Winston's Motivation In 1984

Every person has their own motivations, or in other words, their own reasons for their desires, actions, and needs. People such as serial killers are often motivated to commit their crimes by the desire to hurt people, which often can be traced back to a rough childhood. On the other hand there’s people such as doctors and lawyers who came from similar circumstances; yet they were motivated by a desire to escape their past, particularly through the means of success. However often, we might not even know the motivation behind our own actions, which hinders our self control. Perhaps this is why people often make rash decisions. This can be seen in the case of Winston Smith in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. Throughout the book Winston continually

commits thought crimes against the Party; through actions such as keeping a Diary, going into a Prole neighborhood, or simply just by thinking against the party. However, despite being aware of how dangerous his actions are and even initially restraining himself, Winston continues to do so. Although there are likely a plethora of factors that motivated Winston to do so, his main desire through these actions is to rebel.
Winston’s desire to rebel can be seen through his thoughts, actions, and words.

An instance of this can be seen when Winston purchases his diary from an ordinary shop, as “Party members were not supposed to go in” (1,6), which Winston continues on to do. Yet, despite knowing the consequences Winston buys the book without “wanting it for any particular purpose” (1,6). Perhaps this is Winston’s subconscious way of rebelling against the party; as despite knowing the rules, Winston acts on his desires without reason. However the most incriminating evidence can be seen through the content of his diary, where he express his inner thoughts and emotions. By writing words such as “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (1, 18) and proceeding to say “they'll shoot me in the back of the neck down with big brother” (1,18). Yet again, it is visible how Winston is aware of his actions and the consequences; but he simply does not care. Through knowingly knowing of his wrong doings and acting on them, Winston rises or rebels against the

Party.
Winston also has multiple reasons to support his desire for rebellion.

His primary one being his curiosity; as the Party essentially holds the control of the public’s knowledge, Winston repeatedly expresses his confusion and desire to know more. Which can be seen with him questioning how we truly “know that two and two make four” (7,80) and pondering “if the mind itself is controllable…what then?”(7,80). As can be seen Winston is confused by his own knowledge, especially living in a society where freethought is considered a crime. Therefore the thirst for knowledge or more so for the freedom of it is his primary motivation. His secondary motivation is his desire to reconnect with the past. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Winston had a desire to reconnect with the past. Winston takes a risky measure by going into a prole pub to ask an elderly man who can “remember what it was like in the old days, before the Revolution”(8,89) for his memories. Through taking a risky action, Winston demonstrates his desperation for the past, part of this is likely rooted for his thirst for knowledge as well. Winston also has an affinity for old objects such as the paper weight or the diary he bought; which is his biggest crime of all. Lastly his third motivation was the want for individualism. Although this is not something Winston continually expresses his desires about; it is visible with his actions. For example the purchase of the diary; a place to document his inner thoughts.

Winston’s taking to old objects is also evidence of him trying to express his individuality through material objects, as he doesn’t know any other way home.
The final thing that fuels his need to rebel are the external and internal pressures that Winston faces. Although there are many, by far the most important one is repression. Winston continually talks about his desire to be with people; to communicate, to love, to touch. He mentions how he was confused as to why the Party “was trying to kill the sex instinct” (6, 66), something that affected his marriage to Katherine; who was a loyal devotee to the party. Winston mentions several times how he despised his wife, primarily because of her loyal support of the party and her inability to be intimate. When Winston describes his experience with a prostitute, he mentions his “feeling of defeat and resentment” (6,67) during the act which was mixed in with the thought of Katherine’s body, “frozen forever by the hypnotic power of the Party”(6,67). However his anger can best be seen when he questions “Why did it always have to be like this?”(6,67), referring to the fact that due to the Party’s tight grasp on the people, he could never truly have someone to love. As human’s have the desire for social interaction, it is no surprise how the stifling of that can affect one negatively. Therefore, perhaps it’s the Party’s repressing of sexuality which really drives Winston toward rebellion, as it causes him a great deal of frustration and emotional turmoil.
In conclusion, there are several factors which influence Winston to commit his crimes, with the biggest one being his desire to rebel. The motivations behind this desire to rebel have to do with his frustrations of the control the Party has on him and the people around him. Therefore Winston sees that the best way to handle it is to rebel, perhaps this is even his way of making himself feel in control for once. Although everyone is different, we all require a sense of freedom, and having it completely stripped away can take away the self control of even the most self aware people.