Howard Lester
December 25th 07, 07:02 PM
to imagine any such thing actually happening.
The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from
forming loyalties which it might not be able to control. Its real,
undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act. Not love
so much as eroticism was the enemy, inside marriage as well as outside it.
All marriages between Party members had to be approved by a committee
appointed for the purpose, and -- though the principle was never clearly
stated -- permission was always refused if the couple concerned gave the
impression of being physically attracted to one another. The only
recognized purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the
Party. Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting
minor operation, like having an enema. This again was never put into plain
words, but in an indirect way it was rubbed into every Party member from
childhood onwards. There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti-
Sex League, which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children
were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in
Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions. This, Winston was aware,
was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow it fitted in with the
general ideology of the Party. The Party was trying to kill the sex
instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it.
He did not know why this was so, but it seemed natural that it should be
so. And as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts were
largely successful.
He thought again of Katharine. It must be nine, ten -- nearly eleven
years since they had parted. It was curious how seldom he thought of her.
For days at a time he was capable of forgetting that he had ever been
married.
The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from
forming loyalties which it might not be able to control. Its real,
undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act. Not love
so much as eroticism was the enemy, inside marriage as well as outside it.
All marriages between Party members had to be approved by a committee
appointed for the purpose, and -- though the principle was never clearly
stated -- permission was always refused if the couple concerned gave the
impression of being physically attracted to one another. The only
recognized purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the
Party. Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting
minor operation, like having an enema. This again was never put into plain
words, but in an indirect way it was rubbed into every Party member from
childhood onwards. There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti-
Sex League, which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children
were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in
Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions. This, Winston was aware,
was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow it fitted in with the
general ideology of the Party. The Party was trying to kill the sex
instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it.
He did not know why this was so, but it seemed natural that it should be
so. And as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts were
largely successful.
He thought again of Katharine. It must be nine, ten -- nearly eleven
years since they had parted. It was curious how seldom he thought of her.
For days at a time he was capable of forgetting that he had ever been
married.