Julia relates the terrible conditions in the slums. Yet she herself lives in less-than-optimal circumstances and seems to largely accept them. Why do you suppose she prefers her lifestyle? Which would you prefer?

Julia relates the terrible conditions in the slums. ("All was grimy, shabby, broken, befouled. The smell was indescribable, since the quarter’s privies and overflowing rubbish tips were regularly blasted sky-high by bombs, and there were also the rotting corpses of men and beasts…") Yet she herself lives in less-than-optimal circumstances and seems to largely accept them. Why do you suppose she prefers her lifestyle? Which would you prefer, and why?

The devil you know is preferable to the one you don’t! Julia also knew how to function where she was, how to manipulate to make life a little more bearable, how to find a few pleasures to decrease the misery of her life. She knew how bad life was at certain times in her childhood. I think the sadist thing was to see how you could never trust anyone and to see how some people enjoyed causing pain and misery for others. Save us all from living like that, we need to understand how lives can go south real fast if we aren’t alert to selfish people who will ruin what we have in this country and to remember we must always being working for a more perfect union, to learn the lessons of the past.

I agree with candaceb-The Devil You Know…I think we can all become accustomed to almost any sort of living conditions. It doesn’t mean we love them, that we don’t wish for better, but, there’s always (almost always) someplace worse, so we’re grateful for what we have. Human beings are adaptable creatures as well as, for the most part, optimistic creatures. We tend to make the best of what we have.

I think she took some comfort or satisfaction in feeling she was on a higher rung in what was essentially a caste system. It was an illusion, but she thought she had more control, more status, more value within the system, and as others have pointed out, it was familiar enough that she felt confident she could “game the system” to her advantage (another delusion, which ultimately led to her entrapment). These kinds of petty social divisions are how those few at the top who do wield power are able to stay in control.

The mind is a powerful thing. We humans can "get used to" just about anything. On some level we know our situation is lacking, but our mind constructs a patchwork of thoughts that soften our reality and allows us to continue and survive without losing our sanity. In Julia's case (and others in both books) see those who have it "worse" than she and feels a bit superior. Of course, Julia lives in a crowded dormitory, with no kitchen and inadequate plumbing and heating and horrible food and the ever present telescreens but she minimizes those issues and believes (falsely) she knows how to evade the systems in place. I would prefer neither lifestyle-I would have to escape and live as an outcast if possible. If not I would choose to be among "the proles" as they are at least somewhat below the notice of the top level of power.

Living conditions are a matter of what you are used to. Julia is used to the problems and conditions she lives with and even a small improvement is better than the conditions you see outside of your own. Plus, it seems Julia's interests do not include the conditions of her home. She seems to be focused on surviving and trying to get some enjoyment in her life.

- I couldn’t help but wonder whether Julia thought she was crafty enough to beat Big Brother at his game by playing into their game. When Julia met with O’Brien in his apartment, she carefully tried to answer his questions correctly, but at one point felt her mind swarming in trying to answer the question that touched on loyalty versus courage. She seemed emboldened by O’Brien’s acknowledgement of her transformation “much like coal changes to a diamond through pressures that deform and crush it.” She almost seemed to become entranced when O’Brien said she was a homo oceanicus (the race yet to come), especially when she realized all she had skillfully managed to do in her life leading up to meeting O’Brien. While there were brief moments when I thought Julia might work with the proles because their segment of society remembered the past and allowed love, I think she disdained the slums and their bugs. I think she also liked the challenge of acquiring material things through bartering with Mrs. Melton.
I agree with gloriam about living as an outcast because I don’t think I could be part of the thought police, talk in Newspeak or rewrite history so that people lived in ignorance of the truth.

At one point, she even allows herself to hope that she, too, could live as the party elites do if she only cooperates. Not so bad.

I think part of it was indoctrination. Julia was raised to believe the city was the place to be, a place of privilege and plenty. And compared to the prole lifestyle, it was better - if nothing else, no bombings.

I'm not sure which I'd prefer - each has its advantages and disadvantages - but as I've always pushed back against authority I suspect I'd live longer as a prole.

I think I would prefer to live as a prole although it is far from ideal. I think proles had more freedom and that is what I value most. They were not under the same costant scrutiny as Julia.

People do become accustomed to their environment and circumstances. And the indoctrination, elimination of truthful media, fear, teaches people that they must conform to survive. I think Julia was indoctrinated to believe that living in the city, following the dictates of Big Brother, and working at a ministry was higher status.

Personally, knowing what I do about totalitarian societies from travel and living in lees than free countries, I would rather have more freedom living as a prole. Elites that fall out of favor tend to just disappear. I’d take my chances finding a way to survive.

Julia prefers her status as she thinks she has more freedom than those in the slums and believes there are ways she can get more benefits.

Besides most people can live in horrific conditions if they think someone is living in worse conditions than they are even if they are the same.