Winston's Initial Compliance In The Novel 1984 By George Orwell

Orwell displays human tendencies of initial compliance throughout his novel as the reader discovers early on within the novel that the protagonist, Winston, internally rejects the culture and societal expectations forced upon him. Winston concludes that “Orthodoxy means not thinking”, leading the reader to expect his actions to align with his way of thought. However, within the story’s exposition the protagonist’s actions show little to no indication of his true thoughts regarding The Party. Winston’s justification for the contrast between thought and action was that “…to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction” despite however adamantly one may have been opposed to whatever was taking place (Orwell

18). This pattern of behavior is displayed during the Two Minutes Hate when Winston internally states that “…it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretense was always unnecessary” (Orwell 15). Eventually, the reader observes a similar divide between the thoughts and actions of both Julia and O'Brien, further cementing Winston's speculation. The reoccurring acquiescent acts toward The Party and Big Brother's ideals accurately illustrate the human race’s tendency to conform to their surroundings as animals do. As a matter of fact, scientific experiments on chimpanzees prove the “instinctive reaction” to conform that Winston refers to is actually “an important role in the behavior of animals as well as humans” (Balter). This makes the attempts of various characters to blend with their environments inherently animalistic in nature.
In the same fashion, Orwell depicts irrational discrimination through Winston’s writing and interaction with others. The reader observes various blatant signs of class division into a social hierarchy where The Party is above the Proletariats. One specific example is shown in a statement written by Winston: “Proles and animals are free” (Orwell 72). Additionally, the presence of a social hierarchy presents itself through the introduction of the shared opinion that “’The proles are not human beings’”, as “carelessly” stated by a colleague of Winston’s (Orwell 53). In this case, the presence of a social hierarchy lends evidence towards bigotry, whether rational or not, toward Proletariats because of The Party’s firm belief that they are intrinsically barbaric. According to Bekoff, humans are not the only ones capable of holding senselessly inequitable beliefs: “Animals…develop irrational phobias and prejudices”. Ultimately, while members of The Party view others as less than human, their unwarranted enmity ironically demonstrates traits they share with members of the animal kingdom.
Simultaneously, Winston’s original fascination with O’Brien and misogynistic view of Julia portray the same “irrational” way of thought that humans and animals share.

Within the story’s exposition, the reader learns that Winston had always “felt deeply drawn to [O’Brien]” out of sheer “hope that O’Brien’s political orthodoxy was not perfect” (Orwell 12). Winston received no tangible evidence of O’Brien being an unorthodox member of The Party, yet Winston groundlessly felt as though O’Brien could be trusted based solely on his own desires for validation in his own unconventional behavior. On the other hand is Winston’s ingrained response to detest Julia due to her sex and age. Orwell establishes Winston as a misogynist as he “…disliked nearly all women…” and further strengthens this notion through Winston’s immediate aversion to Julia “…from the very first moment of seeing her” (Orwell 11). Despite acknowledging the underlying vindication for his misogynistic behavior toward Julia being because he was barred from becoming intimate with her, Winston’s immediate attitude of distaste toward her proved false as the two become affectionate toward one another. As a result, Winston’s first impression of Julia was confirmed to be mistaken and irrational; Combined with his unsound predilection for O’Brien, Winston displays animalistic traits on a personal level within The

Party.
Not only does Winston display “irrational...prejudices”, but he also shows strong indications of needless paranoia. Much of this is caused by Winston’s belief that Julia is spying on him because of his mistaken first impressions of her. In her presence, he senses a “nagging uneasiness” and experiences racing thoughts (Orwell 11-12). Questions such as “Why was she watching him? Why did she keep following him about?” ran rampant through his mind. (Orwell 62). Another illustration of this type of mania is depicted through Winston’s initial confidence in the inevitability of him being caught for writing in his journal and being vaporized. Although Winston makes sure to remain as quiet as possible and out of his telescreen’s field of vision, he continually believes that at any moment his thoughtcrimes would be discovered. When his writing is interrupted by knocking on his door, he instantly braces to face his demise due to thinking his crimes against The Party had been revealed “Already!” (Orwell 20-21). This falls into what Bekoff refers to as “irrational phobias” due to their formation without empirical evidence or reason. Since these “irrational phobias” can develop in both humans and animals, this attribute of Winston’s is also considered animalistic.
In addition to Winston’s paranoia, he exhibits clear manifestations of resentment and aggression. Orwell weaves subtle hints of Winston’s bitterness into his perception of, and reactions to, his surroundings. For example, while pondering the features of London neighboring him he regards them with “…a sort of vague distaste…” (Orwell 5). Later in the novel, a similar stance is established in Winston’s conversation with a colleague. When the topic of Big Brother is brought up, his countenance takes on an expression of dulled, “…vapid eagerness…”, which his colleague perceives as “…a certain lack of enthusiasm” (Orwell 52). Coupled together, these incidents create an atmosphere of antipathy and apathy toward Winston’s environment. Correspondingly, Bekoff also addresses the fact that “Animals also get jealous and violent or greedy and callous…”, verifying this aspect of his demeanor as animalistic.