Similarities Between Winston And Julia In 1984

Authors often create a division between two characters that makes it difficult to see why the characters are linked. In 1984, the author, George Orwell, demonstrates this quality seen in many novels. Orwell creates a romance between two people who, on the surface seem alike, but deep down, it is clear they have dissimilar interests. Winston and Julia, characters who have seemingly made it against all odds in the totalitarian society of Oceania, are not the star-crossed lovers they believe they are. Even though Winston and Julia share similar views on the Party, their personality traits do not match up.
Winston and Julia share a thought-to-be safe and hidden room above the collector’s shop in the Prole section of town. After making love, a

rat scurries out from a hole in the base of the wall and frightens both Julia and Winston. However, Winston’s reaction is by far more dramatic than Julia’s. “Of all the horrors in the world, a rat!” (Orwell 145) Winston exclaimed. “Already the black instant of panic was half-forgotten” (Orwell 145). Winston’s immediate reaction to the rat was a ‘black instant of panic’, meaning he literally felt as though he was in an immediate danger. Julia’s reaction is nothing to compared to Winston’s. “Don’t worry, dear, we’re not going to have the filthy brutes in here. I’ll stuff the hole with a bit of sacking before we go. And next time when we come here I’ll bring up some plaster and bung it up properly” (Orwell 145). Julia clearly is the more courageous one in this relationship. She comforts Winston in his panic and offers to be the one to mend the rat problem. This exemplifies how the two characters would react to a real, dangerous situation.
On the same note, Winston, in general, is a more paranoid human being than Julia.

He is always nervous about being caught by the Thought Police, while Julia feels as though she is too smart for the Thought Police to catch her committing thoughtcrime. “...his varicose ulcer was throbbing. This was the second time in three weeks that he had missed an evening at the community center. A rash act, since you could be certain that the number of your attendance at the center was carefully checked” (Orwell 81). Whenever Winston is sure that he is committing thoughtcrime, his varicose ulcer starts to throb and itch because his body is subconsciously telling him to do the right thing so that he does not get caught. Julia, on the other hand, believes she is too involved with Party activities to even be suspected of thoughtcrime. “‘Where did you get this stuff?’ he [Winston] said. ‘Black market’, she said indifferently. ‘I’m good at games. I was a troop leader in the spies. I do voluntary work for three evenings a week for the Junior Anti-Sex League’” (Orwell 121). Since Julia was and still is highly involved in Party activities that make her seem innocent, she thinks that she is in the clear and can get away with mostly anything. These differing relationships with The Party create a partition between these two characters because one will always either hold the other back or push the other too

far.
With this view in mind, it is more apparent that Winston and Julia do not make a good match. Considering all of the sneaky behavior they have been consistently displaying throughout the novel, they definitely do not watch their backs enough, which is Julia’s fault. Julia doesn’t consider the fact that she and Winston could get caught by the Thought Police, so they become less and less inconspicuous with their actions. “I expect I’m [Julia] better at finding things out than you are dear” (Orwell 120). Even though Julia believes she is covering her tracks by volunteering weekly and being part of the Junior Anti-Sex League, she can never be careful enough. Winston, however, still is cautious, but his guard is let down when with Julia. “Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing” (Orwell 3). This quote is from the beginning of the novel where Winston is clearly thinking straight and his head is not clouded by the thought of Julia.
Ultimately, Winston and Julia may share similar views on The Party, but their characteristics are too antithetical. Julia’s boldness in society is her fatal flaw, as Winston’s is his uneasiness. The contradiction of this relationship creates a problem for both characters, especially because they are constantly being watched, even, as it turns out, when they truly believe they aren’t.