Winston Smith A Terrorist Analysis

It is arguable that Winston Smith is signing up to be a terrorist, as well as the other side of the coin, that interprets him as a freedom fighter. The reader sees Winston accept to perform numerous violent acts that could affect “hundreds” of innocent people, but also understands that these violent acts could lead to saving hundreds of innocent people’s lives eventually.

Terrorism, by definition, is the unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. This notion is apparent within the eighth chapter of part two, in which Winston says he is willing to “commit acts of sabotage which may cause the death

of hundreds of innocent people” thus it is evident that Winston is signing up to be a terrorist as he is

willing to “sabotage” in the pursuit of political advantage, but at a fatal cost for “hundreds of innocent people” who have not signed up themselves to give their lives for the Brotherhood. Alternatively, it could be argued as selfish as Winston is ready to be the cause of death for “innocent people” but he himself doesn’t want to be separated from the women he loves, Julia, whilst he will be doing this for “hundreds” of others however these have not given consent to have their lives taken away and are “innocent” in the matter. Furthermore, the notion of terrorism is underlined when O’Brien states the long list of actions that both Winston and Julia must be prepared to do; ‘You are prepared to cheat, to forge, to blackmail, to corrupt the minds of children, to distribute habit-forming drugs, to encourage prostitution, to disseminate venereal diseases—to do anything which is likely to cause demoralization and weaken the power of the Party?’ all of the above are things that are associated acts with terrorism, and Winston is signing up to even “corrupt the minds of children”, easy targets for manipulation, and to later “throw sulphuric acid in a child’s face”, to give him a political advantage, which is clearly evident as terrorism as he is exploiting human fear to help achieve his goals.

However, it is arguable that Winston is also signing up to – in the long run – become a freedom fighter as although he is signing up to . His hatred of the Party is so great that he is willing to do almost anything (except to separate forever from Julia) to defeat the Party, and this hatred is the result of years of intimidation and oppression, not only of himself but also of almost everyone in his society. The Party has stripped away any form of humanity and expression, thus Winston is signing up to fight for the eventuality of the downfall of the Party; and a better tomorrow. Winston, here, is believing in Utilitarianism, and this notion is clearly highlighted when O’Brien states that “our only true life is in the future” using the lexis of “true” Orwell shows that right now their means have no result, and their hard-work doesn’t pay off but will in time, when the Party is demolished and the “true” essence of humanity can once again be born, therefore Winston is thinking of committing violent acts so he can free his society of the wrath of the Party, and allow them to once again be “true” to themselves instead of being “true” to the party – and when the Party is demolished, their “true life” will take place; and they will no longer be the product of oppression and intimidation.