Nineteen Eighty-Four: An Analysis

Throughout Nineteen Eighty-Four it is very clear that intimacy and women are two things that the Party do not like. Women are seen as producers of future Party members and sexuality is seen as a crime. The reason for this being that the Party sees this as a threat and therefore does everything in its power to control and try to prevent sexual activity as well as suppresses women and brainwashes them to see sexuality as a crime that they must refrain from. Throughout the novel, there are several instances when women are notably treated differently than men. For example, there is never any mention of a woman being a part of the Inner Party, presumably because they are not seen as capable of handling politics as well as men are. This is
seen when Inner party member O’Brian is conversing with Winston and Julia about joining the Brotherhood, “[he almost ignored Julia, seeming to take it for granted that Winston could speak for her” (179). Even though Julia and Winston were both dedicated to the cause and more than capable of having an intelligent conversation, Julia was nearly forced to communicate through Winston. Also, another outstanding fact, in the novel is how women are seen by the party as vessels for producing offspring who will in turn serve the party. As it is seen with Mrs. Parsons, not only is there no mention of her first name just the last name of her husband; her sole duty is to take care of her children and household, even if she may one day be turned in by her own children to the Thought Police. One the other hand, there is the Junior Anti Sex League, whose main focus is to abstain from physical intimacy and desexualize women by busying them with different activities. By viewing women this way, the Inner Party has set the standard for the treatment of the female population and it is not very high.
Even Winston shares the stereotypical thoughts about women what they are capable of, and what they are useful for.
However, Winston’s feelings are more confusing, one minute he wishes to push his wife off of a cliff or smash Julia’s head with a rock while the other he is constantly seeking out intimacy. For example, Winston expresses a desire to sleep with his wife Katherine even though he refers to her as “the most stupid, vulgar, empty mind that he had ever encountered” (69). This quote solidifies his anger and aggression towards women’s event the one that he married. While on the other hand, he seeks out a prole prostitute to fulfill his desires without knowing or caring if she too was as“ stupid” or “vulgar” as Kathrine. Lastly, Winston’s first impression of Julia whom he later has a relationship with summarizes his overall attitude towards young women. “A narrow scarlet sash, emblem of the Junior Anti Sex League, was wound several times around the waist of her overalls, just tightly enough to bring out the shapeliness of her hips. Winston had disliked her from the very first moment of seeing her. . . . He disliked nearly all women, and above all the young and pretty ones” (12). Besides the obvious point that Winston makes about not liking women, it is also important to note that he also took notice of the shapeliness of Julia’s waist and infers that she is young and pretty. Besides the way that women as a whole are treated throughout the book there is also the issue of sexuality in general and the effects that it could have if the government does not take
precautions.
Intimate relationships, marriage, and having a family are components of life that have been going on for centuries. However, marriages and intimate partner relationships allow for trust to build between a couple and secrets being formed and kept between them, these two things could be detrimental to a totalitarian government as seen in Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Party believes that everyone’s sole purpose is to serve them, to rewrite books to align with new stories and propaganda, hanging posters of Big Brother, and having children that will become spies and later work in the ministries. The Party has put many tools in place in order to control the population and, more specifically their sex drive and intimate moments. Their drive to do so is behind what Winston states on page 139, “[I] it was not merely that the sex instinct created a world of its own, which was outside the Party’s control and which therefore had to be destroyed if possible.” The Party has been built on the grounds of controlling people, human beings are not allowed to so much as think a certain thought or they could be killed. Therefore, when issues such as sexuality and an individual’s sexual drive arise, the Party must implement several strategies in order to control and ultimately destroy sexual impulse.
Another driving force behind why the Party is so afraid to let people be intimate is the fact that being intimate uses energy that could be used for pro-Party activities, it also makes people feel happy and have thoughts about something other than Big Brother and the government. “When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. . . . If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year plans and the Two Minutes hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?” (139) As Julia puts it, any energy that people feel should be put into work for the Party and any thoughts or emotions that people should experience must be positive ones towards the Party not other human beings or activities.
In conclusion, in order to maintain control over the population and allow themselves to live the lavish lifestyles that they do the Party has fought to reduce intimacy between couples and has attempted to demolish sexuality as a whole. The other aspect of society that the Party has diminished greatly is women. Women are not members of the Inner Party, nor are they seen as being as intelligent or as capable as men. Overall, both women and intimacy are dangerous to the Party and its totalitarian regime. Therefore, the Party will continue to suppress them in hopes that one day both women and sexuality will be another thing written out of history books and pushed out of people’s minds.