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In George Orwell's 1984, Julia says "only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you - that would be the real betrayal." Considering...

Julia’s statement in 1984 is poignant foreshadowing of what happens to her and Winston in Room 101 near the novel’s end. Winston, after believing that O’Brien has placed a cage of rats onto his head, pleads that O’Brien torture Julia instead. This act of betrayal makes it impossible for Winston to love Julia once he is released from the Ministry of Truth. She, too, after undergoing extensive physical and psychological torture, can no longer love Winston.


In this way, Julia’s words come true for her and Winston. Yet when the reader steps back, it seems highly unlikely that the experiences she and Winston went through would cause such permanent change in real life. For example, if a criminal suspect is under duress during an interrogation, he or she may falsely confess to a crime just to make the interrogation stop. Is it the truth? No. Will he or she still believe those words the next day? No. Momentary lapses, no matter the cause, rarely produce permanent change in an individual.   

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