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What simile in 1984 by George Orwell portrays Julia's coarse remarks about the Inner Party as a natural response?

Quick answer:

In George Orwell's 1984, Julia's coarse remarks about the Inner Party are likened to the natural response of a horse sneezing when it smells bad hay. This simile suggests her language is an involuntary, instinctive reaction against the Party's oppression, indicating her healthy rebellion. The comparison reflects Winston's perspective, showing his agreement with her sentiments and portraying her resistance as natural and justified.

Expert Answers

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There is a lot going on in the passage you describe. Short answer: the narrator compares the coarse language Julia uses to a natural response, like when a horse smells bad hay and cannot help but to sneeze. It is a signal of her resistance to the Inner Party, an involuntary reaction to the injustice. This passage appears in chapter 2 of part 2 if you would like to read the rest for context, and I have quoted the simile below.

It was merely one symptom of her revolt against the Party and all its ways, and somehow it seemed natural and healthy, like the sneeze of a horse that smells bad hay.

The narrator is inside Winston's head at this point, giving Winston's perspective on the things that Julia says. He also uses other literary devices to describe the language, such as when he talks about the bad words she uses being like the bad words one sees "chalked up in dripping alley-ways."

By making the sneeze comparison and implying that her coarse language is involuntary, the narrator removes any fault Julia may have committed in Winston's eyes. He agrees with her dislike of the Inner Party and appreciates that it is so natural to her character to speak so negatively about it.

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