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<v Speaker 1>Section six of nineteen eighty four by George Orwell. This

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<v Speaker 1>legamous recording may be distributed and adapted freely for any purpose.

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<v Speaker 1>Part one, Chapter six. Winston was writing in his diary.

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<v Speaker 1>It was three years ago. It was on a dark

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<v Speaker 1>evening in a narrow side street near one of the

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<v Speaker 1>big railway stations. She was standing near a doorway in

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<v Speaker 1>the wall, under a street lamp that hardly gave any light.

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<v Speaker 1>She had a young face painted very thick. It was

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<v Speaker 1>really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of

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<v Speaker 1>it like a mask, and the bright red lips. Party

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<v Speaker 1>women never paint their faces. There was nobody else in

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<v Speaker 1>the street, and no telescreens. She said, two dollars I

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<v Speaker 1>For the moment, it was too difficult to go on.

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<v Speaker 1>He shut his eyes and pressed his fingers against them,

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<v Speaker 1>trying to squeeze out the vision that kept recurring. He

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<v Speaker 1>had an almost overwhelming temptation to shout a string of

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<v Speaker 1>filthy words at the top of his voice, or to

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<v Speaker 1>bang his head against the wall, to kick over the

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<v Speaker 1>table and hurled the ink pot through the window, to

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<v Speaker 1>do any violent or noisy or painful thing that might

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<v Speaker 1>black out the memory that was tormenting him. Your worst enemy,

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<v Speaker 1>he reflected, was your own nervous system. At any moment,

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<v Speaker 1>the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into

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<v Speaker 1>some visible symptom. He thought of a man whom he

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<v Speaker 1>had passed in the street a few weeks back, a

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<v Speaker 1>quite ordinary looking man, a party member, aged thirty five

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<v Speaker 1>to forty, tallish and thin, carrying a brief case. There

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<v Speaker 1>were a few meters apart when the left side of

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<v Speaker 1>the man's face was suddenly contorted by a sort of spasm.

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<v Speaker 1>It happened again just as they were passing one another.

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<v Speaker 1>It was only a twitch, a quiver, rapid as the

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<v Speaker 1>clicking of a camera shutter, but obviously habitual. He remembered

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<v Speaker 1>thinking at the time that poor devil is done for.

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<v Speaker 1>And what was frightening was that the action was quite

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<v Speaker 1>possibly unconscious. The most deadly danger of all was talking

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<v Speaker 1>in your sleep. There was no way of guarding against that,

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<v Speaker 1>so far as he could see. He drew his breath

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<v Speaker 1>and went on writing. I went with her through the

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<v Speaker 1>doorway and across a back yard into a basement kitchen.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a bed against the wall and a lamp

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<v Speaker 1>on the table turned down very low. She His teeth

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<v Speaker 1>was set on edge. He would have liked to spit

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<v Speaker 1>simultaneously with the woman in the basement kitchen. He thought

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<v Speaker 1>of Catherine, his wife. Winston was married, had been married

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<v Speaker 1>at any rate, probably he still was married, so far

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<v Speaker 1>as he knew his wife was not dead. He seemed

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<v Speaker 1>to breathe again the warm, stuffy odor of the basement kitchen,

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<v Speaker 1>an odor compounded of bugs and dirty clothes and villainous,

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<v Speaker 1>cheap scent, but nevertheless alluring, because no woman of the

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<v Speaker 1>party ever used scent, or could be imagined as doing so.

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<v Speaker 1>Only the proles used scent. In his mind, the smell

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<v Speaker 1>of it was inextricably mixed up with fornication. When he

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<v Speaker 1>had gone with that woman, it had been his first

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<v Speaker 1>lapse in two years or thereabouts. Consorting with prostitutes was forbidden,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, but it was one of those rules that

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<v Speaker 1>you could occasionally nerve yourself to break. It was dangerous,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was not a life and death matter. To

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<v Speaker 1>be caught with the prostitute might mean five years in

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<v Speaker 1>a forced labor camp, not more if you had committed

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<v Speaker 1>no other offense, and it was easy enough provided that

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<v Speaker 1>you could avoid being caught in the act, the poorer

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<v Speaker 1>courts swarmed with women who were ready to sell themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>Some could even be purchased for a bottle of gin,

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<v Speaker 1>which the proles were not supposed to drink. Tacitly, the

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<v Speaker 1>Party was even inclined to encourage prostitution as an outlet

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<v Speaker 1>for instincts which could not be altogether suppressed. Mere debauchery

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<v Speaker 1>did not matter very much, so long as it was

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<v Speaker 1>furtive and joyless and only involved the women of a

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<v Speaker 1>submerged and despised class. The unforgivable crime was promiscuity between

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<v Speaker 1>party members, but though this was one of the crimes

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<v Speaker 1>that the accused in the Great Purges invariably confessed to,

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<v Speaker 1>it was difficult to imagine any such thing actually happening.

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<v Speaker 1>The aim of the Party was not merely to event

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<v Speaker 1>men and women from forming loyalties which it might not

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<v Speaker 1>be able to control. Its real, undeclared purpose was to

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<v Speaker 1>remove all pleasure from the sexual act, not love so

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<v Speaker 1>much as eroticism was the enemy inside marriage as well

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<v Speaker 1>as outside it. All marriages between Party members had to

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<v Speaker 1>be approved by a committee appointed for the purpose, and

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<v Speaker 1>though the principle was never clearly stated, permission was always

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<v Speaker 1>refused if the couple concerned gave the impression of being

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<v Speaker 1>physically attracted to one another. The only recognized purpose of

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<v Speaker 1>marriage was to beget children for the service of the party.

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<v Speaker 1>Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly

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<v Speaker 1>disgusting minor operation, like having an enemy. This again was

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<v Speaker 1>never put into plain words, but in an indirect way,

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<v Speaker 1>it was rubbed into every Party member from childhood onwards.

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<v Speaker 1>There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti Sex League,

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<v Speaker 1>which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children were

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<v Speaker 1>to be begotten by artificial insemination artsem, it was called

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<v Speaker 1>in New speak, and brought up in public institution. This,

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<v Speaker 1>Winston was aware, was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow

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<v Speaker 1>it fitted in with the general ideology of the party.

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<v Speaker 1>The Party was trying to kill the sex instinct, or

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<v Speaker 1>if it could not be killed, then to distort it

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<v Speaker 1>and dirty it. He did not know why this was so,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seemed natural that it should be so, and

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<v Speaker 1>as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts

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<v Speaker 1>were largely successful. He thought again of Catherine. It must

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<v Speaker 1>be nine ten, nearly eleven years since they had parted.

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<v Speaker 1>It was curious how seldom he thought of her. For

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<v Speaker 1>days at a time, he was capable of forgetting that

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<v Speaker 1>he had ever been married. They had only been together

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<v Speaker 1>for about fifteen months. The party did not permit divorce,

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<v Speaker 1>but it rather encouraged separation in cases where there were

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<v Speaker 1>no children. Catherine was a tall, fair haired girl, very straight,

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<v Speaker 1>with splendid movements. She had a bold, aquiline face, a

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<v Speaker 1>face that one might have called a noble until one

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<v Speaker 1>discovered that there was, as nearly as possible, nothing but

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<v Speaker 1>behind it. Very early in her married life, he had decided,

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<v Speaker 1>though perhaps it was only that he knew her more

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<v Speaker 1>intimately than he knew most people, that she had, without exception,

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<v Speaker 1>the most stupid, vulgar, empty mind that he had ever encountered.

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<v Speaker 1>She had not a thought in her head that was

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<v Speaker 1>not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none

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<v Speaker 1>that she was not capable of swallowing if the party

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<v Speaker 1>handed it out to her. The human sound track he

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<v Speaker 1>nicknamed her in his own mind. Yet he could have

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<v Speaker 1>endured living with her if it had not been for

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<v Speaker 1>just one thing. Sex. As soon as he touched her,

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<v Speaker 1>she seemed to WinCE and stiffen to embrace her was

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<v Speaker 1>like embracing a jointed, wooden image. And what was strange

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<v Speaker 1>was that, even when she was clasping him against her,

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<v Speaker 1>he had the feeling that she was simultaneously pushing him

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<v Speaker 1>away with all her strength. The rigidity of her muscles

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<v Speaker 1>managed to convey that impression. She would lie there with

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<v Speaker 1>shut eyes, neither resisting nor co operating, but submitting. It

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<v Speaker 1>was extraordinarily embarrassing, and after for a while, horrible. But

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<v Speaker 1>even then he could have borne living with her if

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<v Speaker 1>it had been agreed that they should remain celibate. But

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<v Speaker 1>curiously enough, it was Catherine who refused this. They must,

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<v Speaker 1>she said, produce a child if they could. So. The

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<v Speaker 1>performance continued to happen once a week, quite regularly, whenever

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<v Speaker 1>it was not impossible. She even used to remind him

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<v Speaker 1>of it in the morning, as something which had to

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<v Speaker 1>be done that evening and which must not be forgotten.

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<v Speaker 1>She had two names for it. One was making a baby,

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<v Speaker 1>and the other was our duty to the party. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>she had actually used that phrase. Quite soon he grew

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<v Speaker 1>to have a feeling of positive dread when the appointed

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<v Speaker 1>day came round, But luckily no child appeared, and in

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<v Speaker 1>the end she agreed to give up trying, and soon

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<v Speaker 1>afterwards they parted. Winston sighed inaudibly. He picked up his

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<v Speaker 1>pen again and wrote, She threw herself down on the bed,

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<v Speaker 1>and at once, without any kind of preliminary in the

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<v Speaker 1>most coarse, horrible way you can imagine, pulled up her skirt. Ay.

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<v Speaker 1>He saw himsel elf standing there in the dim lamp light,

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<v Speaker 1>with the smell of bugs and cheap scent in his nostrils,

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<v Speaker 1>and in his heart a feeling of defeat and resentment,

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<v Speaker 1>which even at that moment was mixed up with the

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<v Speaker 1>thought of Catherine's white body, frozen forever by the hypnotic

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<v Speaker 1>power of the party. Why did it always have to

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<v Speaker 1>be like this? Why could he not have a woman

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<v Speaker 1>of his own instead of these filthy scuffles at intervals

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<v Speaker 1>of years. But a real love affair was an almost

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<v Speaker 1>unthinkable event. The women of the party were all alike.

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<v Speaker 1>Chastity was as deep ingrained in them as party loyalty,

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<v Speaker 1>by careful early conditioning, by games and cold water, by

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<v Speaker 1>the rubbish that was dinned into them at school and

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<v Speaker 1>in the spies and the youth League, by lectures, parades, songs, slogans,

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<v Speaker 1>and martial music. The natural feeling had been driven out

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<v Speaker 1>of them. His reason told him that there must be exceptions,

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<v Speaker 1>but his heart did not believe it. They were all impregnable,

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<v Speaker 1>as the party intended that they should be. And what

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<v Speaker 1>he wanted, more even than to be loved, was to

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<v Speaker 1>break down that wall of virtue, even if it were

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<v Speaker 1>only once in his whole life. The sexual act successfully

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<v Speaker 1>performed was rebellion. Desire was thought crime. Even to have

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<v Speaker 1>awakened Catherine. If he could have achieved it would have

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<v Speaker 1>been like a seduction, although she was his wife. But

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the story had got to be written down.

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<v Speaker 1>He wrote, I turned up the lamp when I saw

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<v Speaker 1>her in the light. After the darkness, the feeble light

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<v Speaker 1>of the paraffin lamp had seemed very bright. For the

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<v Speaker 1>first time he could see the woman properly. He had

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<v Speaker 1>taken a step towards her, and then halted, full of

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<v Speaker 1>lust and terror. He was painfully conscious of the risk

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<v Speaker 1>he had taken in coming here. It was perfectly possible

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<v Speaker 1>that the patrols would catch him on the way out.

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<v Speaker 1>For that matter, they might be waiting outside the door

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<v Speaker 1>at this moment. If he went away without even doing

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<v Speaker 1>what he had come here to do. It had got

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<v Speaker 1>to be written down, It had got to be confessed.

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<v Speaker 1>What he had suddenly seen in the lamp light was

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<v Speaker 1>that the woman was old. The paint was plastered so

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<v Speaker 1>thick on her face that it looked as though it

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<v Speaker 1>might crack, like a cardboard mask. There were streaks of

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<v Speaker 1>white in her hair. But the truly dreadful detail was

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<v Speaker 1>that her mouth had fallen a little open, revealing nothing

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<v Speaker 1>except a cavernous blackness. She had no teeth at all,

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote hurriedly in scrabbling handwriting. When I saw her

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<v Speaker 1>in the light. She was quite an old woman, fifty

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<v Speaker 1>years old at least. But I went ahead and did

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<v Speaker 1>it just the same. He pressed his fingers against his

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<v Speaker 1>eyelids again. He had written it down at last, but

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<v Speaker 1>it made no difference. The therapy had not worked. The

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<v Speaker 1>urge to shout filthy words at the top of his

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<v Speaker 1>voice was as strong as ever. End of Section six