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Rereading Nineteen Eighty Four – 6

Chapter Six exposes something obvious, yet probably never realised;   that is loving someone creates a loyalty which would overwhelm that a citizen owed to The Party.

Hence, people are not to love each other,  they are not to desire each other, and as Winston appreciatest;  “…the real, undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act.”

The only purpose of marriage  “…was to beget children for the service of the Party. Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema.”

This view is not that strange from certain religions and cultures.

In this chapter we learn something about Winston;  he  had been married.  His wife, Katherine, with whom he separated a decade ago;  

“… without exception the most stupid, vulgar, empty mind that he had ever encountered. She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her.”

He remembered Katherine as he sat writing about his sexual connection to a prostitute.

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Written by jaylar

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