Quotes for essay

Well, in the case of 1984 one of the first things we encounter is the image of Big Brother plastered everywhere. This clearly re-inforces the idea of a male dominated political regime. In addition, we rarely see women involved in the inner party. Winston's mother was killed in a political purge in the 1950s, we are told, and women are encouraged to be merely vessels for childbearing while sexual attachments are discouraged.

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Women have NO power in the novel. Poor Mrs. Parsons is at the mercy of her own children. She cannot discipline them or they will tell the Thought Police. None of the people in charge that Winston encounters is female. Women wear coveralls, nothing beautiful. They are taught that six is a duty to the Party instead of an intimate part of marriage.

I have to disagree. Julia had quite a lot of power. She was able to gain the trust of many Inner Party members, and was therefore able to acquire things such as real coffee and chocolate. She was able to rebel against the party without them knowing at all.

On the other hand, she was not intelligent, and a lack of intelligence is difficult to overcome when trying to gain power. Nor was she ambitious for power. I think that she had the potential for power, but used it for private matters (dating Winston, getting rich foods) rather than societal (sp?) matters.