1984 Literary Essay: Winston Smith, Hero or Not?
George Orwell once offered this definition of heroism: ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed. The reader identifies with Winston through his weaknesses rather than for his strengths. He is no bigger-than-life Hercules but a tired, middle-aged, non-descript man reduced to subordinate by “the system.” Winston is nobody important in the novel. He’s not the leader of an opposition party or a revolutionary ring. He’s not a high official of the system, he’s just a worker. And his actions are not big revolutionary actions either, so that makes him not extraordinary. In this quote, “Thought-crime …show more content…
The government in which Orwell creates is an entity known as the “Big Brother.” That consists of three branches, The Ministry of Truth, overseeing the distribution of propaganda, the Ministry of War, the military unit, and the Ministry of Love, the law enforcement division that make up the government. Winston Smith does not completely accept the ideology that is fed to him by the government, through the concept of Big Brother. When one examines George Orwell’s life, it can be clearly seen that he embodies his political perceptions, on social and aesthetic of the characters in the novel. George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where as the government has full control over the masses in Nineteen Eighty-Four. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a low-level party member who has grown to begrudge the society that he lives in. He is portrayed as an individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, which is either he becomes more effectively assimilated or perhaps he brings about the change he desires. His uncooperative act is the diary where he writes “Down with Big Brother.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member. Winston conducts this affair with Julia and follows O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the …show more content…
When Winston is threatened by some vicious cage rats that was enough for him to renounce his anti-party views and proclaim of his love for Big Brother to O’Brien. The party forces Winston into submitting to them the efficiency of their mind control through repetition. Winston’s quest to free himself from the chains of Big Brother becomes even more futile in the light when O’Brien alludes that he too once wanted Big Brother to collapse. And by the end of the novel, Winston does not even accomplish anything that lessens the power of Big Brother and the party. He doesn’t lead any revolution or any troops either. Winston is kidnapped by the Thought Police and the party’s control is realized when most of the people that Winston trusted turns out to be secret agents. Winston clearly thought to his mind that every thought was went against Big Brother and the Police were more and more likely to arrest him. When Winston is brainwashed, he loses his feelings towards Julia. How senseless the futile of Winston’s resistance was, because the party itself was too strong to be taken down just by one individual. The power actually controlled Winston into his own demise before he even knew it, which was corrected before he could even make a move to organize the proles as a violent force against the party. At the end of the day, everything that Winston has done or attempted was totally neglected and negated. Not only does he
George Orwell once offered this definition of heroism: ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed. The reader identifies with Winston through his weaknesses rather than for his strengths. He is no bigger-than-life Hercules but a tired, middle-aged, non-descript man reduced to subordinate by “the system.” Winston is nobody important in the novel. He’s not the leader of an opposition party or a revolutionary ring. He’s not a high official of the system, he’s just a worker. And his actions are not big revolutionary actions either, so that makes him not extraordinary. In this quote, “Thought-crime …show more content…
The government in which Orwell creates is an entity known as the “Big Brother.” That consists of three branches, The Ministry of Truth, overseeing the distribution of propaganda, the Ministry of War, the military unit, and the Ministry of Love, the law enforcement division that make up the government. Winston Smith does not completely accept the ideology that is fed to him by the government, through the concept of Big Brother. When one examines George Orwell’s life, it can be clearly seen that he embodies his political perceptions, on social and aesthetic of the characters in the novel. George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where as the government has full control over the masses in Nineteen Eighty-Four. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a low-level party member who has grown to begrudge the society that he lives in. He is portrayed as an individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, which is either he becomes more effectively assimilated or perhaps he brings about the change he desires. His uncooperative act is the diary where he writes “Down with Big Brother.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member. Winston conducts this affair with Julia and follows O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the …show more content…
When Winston is threatened by some vicious cage rats that was enough for him to renounce his anti-party views and proclaim of his love for Big Brother to O’Brien. The party forces Winston into submitting to them the efficiency of their mind control through repetition. Winston’s quest to free himself from the chains of Big Brother becomes even more futile in the light when O’Brien alludes that he too once wanted Big Brother to collapse. And by the end of the novel, Winston does not even accomplish anything that lessens the power of Big Brother and the party. He doesn’t lead any revolution or any troops either. Winston is kidnapped by the Thought Police and the party’s control is realized when most of the people that Winston trusted turns out to be secret agents. Winston clearly thought to his mind that every thought was went against Big Brother and the Police were more and more likely to arrest him. When Winston is brainwashed, he loses his feelings towards Julia. How senseless the futile of Winston’s resistance was, because the party itself was too strong to be taken down just by one individual. The power actually controlled Winston into his own demise before he even knew it, which was corrected before he could even make a move to organize the proles as a violent force against the party. At the end of the day, everything that Winston has done or attempted was totally neglected and negated. Not only does he