SECTION II

Winston is in the country, perhaps for the first time since childhood. Has he spent his adult life in the city because it suits the author's convenience or are there other reasons? See what you think.

The couple meet in a flowered field, free from hidden microphones. Here they can escape the drabness, the crowded conditions, the sameness of city life. The girl, whom Winston thinks of as "experienced," has been here before. They exchange a few words and then embrace. She is young and attractive, but when she kisses him he feels not desire, only disbelief and pride.

Her name is Julia, she says. He tells her his name and confesses that he almost bashed her with the paperweight because he thought she worked for the Thought Police. She rips off the junior Anti-Sex League sash and hands him a piece of chocolate. He can't understand why she is attracted to him, as he's older.

"It was something in your face," she says. "...As soon as I saw you I knew you were against them."

Julia leads Winston to a secret woods, where he remembers at once the "Golden Country" of his dreams. Orwell now gives us a loving description of the country, and of a singing bird. Winston's desire awakens. When he and Julia come together the experience is almost as lovely as it was in his dream in Part One.

Has Julia done this before? Yes, she says, with scores of Party members. Winston is not distressed; on the contrary, "he wished it had been hundreds-thousands. Anything that hinted at corruption filled him with a wild hope.... Anything to rot, to weaken, to undermine!" Since Winston equates sex with rebellion, he tells her that the more men she has had, the more he loves her. She says she loves sex and is "corrupt to the bone," and they embrace. It is not Julia alone that arouses him but rebellion, "not merely the love of one person, but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces."

Rebellion is what flames Winston's desire. He realizes rolling away from her, that there is no pure love and no pure lust in a world ruled by the Party, since everything is polluted with fear and hatred. If we are to believe Winston, his response to Julia is the Party's fault.

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