For Winston Smith, the personal is very much the political. He makes no distinction between the two in rebelling against the Party. Deep within his soul, he still harbors a little spark of individuality, and he's determined to ensure that it lives on, even if only flickers in the face of constant repression. Winston has a passionate yearning to be free; and he knows that he can only be free if the Party's tyrannical rule is overthrown.
So, he commits himself to rebellion. But not just for its own sake; he wants to establish a new system of government in place of the present one-party state. To this end, Winston is deeply impressed by the ideas of Emmanuel Goldberg, Public Enemy Number One in Oceania. He also reflects deeply on the role of the Proles, whom he believes to be the only truly revolutionary class left in society.
Julia also has a commitment to rebelling against the Party. Like Winston, she's acutely aware of the great evil represented by the Party and all it stands for. But for her, the act of rebellion is more personal than political. One gets the distinct impression that she is one of life's non-conformists, someone who'd instinctively rebel against just about any political system. That would explain why she's not remotely interested about the teachings of Goldberg or about the revolutionary potential of the Proles.
The shallowness of Julia's rebelliousness can be seen in the ease with which she turned against Winston under interrogation and came over to the Party. Winston also breaks under torture, but it takes him a lot longer to crack, another indication of the qualitative difference between his rebelliousness and Julia's.
Further Reading
In 1984, both Winston and Julia want to rebel against the Party because they hate its sense of morality and "goodness." Specifically, they disagree with the way the Party restricts its members from having sexual relationships with others and its heavy emphasis on purity.
We see this in their conversation when they meet for the first time in the woods and Winston says:
I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.
Julia agrees with him, calling herself "corrupt to the bones." They both believe that having sex is an effective way of rebelling against the Party, which they partake in shortly after this conversation.
In contrast, we see how Winston and Julia differ in their view towards rebellion in part 2, chapter 9. Here, you'll notice that Winston is keen to read O'Brien's book, because he wants to fully understand why the Party is so obsessed with having absolute power. Julia, however, shows no interest in the book and actually falls asleep.
What this shows us is that although Winston and Julia share some common beliefs about rebelling against the Party, Julia has no interest in understanding the roots of the Party's power. She is more interested in using her body...
See This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
to rebel against the Party, while Winston wants to attack the Party at its core.
Winston is so new to the whole rebellion thing that his attitudes towards it are much less developed than Julia's. Julia has been rebelling for years now, and has had a lot of time to really think about things, and form an opinion about them. She is much more educated on the strategies and purposes behind the propoganda than Winston is. Winston is just unhappy and angry, but hasn't really been able to define exactly how the Party has caused it. Julia knows how the Party caused it, and why they did it. For example, when they are discussing marriage, sex and relationships, Winston never really thought that the Party had funneled all of the passion and intensity that used to be put into relationships and love for their own purposes. Julia believes that the Party uses the intensity love and passion and stifles it between people so that it will be channeled into fierce and frenzied patriotism for the Party. People need an outlet for that passion and intensity; normally, our relationships or hobbies get it. In their world, the Party manipulates it into fervor for the state, or love of the Party itself. So, Julia definitely has more in-depth opinions and reasoning on the Party itself, whereas Winston is frustrated and wanting to do something, but not really understanding fully the implications of the Party itself.
Another difference is in how Julia and Winston want to rebel. Julia is an expert at covert, undercover rebellion. On the surface, she lives her perfectly patriotic life, but survives is able to remain happy through her relationships with men and finding ways to rebel within the system. Winston is happy with this for a while, but he wants more. It is Winston that truly pushes them towards seeking out O'Brien. It is Winston that has grand desires to join up with the supposed shadow rebellion that will overthrow the Party. It is Winston that gets frustrated witht he apathy and complacency of the thousands of Proles, that if they would just rise up, could overthrow the Party easily. He has grander ambitions that go beyond simple covert rebellion as a form of survival. Julia goes along with him, but it is Winston's desire that really comes through in that front.
I hope that helped; good luck!