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unlike Winston, she had grasped the inner meaning of the…

“unlike Winston, she had grasped the inner meaning of the Party's sexual puritanism. It was not merely that the sex instinct created a world of its own which was outside the Party's control and which therefore had to be destroyed if possible. What was more important was that sexual privation…” quote by Orwell.G
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““unlike Winston, she had grasped the inner meaning of the Party's sexual puritanism. It was not merely that the sex instinct created a world of its own which was outside the Party's control and which therefore had to be destroyed if possible. What was more important was that sexual privation induced hysteria, which was desirable because it could be transformed into war-fever and leader-worship. The way she put it was: "When you make love you're using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don't give a damn for anything. They can't bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you're happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?" That was very true, he thought. There was a direct intimate connection between chastity and political orthodoxy. For how could the fear, the hatred, and the lunatic credulity which the Party needed in its members be kept at the right pitch, except by bottling down some powerful instinct and using it as a driving force? The sex impulse was dangerous to the Party, and the Party had turned it to account. They had played a similar trick with the instinct of parenthood. The family could not actually be abolished, and, indeed, people were encouraged to be fond of their children, in almost the old-fashioned way. The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations. The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police. It was a device by means of which everyone could be surrounded night and day by informers who knew him intimately. (2.3.25-27) Julia teaches Winston about her musings on the dangerous effects of sex on loyalty to the Party: The Party not only seeks to sever private loyalties in encouraging chastity, but also to control its constituents’ use of time by advocating the abolition of sex at all.””

Orwell.G

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Sexual repression is used by totalitarian regimes to control loyalty and generate hysteria

In simple terms: Manipulating natural instincts sustains political power

Key Takeaway

Recognize how personal freedoms are politicized

Themes

political control psychology sexuality

Mood

dark analytical

Type

Driving force:0 Political:0 Thought police:0 Use of time:0 Sex Instinct:0 Sexual Puritanism:0 Hysteria Desirable:0 Party Sexual:0 Sex Loyalty:0

When to use this quote

  • political analysis
  • psychological study

Key Concepts

state power human desire propaganda

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does sexual repression affect political obedience?
  • What alternatives exist to resist such control?
A Different Perspective

May oversimplify complex motivations

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