST THE SYSTEM she FALLS ASLEEP ON A BED. i don't know about you, but that makes me lose all respect for someone. it fills me with an unfettered RAGE.
all im saying is that if you're gonna rebel, you better do it mind, body, AND spirit. you cannot choose one or the other.
i know she's just here for the hot sex or whatever, but she is risking her life for mediocre dick!!!! she serves herself up on a platter for the inner party to torture, maim, and psychologically ruin her, and for what, temporary pleasure instead of indefinite change? i know you cannot possibly be that shallow, julia. it makes me irrationally angry. her inaction becomes even more terrifically outstanding, especially when contrasted with her lack of acton with Winston's genuine desire and interest.
when i was talking to my friend about her lack of interest, he said that he "would've done the same thing for some dick." UGHHHHHHHHH. i know it was a joke, but it still proves how so many people today would act in the same way. i feel like so many people get lost in the proverbial sauce of life, but it is important to know your morals and act accordingly when injustice is being committed! yes, people get distracted from their goals, but i feel like your moral convictions are more innate than the urge to chase a hot babe.
furthermore, julia constantly denigrates the children of the elite who come in and buy pornography and think they're doing something illegal, but she is doing the same thing. she goes out and "risks" her safety by having a passionate love with winston, while in reality she is only allowed to do that because the party has decided not to act against her yet. she laughs at her own unconventionality while the party watches on silently. they allow julia to continue her escapades not because they haven't caught her, but because they know she will ultimately submit to their rule and won't pose a threat against their power.
i firmly believe that the reason they sent her to the ministry of love wasn't because of her actions, but because of winston's. yes, her actions may have catapulted her there, but the one who actually posed the threat was winston. i'm not trying to devalue her or her actions, but her actions lacked the conviction that the party sought to destroy.
anyways, i think i'm done ranting now. i just feel like orwell could have given julia more agency and more interest in acting against the party, even if it was just to fulfill her own desires (blablabla i know he was trying to make a point with her but idc). i know she's been propagandized since birth, but her closed mindedness about winston's ideals is astounding, especially when considering the lengths she goes to in order to break away from the party's purity politics.
a very emotional (and sort of academic?) rant,
verona 8/11/24