1984’s Winston Smith is a hero; but not the typical kind. He isn’t the kind of hero that saves other people, protects them from dangerous situations, and shields them from evil leaders. A hero isn’t always destined to save everyone else. Sometimes, a hero just fights to save themselves.
And sometimes, they just fight to stay strong and do as much as possible for what they believe in.
Winston is just that. He is just a simple man with a great deal of courage and a strong-headed, rebellious mind that disagrees with his alleged rulers. That is what makes him a hero. At first, his actual personality doesn’t seem to fit the lifestyle he’s been living for so long.
He seems to be just an ordinary man who completes his jobs, follows the rules, and does what he’s told. Being
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After they catch Winston, they put him through much persecution. Being beaten, tortured, and slowly torn apart piece by piece, he could feel his vulnerability growing stronger with each blow.
However, he never surrenders. He keeps pushing through it all whilst knowing his sentencing to fail, he still tries to stay strong despite that for as long as possible. One of the biggest points where Winston undoubtedly stands out as a hero is when he comes to a point where he realizes why he wants so desperately to revolt against the party. As O’Brien explains to him that “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the aid of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power… The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”, Winston realizes the thing he turns out to wish for least is to give the party power. Power over himself, Power over his life, and power over this world he lives in (Orwell 217). He certainly doesn’t resemble the classic presumptuous, and tenacious hero figure that is commonly portrayed in numerous fictitious books and films. Realistically, has he even
Winston Smith is the book’s main protagonist. He 's 39 years old, and works as a records editor in the Ministry of Truth. Winston is very intelligent and thoughtful, but also rebellious and fatalistic. He fights against the Party while being aware that there is only one end result for doing
Winston commits “thoughtcrime” leading to his arrest and questioning at the Ministry of Love, the communities jail center working with matters pertaining to war. His comrade O’Brien begins torturing him in an underground room and calls it the “learning stage”. He teaches Winston the truth about the Party and their slogan; eventually he explains that “Freedom is Slavery” is easily reversed as “Slavery is freedom. Alone- free- the human being is always defeated… if he can make complete, utter submission… [and] merge himself in the Party… then he is all-powerful and immortal” (264). The Party uses this statement to illustrate that when one acknowledges the collective will, they become free from danger and desire. Those who are surrendered to INGSOC, including O’Brien, assume that when an individual has freedom they become subjugated to their senses and emotions. Moreover, Winston continues to be starved and tortured until he appears to be nothing but skin and bones when his opinions transition to align with the governments. He now accepts everything that O’Brien has expressed to him including that he is crazy and two plus two equals five. While he thinks about what he has been taught he thinks about “How easy it all was! Only surrender, and everything else followed… he hardly knew why he had ever rebelled” (278). In a sense, Winston is now free, only in a
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. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
thinks that he just merely works under them and he always has to no matter what
One of Winston’s more distinguishable traits is his bravery. This is shown to be characteristic of Winston because he decides to go against the Party willingly, despite working for it. The Party knows that there are people who are against them, and they always take the rebels captive and eventually kill them.”Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one time existence was denied and then
Winston would not have been better off not challenging the party without Winston rebelling he would've never started feeling emotion for doing simple things in life. Winston goes to buy a book so that he can write what he's thinking about there
Throughout a life time, people hear many different definitions of heroism and examples of heroes. In childhood, heroes are either fictional men with supernatural abilities and talents or protectors of reality, such as firefighters and policemen; in adolescence, heroes can be actors, athletes, artists, and teachers; in adulthood, heroes may be activists or reporters, politicians or businessmen. Bonnie Tyler, a popular singer, describes her ideal hero saying “he’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight” (“Holding Out for a Hero” 1984). If the definition changes with age and personal preference, what truly makes up a real- life hero? The characterization of a literary hero is somewhat easier to define. Although the definition is subject to time, place, and situation, many characters that are defined as heroes throughout history have similar traits. Dorothy Norman and Roy Pickett attempt to clearly state this definition in their books The Hero: Myth/Image/Symbol and The Theme of the Hero, respectively. By using the classic hero from Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus, and a character not usually defined as a hero, Marji from Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, this paper will dissect the standards Norman and Pickett use to identify heroes and will determine whether an ancient warrior and a modern, strong-willed child both have the characteristics to be correctly defined as heroes for their time.
Winston - The protagonist; one of the individuals who secretly neglect the way of the current state of the government - totalitarianism.
Winston was one of the few characters in the novel that tried to fight against the restrictive system of the Party. He commits deadly crimes like writing in a journal and falling in love and stays resilient in his attempts to keep his individuality and to live a fulfilling life. Orwell wrote his character as a way to portray what it means to be human, rather than a hero, as Winston ultimately failed and the Party was able to capture him. The Party had complete control over the citizens, and wanted authority simply to feel powerful and godlike, while Winston attempts to oppose due to his desperate desire to feel something
“With the great power becomes great responsibility.” – Ben Parker this is what I believe was the perfect description of a hero. A hero is not always a man who hides under a mask or have supernatural powers. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. A hero is a selfless act of courage and is one who has a vested interest of others at heart. For these reasons heroes are not born they are made and shaped by the sacrifices and life experiences.
hero’s path is like an obstacle course, the one who makes it to the end is the real hero. People
he is a man with a tragic flaw. Winston's fatalism, selfishness and isolation ultimately lead him to his
In 1984, Winston was a character who showed many qualities but the strongest qualities that were shown were curiosity, being daring and rebellious. Daring qualities were shown by Winston when he wrote in his diary. Writing in his diary was daring because he was committing thoughtcrime, which could result in punishment. Winston was curious when O’Brien shut off the telescreen. His curiosity led him to ask O’Brien about why he could shut the telescreen off. Rebellious qualities were shown by Winston when he wanted to join the Brotherhood. Even though the strongest qualities Winston showed were curiosity, being daring, and rebellious; Winston still had many different qualities.
The foundation of his new personality is his ability to effortlessly commit crimestop at a subconscious level. Thoughts that interfere with Party views are promptly erased from Winston’s mind. “False memories” such as when “his mother was sitting opposite of him and also laughing” (309, 308) were recollections of happiness, and thus, dangerous to Party ideologies. The ability to selectively believe which memories are true and which ones are false, using Party ideals as reference, is one of the main traits of a perfect Party member. Additionally, Winston’s primal feelings of lust and compassion are completely abolished, evidenced by his final encounter with Julia. Clearly, Winston no longer feels any love towards Julia, for when they meet again “He did not attempt to kiss her, nor did they speak.” (305) Furthermore, any thought of sex cause Winston’s “flesh [to freeze] with horror” (304). His inability to love or feel sexual desire renders him less likely to revolt against the Party, which makes him an ideal Party member. Finally, his unquestionable love for Big Brother is ultimately what makes him “perfect” from the Party’s perspective. Winston’s feeling of contempt towards Big Brother is completely altered into admiration and respect: “He looked up again at the portrait of Big Brother. The colossus that bestrode the world!” (310) Winston
Those who have power over us, in most circumstances, will use it to their own