1984 Winston Smith Character Analysis

1984 by George Orwell is a dystopian novel that was first published in 1949. The story was meant to serve as a prediction of the future and was Orwell’s way of warning against dictators and a totalitarian society. Totalitarianism is “a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total ' control over society, including all aspects of the public and private lives of its citizens” ("Totalitarianism”). The main character is Winston Smith and the book tells his story through a third-person perspective. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell the actions and beliefs of the Party symbolizes a totalitarian society and Winston is displayed as the only open opposition. “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell, 1) is the simple yet effective …show more content…
“The family could not totally be abolished, and, indeed people were encouraged to be fond of their children in almost the old-fashioned way. The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations. The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police” (Orwell, 118). As the adults in Oceania were deemed the most likely to have anti-party thoughts and were the ones being arrested for thought crime Big Brother turned his attention to the children, who were the future in his society and his chance to get rid of any and all possible enemies. Even blood relatives would treat each other with suspicion allowing the Party to control every aspect of life with someone always watching every move and judging every thought. Children were turned into a more vigilant version of the telescreens. “No one trusts anyone else completely” (Stanley, vol. …show more content…
He knows that he will eventually expose himself and he will be disposed of but his only wish is not to die without making an impact. By deceiving the Party Winston has a sense of power as he is an example of how they don’t know everything “Now that he recognized himself as a dead man it became important to stay alive as long as possible” (Orwell, 25). As the story progresses Smith becomes more desperate to expose the corruption and separate himself from society because the mask he is wearing starts to crack and the inevitability of his death at the hands of the Party starts to catch up with him. He falls in love, an emotion strongly discouraged, with a fellow government worker Julia which further propels him down the path of total destruction. His viewpoint does not change throughout the novel but his hatred for the Party and their mindgames intensifies. “It is Winston’s need to reconcile what he knows with the Party’s version of reality that leads to his downfall” (Stanley, Vol.