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Character traits of winston smith 1984
Character analysis of winston smith 1984
Symbolism examples in 1984
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A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering or defeat. In George Orwell's 1984, the protagonist Winston Smith is best described as a tragic hero. 1984 presents an imaginary future world where a totalitarian state controls all aspects of people’s lives. Oceania’s entire population is under totalitarian rule and is completely ignorant to the ideas of freedom of speech, action and thought. Winston Smith lives in a society where everyone must abide by government rules and regulations. British parliament has become a dictatorship, with "Big Brother" as it's leader and has destroyed and rewritten all evidence of history. Winston struggles to face the state of Oceania and ultimately loses everything in the end. Winston Smith is a tragic hero, for he is a man with a tragic flaw, which served as the catalyst to his ultimate failure. Winston's fatalism, selfishness and isolation ultimately lead him to his own destructive downfall. Fate is non-existent as one's future is based upon their own personal decisions. It is believing that life is based on the decisions made by a higher power in an overall plan. The power of free will is making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances such as fate or divine will. Everything that happens in one's life is a repercussion of the choices they have made. In George Orwell's 1984, Winston is aware that his rebellious thoughts and actions will ultimately bring upon his destruction. When he repeatedly writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” in his secret diary, Winston is positive the Thought Police will quickly capture him and punish him for his actions. ... ... middle of paper ... ...tely leading him to his downfall. Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell's 1984 struggles to face the state of Oceania and ultimately loses everything he loves and believes in. Winston is a tragic hero, for he is a man with a tragic flaw. Winston's fatalism, selfishness and isolation ultimately lead him to his own destructive downfall. A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering or defeat.1984, represents an imaginary future world where a totalitarian state has control over every aspect of one’s life. Winston Smith lives in a society where he is a mere reflection of his dystopian environment. 1984 is a warning to our society of what is to come, which is why Winston was destined to fail. Works Cited Orwell, George. 1984. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1949. Print.
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
He has a decent job and doesn’t look very powerful. Compared to the strong and powerful Big Brother and O’Brien, Winston looks rather fragile and weak. However, his physical - - - - -appearance does not say all. Winston Smith is a very determined and rebellious - - - -citizen. He knows what he wants and he knows what he doesn’t want. He is ready to risk his life in order to beat external forces and defend his society. As the courageous man that he is, he is determined to change all that isn’t right. Unfortunately, his heroic approaches and tendencies are not very stable and resemble more of a brave human -being rather than hero. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As Winston does lose his identity and beliefs it does give some hope and optimism. Not to Winston but to the public. To the readers of Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell the author of this political novel wrote this novel to inform and by this grim ending he has done this. Big Brother and the party has control over everything, they control families, control language, control media and even the control of history. This creates full control over every act, thought and belief of a person. Consequently with Winston this is done so therefore Orwell’s point is made.
to a constant barrage of propaganda. Any devious thought or action is dealt with by cruel and deadly punishment. Winston is a
Winston Smith follows the traditional path of a hero 's journey. O’Brien calls him to adventure calling to him in a dream. The threshold crossing is when Winston buys the little black journal from the old antique shop. It was his first secret act against the Party. His mentor is O’Brien, and Winston clings to the words from his dream for hope. He meets Julia who is of great help to motivate Winston and encourage his independent thinking. For too long, Winston had depended on the Party to do the thinking. He went through life almost without having to think, but since his journey he has learned to search for truth and question the doctrine of society. Winston discovered, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” (Orwell 81).”
Firstly, he is one of the characters who retain his persona, whereas the rest of the people have become slaves who follow the Party and their beliefs. His perception towards the regime leads him to search and fight for the truth, not acknowledging the lies and manipulation the Party has created for accomplishing their desires. Even though it is easier to believe it, Winston reaches out to the truth and reflects on his ideologies. For the same reason, he knows “freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else [shall] follow” (Orwell 84). Comparatively to Yossarian, Winston faces several restraints that strip him of his freedom and forbids thoughts different from those of the Party’s. Similarly, his mind remains functional as his determination creates the incentive to keep opposing the harsh reality of the Party and to create a new reality of independence. In addition, Winston knows that for one to stop the Party’s totalitarian actions, one must have the proper perspective of what is the real world. As an individual who pursues the legitimacy and ignores the ideologies of the authority, he knows being alone is not enough. To succeed in escaping the tyrannical government, he knows that, “[until people] become conscious they [can] never rebel, and until after
The relationship between the two is seen as stubborn because “The absolute power of this oppressive system is threatened by the pretense of even a single dissident, someone who can laugh at its pretentiousness, energized by remembering when life was different and better, and by imagining future realities, future possible selves, with meaningful opinions and viable choices.” Winston, opposed to the Party’s values, causes a state of fear in the power, and it becomes necessary for them that they use external forces to convert them to the Party’s ways. The citizens are under constant watch because the Party is afraid that Winston, along with people similar to Winston, could cause an uprising that could overtake the power from the
Winston, unlike the rest of the nation realizes the problems with the society. Winston notices the corruption in the government, he notices the indoctrination of the children, he even realizes how much has changed since the world of the past. Unfortunately, Winston realizes he can not act because any action is met with execution, he is also aware that even the thought or act of noticing the problems could get him arrested. In a nation where free thought is illegal, Winston strives to think as freely as possible. However, Winston is more cowardly than a typical hero, he is unwilling to cause a change, because he does not wish to die. Winston is more of an average citizen in a strange and dangerous world than he is a hero in a normal world. Winson fears much, and he even sells out the love of his life, when he is threatened with rats. However, of his many fears; Rats excluded, Winston seems to fear children the
Throughout the novel, Winston’s sole belief was to be apart from the rest of the Party’s ideals. However, his humanity fails him as he exclaims to O’Brien, “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! Not me!” (286). This is the moment where O’Brien breaks Winston. Winston becomes a prisoner in his own mind by not having the freedom that he expressed earlier in the novel by knowing “that two plus two make four” (81). His freedom is so far from his mind, that he does not know the meaning of the word anymore. Winston also has a tendency to “[push a] picture out of his mind…a false memory” as he calls it which “did not matter so long as one knew them for what they were” (296). He, in fact, no longer knows what a real memory is. The Party’s manipulation of Winston finally succeeds manipulating Winston by limiting the way he perceives memories. Although, Winston thinks “everything [is] all right, the struggle [is] finished, and he wins the victory over himself” only knowing that “he [loves] Big Brother” (298). The simplicity in this ending makes it seem that Winston is at peace; the man versus self-struggle is over. He does not have to constantly think or move in secret. In a way, this gives him a sort of ‘freedom’ that he could not have with his own
In the first section of the book, readers can watch as Winston silently commits one of the most heinous crimes of Oceania, thoughtcrime. Readers are informed that Winston has a small corner of his apartment which cannot be seen, in which he writes in a diary, an act forbidden by the government. Although a simple act of rebellion against “Big Brother”, Smith commits the act in silence. He takes care to know that he is being completely secretive in his law-breaking. As he goes through his daily life, harboring his dangerous secret, Winston must face the numerous punishments that the government hefts onto its citizens, including vaporization. As evident in this section, Winston can face away from the heinous acts of the government to remain safe. However, how do his rebellious behaviors progress and evolve throughout the
Winston carefully writes in his journal and tries not to get caught by the telescreen. He cautiously thinks about the way the Party works and how it “told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears” (p. 69). The Party tells all people that if they see or hear an article against the government, it’s false. It also makes sure to reassure anybody who doesn’t fully believe in it. As if telling lies to Oceania is unfortunate enough, The Party will also feed lies to the ones who do not believe it. The citizens of Oceania cannot tell that what they are being told and shown are lies, causing them to think that the government is a great power. With the citizens having no sense of wrong from right, the society is brought down, as the people cannot fight or defend themselves for the lies the Party feeds
He abides as the sole man who dreams of freedom while the masses have willingly sold their liberties for “happiness” and “security” and for this reason, any rebellion against the Party is doomed to fail. Smith, forcibly taught to accept the Party rules and ideals, actually came to love Big Brother. By doing so, Winston committed suicide, not physically, but to everything that made him human internally. Through 1984, Orwell warned all of mankind to become aware of the possibility of assaults on liberty and personal freedoms, and to think before ceding these precious rights over to a higher power, as we come to realize by Orwell’s demonstration with the outcome of Winston and Julia’s relationship, Winston’s “false” memories, and the victorious outcome of the African
Winston struggles with the constant oppression in the realm of Oceania, this is where the leading government party pursues human actions with the help of the watchful eyes of Big Brother. Big Brother is a god-like identity whom suppresses any invitation of revolution and represents pure nationalism. The government itself successfully abandoned citizen individuality and self thought by pure suppression. By using fear and similar tactics the government is able to remain paramount with little fear of revolt or opposing ideas. The government effectively uses fear and hate in order to remain in complete control of its citizens. Those who decide to have individual thought or disobey the government are vaporized, in other words violators are
He implies that the records of his childhood are gone and all he has left is fond memories. The line between dreams and memories starts to become unclear and Winston is left dreaming about his past, this leaves him in a position of negligence against the Thought Police. Winston is becoming more and more unstable from the Party’s viewpoint. Into the next chapter Winston has been given the task of changing records to fit the Party’s ideology. Winston shows yet another case of independent autonomy as he is reflecting upon his actions while working for The Ministry of Truth.
Ever thought about who controls the decisions you make regarding your daily activities? You may think you control every aspect of your life, but some philosophers have questioned such notions. Many schools of thought explain the analogy of free will, and they present the argument of whether we have the freedom to act or other causes and effects determine our destiny. Free will in this context is defined as the freedom to choose and act where there several alternative courses of action. Theologically, the concept of free will is presented as the power to make decisions on our own without necessarily been influenced by external or predetermined courses.