If one harbours anywhere in one's mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, although in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible.
George OrwellRead
But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that in a repressive society, genuine emotions like love are tainted by fear and political influences.
George Orwell's quote highlights the complexities of human emotions in a totalitarian regime, where pure feelings such as love and lust are unable to exist without being intertwined with fear and hatred. In this context, the act of love becomes a form of rebellion against oppressive forces, turning intimate relationships into statements of defiance against the Party's control over personal lives.
Themes
LoveEmotionFearPoliticsOppression
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the effects of totalitarianism on personal relationships.
More from George Orwell
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Political writing in our time consists almost entirely of prefabricated phrases bolted together like the pieces of a child's Meccano set. It is the unavoidable result of self-censorship. To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.
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Not to expose your true feelings to an adult seems to be instinctive from the age of seven or eight onwards.
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As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.
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It is fatal to look hungry. It makes people want to kick you.
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