1984 Blog #4

Look at Julia and Winston’s conversation at the end of Chapter 2. One statement that really stands out is when Winston, “I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere.” Think of John’s defiant speech to Mustapha Mond at the end of Chapter 17 of Brave New World. Do these statements relate in any way? What is Winston saying here? And are there other notable statements here that you feel you should bring up?

When thinking about John's speech to Mustapha Mond, Winston's statement at the end of chapter two are related because of their meanings and their intentions for their statements. When you think about Brave New World and how everyone just wanted to have sex with everyone and live life easily, John didn't agree with their standards of living. He felt like it was wrong. Same goes for Winston and why he said things he said at the end of chapter two. But, it's odd because you would think that his life is miserable and he wants things like purity and goodness and virtue, which could possibly help his horrible living conditions in 1984. But, he says these things because the Party represents these words, or they would like for everyone to believe they are. So, the party claims they are "purity" and "good". But, since Winston wants nothing to do with the Party, he hates the things the Party represents. And, also, another way to look at why Winston said those things is because of their official language of Newspeak. Newspeak is designed to limit words and phrases that could potentially relate to rebellious thoughts against the party, making it a version of mind control. So, to us, it sounds odd that he hates purity and goodness etc. but maybe thats because his vocabulary is limited due to Newspeak. But, really, Winston is feeling more like an individual rather than part of the group or should i say... the Party.