Yes, Winston Smith should definitely be considered as a hero. Winston Smith is the main character of George Orwell’s “1984”. He is a member of the Outer Party and is being ruled by the Inner Party. Because those who do not follow Big Brother are vanished and never seen again, he has to pretend that he is one of Big Brother’s loyal followers. Because all of the citizens know that they are being watched at all times, nobody seems to have enough courage to rebel because they think that they will either be tortured or vanished. Winston eventually becomes frustrated with the strict laws of the Party and decides to rebel.
He is an ordinary man prone to nervousness, anxiety, paranoia, and fear like most of us. He is not naturally gifted with uncommon valor. He overcomes his weaknesses and acts courageously despite a natural lack of courage. His actions, seemingly trivial at first glance, are acts of courage when viewed in the context of his universe. His choices represent a rebellion against an evil force that surrounds him physically and psychologically. He does not suppress his awareness; he embraces it. He chooses the path of freedom, of action and thought in a world where such a choice guarantees unimaginable physical and emotional anguish. At the conclusion of 1984, the man who betrays his lover Julia and is filled with overwhelming love for “Big Brother” is no longer Winston Smith. He is simply a mindless physical reminder of the man he once was, created by torture and behavior modification that no human is capable of withstanding. His physical and psychological inabilities to resist extreme pain and anguish do not make him a failure. They simply make him
At first, Winston felt no true attraction to Julia, but in their second time making love, Winston felt the physical loyalty that is involved in relationships. Winston was in love with Julia and they had created a bond of loyalty together which is very dangerous to do so
Winston is an odd character in the novel 1984. Even tho he is the main character he shows signs of him being scared and timid but still tries to be a rebel. Winston is a scrawny middle aged man, he lives all alone in his house. He spends his time writing in his journal if it's about the community or the government.
Winston has an obsession with her after their first encounter, revealing she had made an imprint on his mind, which is the seed of his love for her. After making love with her, “At the sight of the words I love you the desire to stay alive welled up in him” (Section 2 Chapter 1). This brief passage illustrates his growing affection for her along with the relinquishing of a primal desire
Even though he is married, he and Julia have an affair that combines their personal desires as well as their desire to fight against the Party as it is explicitly stated in the novel. Winston and Julia both willingly participate in the affair because they are both moved to action by the Party’s acts of injustice. Winston is aware that the Party has blatantly outlawed “love” and Winston wants to feel romance in order to spite the Party. Both Julia and Winston would do anything to spite Big Brother. In addition to the love factor, Winston isn’t just participating because Julia is youthful, more so because he is drawn to the act of power. Winston isn’t just resisting power, he feels the need to hold
“George Orwell once offered this definition of heroism: ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed.” In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith is described in words of being the ordinary, everyday man to the dystopian society that Orwell envisions to us through Winston’s eyes. the life of a Oceanian citizen. However, in the closing of the novel he admits his admiration for Big Brother. My definition of a hero falls basically along those words but slightly more of a cliche thought to it in the way of the hero is willing to risk their life to abide by true morals in conquering
Having a passionate relationship is no longer a foreign concept to Winston, he now loathes it. When having a conversation with Julia he thinks, “. With Julia, everything came back to her own sexuality." As soon as this was touched upon in any way she was capable of great acuteness.”. Winston does, in fact, enjoy the sex, but after seeing Julia for months at this point, he realizes their differences. Julia is focused on having a sexual relationship with people, but not committing anything that would affect the integrity of the party’s rule. When Winston thinks, “ With Julia, everything came back to her own sexuality”, it is showing the signs of a disconnect. While the love for Julia has not changed in this passage, his quest for anti-Big brother actions is not fully satisfied. The physical relations between Julia and Winston only scratches the surface on what Winston desires.
Heroes are important in the world whether they a make believe like Spider-man or a real hero like a policeman. They provide a future, protection, hope, and they change the world every day. In Merriam-Webster dictionary, it states that a hero “is someone who shows great courage”. While George Orwell the author of 1984 tells the reader another definition of what a hero is, Orwell states that a hero is “ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed.” However it seem that Winston the main character of this novel wanted to go against Big Brother in the beginning of the novel, Winston however is not the hero in this novel because he doesn't seem to change anything at the end of the novel, tells O'Brien to torture Julia, and At the end of the novel
Winston Smith is given a strange yet intriguing book from O’Brien called The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein after telling O’Brien that he is a rebel. Winston is told that this book will help him understand more about the “Brotherhood” and opposing the Party. In this book, Goldstein supports the idea of the government manipulating society. He talks about why Oceania is really in a war in a comprehensible and understanding way so all people can realize how corrupt the government actually is.
Winston Smith realizes and acknowledges the fact that he is going to see the Ministry of Love soon. This reflects on the quote: “ Thoughts to words to action all lead to the Ministry of Love which leads to annihilation ”(Orwell 166). This quote strongly resembles the actions Winston has done in the past. Winston starts off with negative thoughts towards the party then he began writing them in his notebook, this is when his suicidal thoughts of the Ministry of Love started consuming his mind. After Winston had already accepted the fact that he had commit such a dangerous crime, he had no remorse to stop, instead he continued. He then met his lover Julia. Julia made Winston’s thoughts become actions when they would have secret rendezvous to have
In 1984 Winston is introduced by Orwell as a man “…who was thirty nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle,” Orwell specifying Winston’s “varicose ulcer” makes him seems unfit which makes Winston an unlikely hero because of his physical conditions. Orwell gives us an inferior view of Winston; his lack of physical fitness him needing to “rest several times on the way” ascending the stairs reinforces the impression that he lacks the typical heroic stature.
In the book 1984, there were a handful of characters and the one that stuck out to me the most was Mr. Charrington. He was the owner of a second hand store where the proletariats lived. He met Winston one night when he purchased a blank journal and seemed to have a particular fondness of antiques and treasures from the old world. Winston had enjoyed talking to him and the two became friends. Mr. Charrington had showed Winston around the rest of his home and where he used to sleep with his wife when she was still with him. The room was very comforting to Winston partly because of the fact that there was no telescreen in sight. Winston later returned and had bought an old paperweight which he adored it’s beauty. Winston had trusted Mr.
Winston fell in love with a woman he worked with named Julia. He and Julia shared the same beliefs and frustrations with the government. They both felt like they needed to rebel against the country's regulations. Winston wanted to outwardly rebel against the government. He wanted to make life better for future generations with freedoms and individuality. Julia knew that cooperating with the party outwardly and rebelling in