Room 101

on love.

Love. Big airy-fairy word that has no one definition so I won't debate it's meaning. We'll just settle for that ambiguous idea of love being this fuzzy feeling that somehow makes two people feel like one.

Out of all the small topics I raised in the overview, I picked love first cos.. well. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, it just seemed too crucial an issue to leave for later. So.. love.

"A curious emotion stirred in Winston's heart. In front of him was an enemy who was trying to kill him: in front of him, also, was a human creature, in pain and perhaps with a broken bone. Already he had instinctively started forward to help her. In the moment when he had seen her fall on the bandaged arm, it had been as though he felt the pain in his own body."

That love, you think?

A short while after that incident, he opens up the piece of paper she slipped into his hand to reveal the 3 words: I love you. Never mind that he thought she'd been trying to kill him all this while. Never mind that before this, they've never even spoke before. I mean, these days, who needed to get to know the person to fall in love with them? Gee.

And so begins the process of courtship - trying to meet and chat at every opportunity they get. Eventually, they uh.. do stuff the Junior Anti-Sex League would scream at.

I think what struck me most was when they were arrested. At that point, he didn't seem to care much for what would happen to Julia. In fact, I don't think he cared at all. And then in the dreaded Room 101, he confirmed how much he actually loved her. I mean, if he could scream out to make them torture Julia instead of him, he can't care very much for her, can he?

To me, I feel Julia was simply a vehicle for him to express his rebellion. An opportunity presented itself to him.. who could resist it? The higher the risks, the better the kick, no? And committing this "sin" was probably the biggest and most effective way to rebel, aside from his diary and thoughts.

And then the sex part. Sexual intercourse was not meant to be enjoyed (funny how they mean this on the part of the woman..) but ONLY to breed, to create people for the Party to manipulate. Like, people are just animals now. Machines told to generate another person. It becomes so.. technical. Honestly, I'm like.. Bah! to this idea. Face it. People love sex. It's probably like, the oldest activity in the world. Or how they say prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. You see, in any society, as diverse as they may be in culture, language and whatever, there is one thing in common and that's sex. Even the birds and the bees do it.

Am quite disgusted by the thought of it actually. Hmm. Fervent banging with straight faces and thoughts of pleasing Big Brother.. It's just wrong. Sex was always meant to be the ultimate expression of love. But.. where is the love? Amazing how they "prohibit" even sex. But then again, I just sex might lead to love and feelings and emotions and then there goes the Party's policies.

What I want to know is: Can love exist? Guess that's a question I'll never know the answer to. i did have an interesting thought though. You know how the Communists would enforce their ideals on the people, but very ironically let themselves off? Like, how everything should be state-controlled where everybody is equal, but the communist leaders get to enjoy good food while the people are starving, rake in the money while the people are suffering in poverty.. etc. So, if the same concept were to apply here.. for all you know, things like love and sex for pleasure actually does exist in the Inner Party. after all, they DO get to enjoy real coffee and stuff, whatever fake coffee is.

posted by ly*anna @ 5:24 PM