In the
account of 's dream, the text doesn't actually say that the dark-haired girl was "throwing
aside her uniform" but that it was "thrown" aside after, she, in "with what
seemed a single movement ... tore off her clothes and flung them disdainfully aside." The
text tells us explicitly that the dream woman's naked body aroused no sexual desire in Winston,
but that he was deeply impressed with admiration for the gesture, which seemed to him to erase
the whole culture of the Party and Big Brother with one sweep of an arm. The uniform she
discarded without a second thought symbolizes the Party and all its drab repression, its
crushing of people into one "uniform" abject mold. For Winston, it was the assertive
way the uniform was torn off that became a symbol of defiance and rebellion.
It's also significant that Winston feels no sexual desire in this dream. Although the
dream woman foreshadows , at this point, Winston is still a product of incessant Party
propaganda. He wishes deeply to rebel--and he does--but he is still caught in the Party's sexual
repression, channeling his energies into emotions like hate and fear, fantasizing violence
rather than love towards Julia, whose name he does not yet know, but whose anti-sex league sash
and very demeanor fills him with rage. It will take developing a relationship with Julia to
reignite his ability to feel compassion and healthy sexual desire.
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