Who Is Winston Smith A Hero In 1984

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Hero of the Process What does it take to be a hero? Is the end result of success the only way one can be identified as a hero? What about the process? Does the ability to still try your hardest with the upmost bravery despite the fact that you know you will fail miserably in the end considered heroism? According to Orwell, heroism is “ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed.” In 1984, by George Orwell, although Winston Smith did not successfully help the oppressed people of Oceania, he still did whatever he could regardless of whether or not he succeeded. By Orwell’s definition, the effort and bravery Winston Smith put into …show more content…

Smith seeks out O’Brien to join him. “’We believe that there is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of secret organization working against the Party, and that you are involved in it. We want to join it and work for it. We are enemies of the Party. We disbelieve in the principles of Ingsoc. We are thought-criminals. We are also adulterers. I tell you this because we want to put ourselves at your mercy. If you want us to incriminate ourselves in any other way, we are ready’” (215 Orwell). This action is something Mr. Smith cannot take back and is a key reason why this was a crucial changing point in the novel. Winston Smith was no longer doing little crimes to rebel for his cause, but was now part of a group that was planning on doing greater damage to the …show more content…

His actions did not shy away from the fact that the outcome might not be a success. This is a key characteristic a hero should have according to Orwell’s definition. In order to look at Winston Smith as a hero you have to dismiss the perspective of a traditional hero like Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero. This is because this novel is set in a modernist era and a traditional hero cannot be necessarily found in this time period. A hero like Winston Smith can be found because he does have flaws and has a tragic ending influenced by modernism. A hero is labeled due to his courageous acts of bravery as they fight for what is right. Their actions cannot be diminished and looked down upon just because of a tragic ending. Winston Smith is a hero of the

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