Similarities Between George Orwell And 1984

In a society heavily controlled by fate or a restricting government, some individuals possess the courage to fight against these forces. Curious about the truth and fearful of his fate, Winston and Oedipus respectively attempt to exercise their freewill to beat the norms. Throughout world history, there has always been an emphasis on freedom of thought, speech, and action. However, both George Orwell and Sophocles portray the failure of this important right to do good as they explore Winston and Oedipus's determination to exercise freewill and their ultimate downfall.

To Winston, freewill is equivalent to acting against the Party; becoming an anti-revolutionary gives him answers to the truth and can bring back a life similar to that

of the past. Readers first see Winston in his rebellion as he writes in his diary. Upon writing, he discovers "the curious thing was that while he was doing so, a totally different memory had clarified itself in his mind" (Orwell 9). This curiosity portrays Winston's liking towards keeping his memories, an act forbidden by society, and also his determination to continue. In a world where individual thoughts and memories are discarded and replaced by "correct" ones, the diary is a way for Winston to exercise his freewill and be able to save and show the future generation the truth of the present day. The significance of the diary to him also depicts Winston's desire to return the future society to what it used to be many years ago. The feeling of wild hope he receives when discovering "anything that hinted at corruption" (Orwell 54) shows his determination to exercise his freewill, a key trait necessary for achieving his goal in changing the future society. Furthermore, freewill is able to awake the "mute protest in [his] own bones, the instinctive feeling that the conditions [he] lived in were intolerable and that at some other time they must have been different" (Orwell 73). These thoughts haunted him daily and having the freedom to express his real thoughts overcame this struggle and helped him through his goal. Like Winston, Oedipus desires to exercise freewill to attempt to avoid his ultimate fate: killing his father and marrying his mother. Believing he is uninvolved in the death of King Lauis, Oedipus’ thirst for knowledge about his family history is a demonstration of his use of freewill to prevent his fate. In a world where every aspect of one’s life is controlled by Gods, uncovering the family tree God predetermined required freewill in order to obtain. During the search, several, including the messenger, Creon, and Iocaste, persuade Oedipus to abandon his efforts, but he replies with “‘I will not listen; the truth must be made known’” (Sophocles 57). This unrelentless behavior portrays his determination to express his freewill in order to avoid his prophecy. To Oedipus, freedom would help him discover the father and mother he needs to avoid to prevent his fate from occurring. For both characters, freewill succeeded in bring each closer to their ultimate goals.
Yet despite the extreme devotion to expressing freewill, authors George Orwell and Sophocles suggest that these efforts will end in failure; one cannot always have freewill when there are greater powers controlling one’s life.

Although he fought hard as an anti-revolutionary using freewill, Winston is ultimately brainwashed to revert him back to cultural norms. In a society where “men are infinitely malleable” (Orwell 269) by the Party, freewill is powerless. While tortured and interrogated, Winston constantly replies with incorrect answers in order to express his right to freedom of speech, thought, and action against the Party. With each answer, the needle increased higher and “pain flowed into Winston’s body” (Orwell 251). Orwell’s intense diction used to describe Room 101 and the pain Winston endured emphasizes the immense obstacles one’s freewill must overcome in order to take control over forces like the Party. Furthermore, the scene portrays freedom’s gradual waning in power as the obstacles became more challenging and obstructive. When Winston first states that four fingers is five, the Party had prevailed and freewill had surrendered to its power. The torture Winston faces portrays the idea that man can never have freewill in societies like these where a strong force controls all. Oedipus also comes to the realization that fate is a strong power than freewill. During his search of the truth behind his family lineage, he only arrives at his fate: knowing that he had already killed his father and married his mother. Upon realization, Oedipus shouts, “‘My voice is hurled far on a dark wind/What has God done to me?’” (Sophocles 71). His voice, or freewill, had left at that moment and he is surrounded by his fate. By first questioning God immediately after he uncovers the truth, Sophocles suggests that Oedipus accepts the idea that God had not only caused him to complete the prophecy, but had also encouraged him to discover more about his family. What Oedipus

had considered freewill was actually fate and God had already predetermined his decision to exercise his “freedom.” In societies controlled and governed by a greater power, freewill will never be able to prevail and may be close to nonexistent.
Sophocles and George Orwell emphasized the struggle their characters underwent as they succumbed to their fate and the greater forces. Even with Winston and Oedipus’ determination to express freewill, both stories end with the message that the fight for freedom will ultimately fail. However, the temporary period where the two characters were seemingly able to exercise their freewill yielded times of peace and even happiness. Thus the vagueness of the issue brings up the question of the values of fighting for freedom: Is freewill worth fighting for if God or society will always end up overpowering it?