How We Plan To Take Over The Planet

Welcome To The Inner Party

Julia (the girl who gave Winston the note) and Winston are able to contact each other and eventually start meeting in secret places in order to discuss their hatred for the Party. Then, Winston rents a room above a store owned by a prole and begins meeting Julia there. They both consider the possible existence of an Inner Party that wants to destroy Big Brother and are not surprised when O'Brien makes both of them a part of it. O'Brien clarifies that, by being a part of this conspiracy, their lives could end. Winston is later sent a copy of a book written by Emmanuel Goldstein (the Inner Party´s leader) and is ordered to read it to become an official member of the Inner Party.

Figure It Out

"She did not understand that there was no such thing as happiness, that the only victory lay in the far future, long after you were dead, that from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse. 'We are the dead,' he said. ´We're not dead yet,' said Julia prosaically." (Orwell, 135-136)

This conversation between Winston and Julia reflects the difference in their personalities. On one side, Winston considers himself to  be realistic regarding his situation with the Party while Julia wants to stay optimistic while fighting Big Brother and the Party. Winston accepts death and, in fact, welcomes it. Julia ignores it and, unlike Winston, values being alive while it lasts. On the other side, they both, essentially, think the same about the Party and are trying their best to destroy it.

“To hang on from day to day and from week to week, spinning out a present that had no future, seemed an unconquerable instinct, just as one's lungs will always draw the next breath so long as there is air available.” (Orwell, 152)

This is an excellent example of Winston´s capability to destroy the Party´s ideas and laws and instead follow his natural human instinct. Throughout the book, human emotions and necessities seem to have been vaporized from citizens´ lives, but Winston still holds on to them. I find it admirable that, even though love is almost obsolete and prohibited, Winston is still able to remember it and is capable of loving Julia. Will Winston, later in the book, be able to awaken more instincts or actions that were supposed to be abolished by the Party?

To Be Continued...

This part of the book has answered a lot of questions I had from my previous reading, and I'm glad for that. It clarified my questions about the letter sent to Winston, the room above the prole´s store, and about O'Brien´s role in the story. I still wonder about what happened to the diary Winston had been writing since it hasn't been mentioned (lately) in the book. I have developed a better understanding of Winston´s society and Winston´s need of having a past he can't change and that he can look back to, even if that means looking back at his mistakes.

"Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay."