In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, the main character is Winston Smith. A simple, frail, skinny man, wanting to know what life was like before the revolution, and just to have a small taste of freedom. Is Winston a typical storybook hero? Or is he is something else, something better or worse? Throughout the book there are many instances which prove that he is more anti-hero than hero. The protagonist displays acts of heroism but is it enough to consider him a hero? Is Winston an anti-hero because he does not always show the complete signs or look the way that a typical hero would. Winston looked at the world of 1984 through an intellectual eyeglass. He wanted freedom and he broke laws that were set. But he did not start a revolution. …show more content…
The heroic efforts by Winston and Julia were completely thwarted. Winston had finally shown signs that he could be a hero. But they were ruined by O’Brien. Julia and Winston are forced to separate and then they are both subject to torture. The downfall of Winston begins at this point, any heroic signs that had begun to sprout out of Winston were utterly destroyed. He went back to his old ways of only looking out for himself. The qualities of a typical hero once again vanished. Winston was tortured so much that he ratted out Julia and confessed everything. He even said he’d rather Julia be tortured and die than himself. He had betrayed her, and he had betrayed himself. “I betrayed you. She said. I betrayed you. He said.” (292)He promised himself that this would not happen. And he just kept tumbling and tumbling. Winston was not a hero, he was an anti-hero. He was never fully invested in other people until he fell in love with Julia. Even then, he still betrayed her. Winston had occasionally showed signs that he could be a hero. However, it was never in his own, it was only when Julia was with him. He just isn’t cut out to be a hero. He was never looking out for other and all of his
In the book 1984, Winston’s “safe haven” is the idea of rebellion. Whether it is him dreaming of it, seeing Julia, or writing in his diary, he takes comfort in whatever act he can take against the Party. Much of the narrative has to do with Winston’s thought process. It is not an objective approach to the situation, and is therefore full of personality and opinion. Winston’s hopes and dreams of rebellion become a crucial part of the text, adding insight as well as limiting perspective to that of only one character.
Winston knew that his time would come when the thought police would finally catch him. He knew this since he committed thoughtcrime by writing in his journal and he didn’t like big brother. Knowing this information, he tried to eventually pry deep into the secrets of his world and stand out. However, this just ended up making him meet someone that eventually would be the person who tortured him. All this would happen because he was different and he couldn’t be himself or have a different personality than the rest.
He supported his convictions which made him a legend and he was ready to do anything for what he trusted. An example of this could be the point at which he guaranteed O' Brien he would do anything for the fraternity regardless of the possibility that it implied harming kids. O'Brien asked Winston
Winston Smith is just an ordinary man, yet he finds the strength within himself to oppose what is destroying
(Orwell 233). Then a little bit later Winston asked “Who denounced you?” then Parsons said “It was my little daughter” (Orwell 233). This shows how The Party is taking advantage over people so they can have power to do what they want. When Julia and Winston were captured by O’Brien,who was a spy for the Party, he put them in separate rooms, questioned and tortured Winston so he would give up Julia and confess.
Though he was never a hero, he has lost all chance of ever becoming one when he now cannot even think his own individual thoughts. Winston has been broken down and dehumanized to become a pawn of the party, which is everything he disagreed with since the beginning. Winston is content working for the party and agreeing with all they say and do. He even feels in victorious in winning the battle over his old self, who was a traitor to Big
During the battle with the Boers, Winston was sent on an armored train with comrades to deliver more material to the calvary. During the journey the train was attacked by the Boers when they stopped for a brief time to send their location back to command. When the train started to move again, it was shortly derailed because the tracks were altered. Winston and his comrades had to clear away the carts that were blocking the train tracks. They didn 't have much help because many of the people were injured or dead and they were being shot at by the Boer’s.
Corruption in Hamlet and 1984 Comparing William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet to George Orwell’s novel 1984 may seem like a difficult task on the surface, however, through further analysis, the theme of corruption links these two texts together. Corruption: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power. In both Hamlet and 1984, the protagonists desire to overcome corruption inevitably leads to their downfall. In society today, people are entitled to their own thoughts.
Winston is excited about the book, whereas Julia is seemingly uninterested; she even falls asleep while Winston reads it. Winston is interested in finding an explanation for the Party’s control and how it all begun. Contrary to that, Julia does
He probably switched back and forth between his different personalities frightening his mother and causing her to leave without dealing with the matter, which all in all made Winston’s mental health issues worse and caused new ones to
At the beginning of the novel, Winston made it prominent that he dissented Big Brother and his party’s idea. He wrote in his diary, in Book 1 Chapter 1, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER…” (Orwell 18). This shows that Winston dissented his country’s government and was willing to rebel for he knew deep inside that
Fahad Alrebdi Mr. John Smallwood ENG4U September 6, 2014 Julia and Winston In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell presents the protagonist, Winston Smith and his lover Julia in Oceania, under the rule of Big Brother. Under this totalitarian regime, both characters are Party members. Winston works in the Records department of the Ministry of Truth while Julia works in the Fiction department of the Ministry of Truth.
Being the main character makes you the protagonist, not the hero. Winston is no hero. He is a weak man who was as equally attracted to sexual desires and release from pain as he is in liberating the people of Oceania from BB. He gave up his one love, Julia, conspired to murder his wife, and agreed to acts that would benefit the government he sought to overthrow.
This is because of the way he reacts to the things he does. Although he may not live up to the expectations of a great hero. Winston’s bravery to ask about the brotherhood, his strength to defy the party while being tortured, his courage to begin a relationship with Julia, and the items bought and written in can classify as heroic. For instance, Winston’s bravery to ask Mr. Brian about the brotherhood show his heroism.
The novel, 1984, can be most closely compared with the popular book and movie series, The Hunger Games. Overt comparisons between the two novels include their futuristic approach and the dystopian societies that emerged after periods of war. Additionally, both novels highlight poverty as a highly effective method of control. Building on that method of control, both novels have a strict hierarchy of society used to control the masses.