“...Winston succeeded in transferring his hatred from the face on the screen to the dark-haired girl behind him.... He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like St. Sebastian.” (16)
St. Sebastian was a Christian saint, who was tied to a post and shot with arrows by the Roman emperor. He was then found and healed by St. Irene, but is clubbed to death by the emperor after he goes off seeking revenge. Orwell’s reference to St. Sebastian mirrors the course that Winston and Julia’s relationship ends up taking. First, he fantasizes about killing her on multiple occasions. But when their affair begins, he realizes he loves her and she comes back into his life in a very different way. But when they are captured by the thought police things change. At first, their love holds strong. But then they receive the ultimate torture and are forced to betray each other. After this their love can never be the same. She is once again, just another person.
"Saint Sebastian." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sebastian>.
mirrors -- love it.. love the language
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