1984

by

George Orwell

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Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl Character Analysis

Winston's dark-haired, sexually rebellious 26-year-old lover, who works in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. Julia is opportunistic, practical, intellectually primitive, vital, and uninterested in politics. She believes that the Party is unconquerable through organized resistance, and that secret disobedience is the only effective form of revolt. She delights in breaking the rules, and her cunning and courageousness inspires Winston to take greater and greater risks. Julia disguises her illegal activities beneath an appearance of orthodoxy. For instance, she is an active member of the Junior Anti-Sex League.

Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl Quotes in 1984

The 1984 quotes below are all either spoken by Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl or refer to Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
).
Book 1, Chapter 1 Quotes
[…] Winston succeeded in transferring his hatred from the face on the screen to the dark-haired girl behind him. Vivid, beautiful hallucinations flashed through his mind. He would flog her to death with a rubber truncheon. He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like Saint Sebastian. He would ravish her and cut her throat at the moment of climax. Better than before, moreover, he realized why it was that he hated her. He hated her because she was young and pretty and sexless, because he wanted to go to bed with her and would never do so, because round her sweet supple waist, which seemed to ask you to encircle it with your arm, there was only the odious scarlet sash, aggressive symbol of chastity.
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 2 Quotes
In the old days, he thought, a man looked at a girl's body and saw that it was desirable, and that was the end of the story. But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.
Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
That was above all what [Winston] wanted to hear. 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.
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 4 Quotes
He turned over towards the light and lay gazing into the glass paperweight. The inexhaustibly interesting thing was not the fragment of coral but the interior of the glass itself. There was such a depth of it, and yet it was almost as transparent as air. It was as though the surface of the glass had been the arch of the sky, enclosing a tiny world with its atmosphere complete. He had the feeling that he could get inside it, and that in fact he was inside it, along with the mahogany bed and the gateleg table and the clock and the steel engraving and the paperweight itself. The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.
Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl
Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 5 Quotes
Now that [Winston and Julia] had a secure hiding place, almost a home, it did not even seem a hardship that they could only meet infrequently and for a couple of hours at a time. What mattered was that the room over the junk shop should exist. To know that it was there, inviolate, was almost the same as being in it. The room was a world, a pocket of the past where extinct animals could walk. Mr. Charrington, thought Winston, was another extinct animal.
Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 7 Quotes
They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships, and a completely helpless gesture, an embrace, a tear, a word spoken to a dying man, could have value in itself. The proles, it suddenly occurred to [Winston], had remained in this condition. They were not loyal to a party or a country or an idea, they were loyal to one another. For the first time in his life he did not despise the proles or think of them merely as an inert force which would one day spring to life and regenerate the world. The proles had stayed human.
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 10 Quotes
There was another crash. Someone had picked up the glass paperweight from the table and smashed it to pieces on the hearthstone. The fragment of coral, a tiny crinkle of pink like a sugar rosebud from a cake, rolled across the mat. How small, thought Winston, how small it always was!
Related Symbols: The Glass Paperweight
Page Number: 223
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 5 Quotes

And then—no, it was not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. Too late, perhaps too late. But he had suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment—one body that he could thrust between himself and the rats. And he was shouting frantically, over and over.

“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”

Page Number: 286
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 6 Quotes
"They can't get inside you," she had said. But they could get inside you. "What happens to you here is forever," O'Brien had said. That was a true word. There were things, your own acts, from which you could never recover. Something was killed in your breast; burnt out, cauterized out.
Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl (speaker), O'Brien (speaker)
Page Number: 290
Explanation and Analysis:
"Sometimes," she said, "they threaten you with something—something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, ‘Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself, and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."
"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.
"And after that, you don't feel the same towards the other person any longer." — "No," he said, "you don't feel the same."
Related Characters: Winston Smith (speaker), Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl (speaker)
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:
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Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl Character Timeline in 1984

The timeline below shows where the character Julia/The Dark-Haired Girl appears in 1984. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 1
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
Reality Control Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...that he secretly hates the Party, had entered the Records Department with an attractive dark-haired girl from the Fiction Department whom Winston suspects is an agent of the Thought Police. (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...one hand and the Party on the other. He also felt hatred toward the dark-haired girl, and imagined beating, raping, and slitting her throat. He realized that he hated her because... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 3
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...in a pasture in the countryside that he thinks of as the "Golden Country." The girl with dark hair comes toward him, taking off her clothes with a careless gesture that... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 5
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The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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...and even O'Brien will be vaporized, but not Parsons, the quacking man or the dark-haired girl from the Fiction Department. He realizes that it is she who is sitting across from... (full context)
Book 1, Chapter 8
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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...bedroom, the privacy of which appeals to him. In the street, he sees the dark-haired girl coming toward him, but she does not give any sign of recognition. (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
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Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Convinced that the girl is spying on him, Winston considers smashing her skull with a cobblestone. Full of dread,... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 1
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The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Four days later, at work, as Winston is walking past the dark-haired girl, she suddenly falls. As he is helping her up she slips a note into his... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
Later, Winston sees the girl in the lunchroom but can't bring himself to speak to her. Finally, after a week... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...to see a convoy of Eurasian prisoners. As they stand together watching the event, the girl whispers to Winston directions to a location in the countryside outside of London, near a... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 2
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
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Winston meets the girl at the agreed-upon place, then follows her to a deserted clearing. They kiss and she... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...dreamed of—the Golden Country. A thrush sings in a nearby tree as they kiss passionately. Julia removes her clothing and tells him she has slept with dozens of Party members. Winston... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Half an hour later Winston wakes and lies looking at Julia's naked body. He considers the sex they have had to be a conscious political act,... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 3
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Julia and Winston travel back to London separately, by different routes. But before they leave they... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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For several weeks Julia and Winston meet at irregular times in the streets of London, but do not return... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Class Struggle Theme Icon
One night they have sex in an abandoned church. While In the church, Julia tells Winston about herself. She is 26, lives in a hostel with 30 other girls,... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Julia also understands the Party's policy on sex better than Winston does. She explains to him... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Winston, in turn, tells Julia about a time when he was on a community hike with Katharine and nearly pushed... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 4
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
...the room above Mr. Charrington's junk shop as a place in which to secretly meet Julia. Mr. Charrington discreetly reassures Winston that he will not betray their secret to the Police.... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
Julia arrives with coffee, tea, bread, milk, sugar, and jam that she's bought on the black... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
...they wake, there is a rat in the room. Winston is terrified of rats, but Julia throws her shoe at it and then stops up the hole with a piece of... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...church on the wall, Winston speaks the first line of the nursery rhyme he learned. Julia, to his surprise, provides the next two lines. She says that she will take the... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 5
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Reality Control Theme Icon
...preparations for Hate Week. Winston embellishes articles that are to be quoted in speeches while Julia produces atrocity pamphlets. As Parson and his children hang streamers all over Victory Mansions, they... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
Winston and Julia continue to meet in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop. Winston stops drinking gin and... (full context)
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The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
Winston tells Julia about his suspicion that O'Brien is, like them, an enemy of the Party. Julia, though,... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 7
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Winston warns Julia that if she continues to see him she will die. He tells her that at... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 8
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Winston and Julia go to O'Brien's luxurious apartment, where O'Brien's servant, Martin, admits them into a room where... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Winston confesses that he and Julia are enemies of the Party and adulterers. O'Brien serves Julia and Winston wine, which neither... (full context)
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
...their society and how it can be destroyed. After reading it, O'Brien promises, Winston and Julia will be full members of the Brotherhood. He explains that members of the Brotherhood work... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 9
Totalitarianism and Communism Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
...the room above Mr. Charrington's shop and begins reading the book while he waits for Julia to arrive. Written by Emmanuel Goldstein and titled The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism,... (full context)
Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
Class Struggle Theme Icon
As Winston is reading, Julia arrives. She is glad that he has the book, but shows little interest in reading... (full context)
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
Winston notices that Julia is sleeping. Although he still has not learned the ultimate secret—he understands how the Party... (full context)
Book 2, Chapter 10
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Winston wakes to the singing of the prole woman in the courtyard. He and Julia watch her and Winston is fascinated by her vitality and fertility, and agree that, though... (full context)
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...a telescreen. Black-uniformed Thought Police rush into the room. They smash the glass paperweight and Julia is beaten and carried away. (full context)
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Although the clock reads nine, Winston suspects that he and Julia have slept through the night. Mr. Charrington enters the room, and orders the troopers to... (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 1
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Alone in the cell and delirious with thirst and hunger, Winston thinks of Julia and wonders if she is suffering. O'Brien enters and Winston naïvely exclaims, "They've got you... (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 2
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
O'Brien gives Winston permission to ask him some questions. Winston asks what has happened to Julia. O'Brien says she betrayed Winston and was quickly converted through torture. Next Winston asks if... (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 3
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
...Winston protests that there is one degradation he has not suffered: he has not betrayed Julia. O'Brien agrees and Winston experiences a feeling of reverence toward O'Brien for admitting this fact.... (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 4
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One night, Winston dreams of the Golden Country and wakes up crying out for Julia, loving her more than ever. He realizes then that his inner heart has not been... (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 5
The Individual vs. Collective Identity Theme Icon
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Sex, Love, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...he must place a body between himself and the rats—and that that body must be Julia's. He shouts frantically, "Do it to Julia! Not me!" O'Brien, pleased, removes the cage. (full context)
Book 3, Chapter 6
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He recently ran into Julia, on a cold winter day in the Park. Her body had thickened and stiffened, and... (full context)