Winston Smith Symbolism

“He loved Big Brother” (Orwell 298), is the ultimate culmination of this story but also a clear depiction of what society is capable of doing to an individual when it has enough time and influence. When said society is able to cause an effect on not just the course of history, but the very thoughts that enter the minds of the masses, true humanity is at risk in a spiritual form if not the physical. In a world controlled by money and where power is in the hands of the wicked, the fall of man becomes inevitable. If we look at the character Winston Smith, we see symbolism and perhaps a form of allegorical intent behind the motives of Orwell when he tells the story of this individual. Individuality is not only symbolized through many descriptions …show more content…
Initially he is the face of the Brotherhood, which might in fact be a false organization meant to draw out sympathizers and rebels, but O’Brien then reveals his true allegiance is to Big Brother. He not only turns in Winston but is in fact a high-ranking member of the Party and this would be a big strike against Marx as the Bourgeoisie has successfully turned the Proletariat against itself. Marx, as pointed out earlier held the belief that the Proletariat by default would naturally take the reigns of society and take the state in a direction that would suit the lives of that greater party of people. Thus, when Big Brother is able to utilize the people and build their minds around the conceptual ideas that will maintain the domination of the government both economically and socially, by having them police themselves and reward loyalty to the state with power and rebellion with torture and other negative connotations. As the story progresses, it is revealed that O’Brien may actually have been rebellious by nature as well when he states that “they got me a long time ago” (Orwell 238), which is reinforcing proof that the 1984’s Big Brother has already proven its ability to bend and break the mind of the individual through repeated mental conditioning consisting of torture, suffering and enforced obedience. This is important because between O’Brien and Winston …show more content…
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. Not me! Julia! Not me!”, exclaimed by Winston himself. This is the clear last straw because one of Winston’s first forms of resistance to the government, or Big Brother, is his intellectual violations and his devoted illegal love he holds for Julia. While Julia is mostly experiencing everything mostly as a thrill and for the rush, Winston was truly an intellectually driven rebel and had fully embraced an insurgent like stance against the mental assaults of the institution. After prolonged torture and isolation, this last vestige of individualism is wiped from the slate that is Winston and he is reprogrammed to be reintroduced into the population of loyal drones working for the those empowered by the same institution that breaks the Proletariat