Impressions of Julia from “1984”

Prior to Part Two of Orwell’s “1984” I was wary of Julia as a character and shared the same fear as Winston that she was a person not to be trusted. She appeared cold and deceptive. My perception of Julia, like Winton’s, changed dramatically with the first chapter when she slips the infamous note. The note proved that there is a softness to her and a clear penchant for being a traitor of the Party. Julia, then still referred to as ‘the girl,’ is smart about her passing of the note, with a begging facial expression, a deliberate fall and the secret passing of the note. Initially I worried the note was a trap but Winston’s excitement proved otherwise. They meet at Victory Square and she gives him detailed instructions for a meeting and then reaches out to hold his hand, a move that depicts clever planning and romantic inclinations. The two meet in the field. Julia is not vain and “couldn’t care less” (120) about Winston’s slightly haggard appearance. Winston reveals his initial impressions of Julia and she is delighted that her disguise of a “good Party member,” (121) is convincing enough and she admits to being extremely involved with Party volunteer work so as to ensure a good cover. She has a knack for determining who is against the Party, another instance of her apparent cleverness and know-how of the party. Her insight into the Party does not damper her anger however, and she has (as Winston states) “an open jeering hatred” which is framed by shocking the “coarseness of her language” (123). Julia, like Winston, has an appreciation for the beautiful and the unnecessary, like the singing thrush in the woods. Prior to having sex, Julia openly admits to sleeping with “scores” of men within the Outer Party and that she is “corrupt to the bones” (125). Julia proves intelligent in many ways like with skills in communicating beyond the Party’s notice but claims she can only seem to handle machinery, not literature. Ideals of hers are that one must “break the rules and stay alive the same” so as to avoid vaporization but stopping the Party is “stupid” (131). Julia isn’t totally blind to the Party’s wrongdoings but her focus is on this that directly affect her, like the stigma surrounding sex, love and privacy. Despite this Julia is a positive person and enjoys living in the ‘now,’ and incredulously asks “Don’t you enjoy being alive?” (136).

Chapters four through six serve to reinforce Julia’s penchant for rebellion (with the purchases on the black-market) but lack of will to change the nation simply for the sake of change (with her dismissal of not caring about the nation’s ever-changing history).