Orwell's Pursuit Of Free Will In Nineteen Eighty-Four

According to Winston, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else follows (Orwell 103).” This concept is the central idea posed within the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell’s dystopian future presents a frightening reality in which human rights are considered criminal in nature and unnecessary for society. The tyrannical leading group, known as the Party, controls every aspect of human life for the sake of power, therefore eliminating free will. While most civilians submit to this rule, Winston is unusual in that he denies it. This resistance to control leads him to perform various actions contrary to the desires of the Party. In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston’s pursuit of free will is …show more content…
His distinct and recurring thought is absolute hate for the leader of the Party, Big Brother, and by extension the concept of eliminating personal freedoms through totalitarianism. This is evidenced countless times during the novel, such as through his diary entries, “His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals—DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER over and over again, filling half a page (Orwell 23).” This opinion is in stark contrast to that of the common people, or proles, who are content to submit to Big Brother, “To keep them in control was not difficult (Orwell 91).” While there is no doubt that Winston hates the Party and Big Brother, there is ambiguity in regard to the specific reason for this hate. The answer may lie in Novels for Students: 1984, which indicates the reason for the Party’s oppressive laws is that some people try to exercise free will (“1984”). With this reasoning, one can easily extend it to say that Winston hates the Party because he may not legally exercise complete free will. Such ideas also explain that the proles do not hate the Party because they do not desire free will and are content in their existing state. With the obvious differences between Winston and the proles, …show more content…
It is during his time here that his character rapidly develops. When he enters the Ministry of Love, he hates Big Brother and thinks independently, “O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended. ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ ‘Four.’ (Orwell 315).” However when he is dismissed from the Ministry of Love, he no longer contains opinions of rebellious nature, “The spasm passed. He put the white knight back in its place, but for the moment he could not settle down to serious study of the chess problem. His thoughts wandered again. Almost unconsciously he traced with his finger in the dust on the table: 2+2=5 (Orwell 366).” There is an obvious change in Winston after his interrogation, and his mind is completely broken of rebellious behavior. This can be interpreted as a complete loss of personal freedom. The cause of his loss of personal freedom is not so obvious. It is Winston’s own pursuit of freedom that leads him to break laws and get sent to the Ministry of Love, where his mind is broken. Therefore, this pursuit of free will is the underlying cause of Winston’s loss of free will. Additionally, this observation is corroborated with the statement from Kathleen Fitzpatrick, “Big Brother, the all-seeing manifestation in 1984 of the Party 's drive for