Examples Of Heroism In 1984 By George Orwell

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Imagine being completely powerless in a dystopian society and watched twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In the novel, 1984 by George Orwell, Winston Smith is the protagonist who represents all oppressed citizens of Oceania but as the novel closes, Winston fails to make a change and instead surrenders to the overwhelming love he has for Big Brother. According to Orwell, heroism is defined by ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they cannot possibly succeed. Based on Orwell’s theory, Winston does not portray a hero. Through the changes in Winston Smith, Orwell depicts his message of manipulation and control that the Party has over its citizens. …show more content…

Although Winston is an ordinary man rebelling against the social system, his only motives throughout the story are purely selfish. He is not aiming to change the social system for the respect of human decency because he does not even consider himself powerful enough to take a stand against the totalitarian government. Instead he believes that only the proles have the power to overthrow the Party “If there is hope,’ wrote Winston, ‘it lies in the proles” (Orwell 69). Winston’s only goal is to pursue a relationship with Julia. Throughout the plot, Winston constantly displays naïveté, his willingness to believe what he wants to be true. He is conscious that his actions will lead him to trouble, yet he continues to follow through with them. In spite of the fact that he has survived physically, his personality, the memories, and experiences that made him who he was, have been burned away. Now he is a “cell” in the body of the Party. Therefore, Winston Smith is not a character that readers can admire and emulate. Through the changes in Winston, Orwell depicts that rebellion in a dystopian society only leads to a downfall of total manipulation and brain wash. The events in the novel relate to Orwell’s central message because they exemplify that people driven by fear can be manipulated into a state of complete obedience by a totalitarian

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