1984 Winston Smith Hero Essay

. However, Winston Smith is not the hero that Oceania needed because even though he wrote anti-government messages in his journal, he wrote nothing of significance, he betrayed his lover when given the chance to prove his strength, to comply with the government, and was broken and taken over by Big Brother. Merely purchasing a journal to write in is illegal in Oceania. Winston knew this but he journaled nonetheless, using it for self-expression, which is denied under party rule. Owning the diary is a punishable offense and the contents of the diary would get Winston convicted of Thoughtcrime. He writes anti-party messages in his book, such as “down with Big Brother” to privately resist the regime. Though Winston is committing a crime by

He begins his illegal love affair with Julia, once again defying the government. However, when he is taken by the police to the ministry of love and punished for this crime, he betrays his lover. Julia and Winston built a trustworthy secret relationship via their mutual hate for the government, but Winston gives it all up when he is threatened in room 101. Big Brother succeeds in pushing Winston to his breaking point, in which he exposes Julia to save himself. He yells to his torturers, “Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones!" (3.5.24) In this time of torture and interrogation, he was given a chance to show his great heroic strength. He could have continued to rebel by keeping quiet and taking his unfair punishment, but instead, he was weak and gave in to Big Brother. By giving up Julia, Winston gives Big Brother the message that he loved them more than any other person, which is exactly what they want. Winston is not a hero because the government was able to take his free will and make him their pawn, just like so many other

He is not the person he was before and he has succumbed to the threats of Big Brother. He says “two and two make five” and he believes it to be true, just as the government wants. He is troubled with false memories and does not know what is true and what is told to be true by Big Brother. The party had the ability to “frighten you out of your beliefs, persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses, (1,7)” and this is just what they did to Winston. Now, he has been trained to only think thoughts that align with the party’s goals, so he loses his sense of rebellion and individuality. 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