“She thought it over. ‘They can’t do that,’ she said finally, ‘it’s the one thing they can’t do. They can make you say anything—anything— but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you.’” (Orwell 166) This isn’t really a symbol rather a theme throughout the book. Julia seems to think that the Party’s control is a superficial one, that the Party isn’t affecting the beliefs of it’s members and the Proles but in reality everything about the Party is acting to create a permanent and deep impact on the population’s thoughts and actions. Smith is well aware of this because he’s been spending so much time thinking about exactly how much of society and knowledge are being fabricated by the Party.
Yo, Danielle! I like your analysis. :D Originally I thought that Julia just meant that while the Party controls their society and everything, the people (Julia, Winston, the Proles) still control themselves and their own lives and maybe secretly their own thoughts and dreams. That part of them is still intact, and while the Party can make them say things outwardly, they can still hold on to that piece of themselves.
But yeah, I think it makes more sense in that Julia thinks she's free while Winston knows they're not. Winston has spent pretty much his entire life wondering if there was once or if there could be something else to all of this madness, but he knows that the Party not only monitors everything people do but also enforces/instills a certain societal framework on everything.
I think you made a really good point right here. At first, I had the same idea as Andy: I thought that Julia's speech hinted that the people have control over their own beliefs and thoughts, that maybe people could guide themselves. While the Party can make these people say whatever the Party so desires, it doesn't have to mean that the people actually believe it.
However, I very quickly slapped myself in the face for that one, because who am I kidding? 1984 is like an exact replica of what happened in Russia with their communism and whatnot. Way back when the iron curtain was drawn around the country, when they had brainwashers like Stalin and Lenin around, people actually believed those lies. They believed all of them. And so do the people of Oceania. The Party is acting to create a permanent change in the population's thoughts and actions just to benefit them. To make control easier.