1984 Character Analysis

In the novel 1984, George Orwell relates the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning by allowing the reader to see inside of the mind of Winston Smith. Orwell uses Winston’s rebellious thoughts to counteract his actions in order to show the reader how a dystopian society can control the citizens. Although Winston is in an obvious state of disbelief in the society, his actions still oppose his thoughts because of his fear of the government. Winston’s outward conformity and inward questioning relate to the meaning of the novel by showing Winston’s fight to truth being ended by the dystopian society’s government.

To make the character Winston Smith, the main protagonist from the book 1984, complex, George Orwell had to give his character multiple traits to keep Winston from being another boring, vague, and 2-dimensional character. Winston is a complex character because he undergoes emotional changes throughout the book, he has a variety of personality traits to drive the plot, and he has significant interactions with other characters throughout 1984.

George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 cautions against government having too much/excessive amount of power. Winston Smith lives in a society where a totalitarian government tracks their citizen's every move through telescreens and thought police. The government is divided among the four ministries; the Ministry of Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth. The excessive censorship in the society leads the citizens to be less individualistic and more alike to one another. Being in an environment where Newspeak is enforced, citizens are unable to express their originality. Orwell's 1984 is a very effective cautionary tale through its characterization of Winston who lacks heroic characteristics, its conflict of man vs society, and its use of dialect.

In Orwell’s 1984 we follow Winston Smith, a man who feels the oppressions of the

Correspondingly, the basis of any speaker’s arguments is logos or the logic and reasoning behind their views. In order for the party’s message to be accepted by Winston, they must first analyze and understand the his current views. Winston Smith, above all, values honesty and the truth. The protagonist even goes as far as to root his own reality in objective truth: “Freedom is the freedom is to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted all else follows.” (Orwell 81). As an anti-historian of a sort, Smith’s purpose is to reshape history in accordance with the party. Though, when he catches the party in a lie he begins to understand that there is no objective truth in his society. The parties lies are the reality for all citizens of Oceania- the fictional nation in which 1984 is set. Winston believes that if a human being uses their own natural logic and comes to the conclusion that two plus two equals four even if the party says that is incorrect- they would still be free in the terms of individual thought. Big Brother and the party’s main focus is to destroy any semblance of free and objective thought

In 1984, Smith is trying to be an individual in a society that is governed by Big Brother. As a result of him trying to be an individual, he is testing and trying to break the rules of the society. The individual in an authoritarian society is forced to follow the rules and beliefs of the rest of the society.

Totalitarianism, derived from a society which proceeds without cautiousness towards governmental power, can induce many limitations among citizens and every aspect of their lives including individualism. In George Orwell’s 1984, the artificiality of the dystopian country influenced the protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, to try and deceive the government in any way possible. Winston and many others view individuality as immensely important, but a large challenge to achieve due to the diminished hope evident in dystopia. Hope is prominent among Winston in his actions towards the totalitarian government, referred to as Big Brother, throughout the novel. From the beginning of the novel when readers are introduced to a dismal setting to

Smith is best described as a tragic hero. 1984 presents an imaginary future world where a totalitarian

How would you like to live in a world under constant surveillance and not knowing what is going on in the world? In the world of Oceania, this is true. The Party, led by Big Brother is a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of everyone's lives, through telescreens and even the language, Newspeak. Winston a thirty-nine-year-old who is described as; “...a smallish frail figure, the meagreness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the Party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine…” (Orwell 2). Winston is described as a thin, frail, and fearful of the Thought Police. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth or Minitrue in Newspeak, which deals with arts, education, and the media or entertainment. Winston lives in constant fear in Oceania due to the Thought Police; a group working for the Party who look for people with ideas that could be going against the Party and Big Brother. Throughout 1984 Winston becomes known as the protagonist in the story as he deals with many pressing issues and problems, Winston often gains levels and drops them on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Winston parallels his everyday life to Bentham’s Panopticon.

“They could lay bare in the utmost detail everything that you had done or said or thought; but the inner heart, whose workings were mysterious even to yourself remained impregnable (Orwell, 174.)” There are some citizens who realize that the inner heart and innate essence of the society members are the only things that aren’t able to be damaged by the Party. In the novel, 1984, by George Orwell, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is one of the few citizens who knows it is difficult yet crucial and possible to “stay human,” by preserving the fundamental traits of humanity and resisting the Party’s abuse of those characteristics.

In 1984, George Orwell uses cultural, psychological, and social surroundings to shape Winston Smith's (the main protagonist) psyche. The society's culture is restrictive, the government brainwashes people and children into following the government's rule, and his social encounters, especially with his girlfriend Julia, shape his morality.

society is completely against Big Brother and his party. Smith beliefs in the existence of a secret

In the novel 1984 the author, George Orwell, tells us a story about Winston rebellion against the Party by having a secret relationship with Julia. They found a hiding place in Mr. Charrington’s building, by which they spend months together. Being unaware that there was a telescreen hidden they were found and imprisoned in the Ministry of Love. In a chapter of the novel, Julia and Winston experience a rocket bomb giving him the impression that she was dead.

The novel 1984, by George Orwell, shows the world through a totalitarian government. The main protagonist, Winston Smith, is a party member who works to cover up the Big Brothers propaganda. However, he begins to write in a journal of his hatred for the society he exists in. This is considered an act of treason and is punishable by death for committing a “thought crime.” Winston is aware that he is being watched every day, everywhere, and anywhere. Despite this fact, Winston and a woman named, Julia, both defy Big Brother and begin an affair. This is the world where everyone is against everyone, and those who break the rules are punished severely for their crimes. Big Brother wishes to gain total control of the population by banning or prohibiting

Winston Smith walked home\surrounded by posters proclaiming “Big Brother is Watching You”. Smith does not like the Party but expressing his opinion would mean certain death. Thought crime means death or vaporization, it meant a person’s existence was never there; they were born. This story is composed in three parts; the world of 1984 as he (Smith) sees it, Smith’s rebellion and affair with Julia and Smith’s interrogation, torture, most importantly, his re-education at Miniluv. Winston Smith live in the now ruined London, “chief city of Airstrip One” as quoted in the