Winston Smith's Attraction To Women: Necessary Or Harmful?
1024 Words5 Pages
Upon reading 1984, by George Orwell, one would immediately assume that Winston Smith and his fantastical thoughts strictly pertained to women; however, his perversion wanders beyond the bounds of sexual norms in, not just, the novel but also in today’s opressive reality.
From the beginning of the novel you are introduced to the sexually perverted mind of the main character, Winston Smith. You often find him staring at women in the book, judging them based on appearance but also fantasizing what he would do to them should he be able to get them alone. Though, not as tactful in the presentation of the character, Orwell lets the idea balloon into a means of blatantly disrespecting Big Brother to better show Winston’s abhorrence for BB.
After Orwell clearly stated the corrupt thoughts Winston harbored for women he then went to weave an underlying theme into the fabulous fabric of 1984. Despite not being stated quite as unabashed as his attraction to women, O’brien served as a less obvious love interest. The most that Orwell ever divulges is the odd trust and need for friendship that Winston has for O’brien. As stated by the SSA (Same-Sex-Attraction) “Same-sex attraction is an intense interest…show more content… Who we marry is still controlled by the laws of the country; similarly to 1984, the citizens in the community of Airtstrip One still cannot marry who they love nor can they divorce who they married. The party discourages love because it wanted to snuff out sexual pleasure and instinct. Once they have removed one of the most primal and necessary instincts they could more easily control the people of the lower classes. The entire purpose of the act of marriage was to reproduce, thus, throwing gay marriage/love out of the equation. In making homosexuality a taboo topic that could potentially be considered thoughtcrime, no one in Oceania, not even Winston or O’brien, could express their