Eric Arthur Blair, more commonly known by his pseudonym George Orwell, characterizes one of the main characters, Winston Smith, as a kind of protagonist in the story. Winston Smith does not exemplify the traditional characteristics of a hero. Heroes are typically described as strong, brave, and noble, however just like the saying “not all heroes wear capes”, Winston Smith was one that did not wear a cape. George Orwell created this hero that contained failures, it was as if to show readers that even heroes were humans (well some of them anyway). The story takes place in Oceania, which covers the entire continents of America, Oceania, and the British Isles. Orwell composes Winston to be as humanly a possible, so that he could have flaws and
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Most of its people were under close observation. The main source of keeping everyone under surveillance in 1984 was the television. The Party would get images of what the people of Oceania are doing, they would accomplish this by ways of the television. The television were two-way screens, they were in every apartment and on every street, but they were only used for monitoring. Children were even used to keep an eye on their parents, “The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on and report their deviations” (George Orwell, 76). The Party’s motto was, “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (George Orwell, 4). The theory behind this motto was to try and satisfy the citizens saying that they already have what they want. “BIG BROTHER IS WATHCING YOU” (George Orwell, 3) is another big slogan that the Party uses. This slogan constitutes fear in the citizens. The citizens feel that they do not have any privacy. The citizens feel very paranoid being around the other people of their country because they do not know who could be working with Big Brother. At the same time, this motto makes the people of Oceania feel safe, they feel that while Big Brother is watching over them, they are protected. Everyone in Oceania believe that they are safe, but sadly they are in danger all the …show more content…
Winston Smith can only be considered a hero in a highly qualified sense. His mixture of the heroic and the mundane is indicated clearly by his name, which combines “Winston” from Winston Churchill (who was framed for refusing to accept defeat when fighting against seemingly invincible enemies) and “Smith,” which is one of the most prosaic of surnames. It is Orwell’s genius to show that one of the challenges of the modern setting is that individuals have lost heroism, the quality of risk and courage to do what can be done in the face of what is. Winston does not fight for Julia, but rather seeks to go back to the Chestnut Tree Café where he could sit and be alone. Such a characterization is far from heroic. The ending of the novel is one where Winston is shown to be a sad human being, and not one of the confident and assertive hero. Orwell’s characterization is deliberating, it is reflective of the modern condition, the logical result where external forces become far too powerful over the will of the individual. Winston is the product of this reality, where heroism is
Most of its people were under close observation. The main source of keeping everyone under surveillance in 1984 was the television. The Party would get images of what the people of Oceania are doing, they would accomplish this by ways of the television. The television were two-way screens, they were in every apartment and on every street, but they were only used for monitoring. Children were even used to keep an eye on their parents, “The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on and report their deviations” (George Orwell, 76). The Party’s motto was, “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (George Orwell, 4). The theory behind this motto was to try and satisfy the citizens saying that they already have what they want. “BIG BROTHER IS WATHCING YOU” (George Orwell, 3) is another big slogan that the Party uses. This slogan constitutes fear in the citizens. The citizens feel that they do not have any privacy. The citizens feel very paranoid being around the other people of their country because they do not know who could be working with Big Brother. At the same time, this motto makes the people of Oceania feel safe, they feel that while Big Brother is watching over them, they are protected. Everyone in Oceania believe that they are safe, but sadly they are in danger all the …show more content…
Winston Smith can only be considered a hero in a highly qualified sense. His mixture of the heroic and the mundane is indicated clearly by his name, which combines “Winston” from Winston Churchill (who was framed for refusing to accept defeat when fighting against seemingly invincible enemies) and “Smith,” which is one of the most prosaic of surnames. It is Orwell’s genius to show that one of the challenges of the modern setting is that individuals have lost heroism, the quality of risk and courage to do what can be done in the face of what is. Winston does not fight for Julia, but rather seeks to go back to the Chestnut Tree Café where he could sit and be alone. Such a characterization is far from heroic. The ending of the novel is one where Winston is shown to be a sad human being, and not one of the confident and assertive hero. Orwell’s characterization is deliberating, it is reflective of the modern condition, the logical result where external forces become far too powerful over the will of the individual. Winston is the product of this reality, where heroism is