Winston Smith’s character in Nineteen Eighty-Four
Winston Smith is probably the most important and complex character in George Orwell’s masterpiece, namely Nineteen Eighty-Four. Throughout this essay I will try to explain the different aspects of Winston’s role in the novel from the question of the narrative perspective through his rebellious tendencies to his psychological problems.
I am going to start by examining the genre of the novel. 1984 is one of the most popular novels of George Orwell’s work. When defining the genre, we can state that it is a dystopian, or negative utopian novel, since the writer aims to portray the worst human society imaginable to persuade readers to avoid any path that may lead towards it, while a novel of utopia does the exact opposite.
Orwell has written this novel with the intention of warning people
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Most of the plot takes place in London, the "chief city of Airstrip One", that “had once been called England or Britain”.
The first really interesting aspect of the novel is the question of the narrative perspective. Novels often have an easily identifiable character as a narrator or the narrator can be anonymous as well as he can be part of the storyline, can be an outsider or even a sufferer of the events. Which is unique in the case of Nineteen Eighty-Four is that the reader collects information through Winston’s eyes, can feel his emotions and understand his thoughts. However the narrator is obviously not Winston Smith, but it is a third person. Nineteen Eighty-Four uses limited third person narration:
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with
1984 by George Orwell describes a dystopian society in which Winston Smith, the main character, resides. The society, Oceania, is controlled by The Party, which maintains its regime by employing Thought Police that apprehend anyone with grievances against The Party, or its figure head, Big Brother. The story begins when Winston purchases a blank diary, in which he writes anything he finds necessary to document; this ranges from daily events to anti-Party messages. The first part of the novel describes the totalitarian nature of The Party through the daily experiences of Winston. When Winston bumps into a girl he until this point despised, he receives a note from her saying that she loves him. Upon reading this note, Winston is initially paranoid
In essence, the room above the shop could be seen as a haven, where Winston and Julia would be “utterly alone, utterly secure, with nobody watching [them], no voice pursuing [them], no sound except the singing of the kettle and the friendly ticking of the clock” (99). As seen throughout the novel, this room becomes a refuge where they can eat jam, chocolate, and drink real coffee as well as make love without the concern of the party. This setting elicited a flourishing relationship, as paralleled through the paperweight, where Winston “had the feeling that he could get inside it, and that in fact he was inside it, along with the mahogany bed and the gate leg table and the clock and the steel engraving and the paperweight itself” (150). The imagery and polysyndeton depicts an amicable atmosphere where Winston desires to further delve into an ideal world, as opposed to the repression of the society that he lives in. The “paperweight
The main character in George Orwell’s 1948 novel, 1984, Winston Smith can be seen as many things. To some, he may be a hero, but to others he is a coward and a fool. Throughout the novel, Winston’s characteristics are explored, and readers are shown the reasoning behind Winston’s twisted mind. It is evident that although Winston thinks he had control over his own mind and body, this is an imagined factor. The world of 1984 is one of a totalitarian society, where no one can be trusted, and no one is safe, Winston being the primary example of one who trusted thoughtlessly.
It is evident by the first chapter that Winston is not a fool, yet intends to play jester in public and continues the act in private. Winston is trapped in his own thoughts and is in dire need of an escape. He finds this evasive escape in the empty journal from Mr. Charrington. Winston’s diary doesn’t just represent a place where he is left free to throw his empty thoughts, it seems to be more. Winston’s secretive scraps of paper represent a place that the Party has not discovered. A place where he can think peacefully without the overbearing weight of the stress of his life or death daily performances and the rebellious thoughts confined and trapped in his head. The diary is similar to the prole apartment that Julia and Winston share. Winston desires a place that has remained untouched by the powerful influence of Big Brother. Winston and Julia have an elicit affair at the flat, which is punishable by the Party. Winston reads by himself and to Julia a book that has been neither altered nor approved of,
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.
1984 is a novel that is placed in the future where propaganda is the main theme. 1984 was written during World War II was taking place, therefore greatly impacted the writing and material that was used in 1984. Orwell wrote this book as sort of a warning to make sure that another Hitler would not come into power. Orwell, in an essay titled, “Why I Write,” he had stated that
Winston Smith, a middle-aged man who works as a records editor in Records Department at the Ministry of Truth, is the novel 's protagonist. He is the character that the reader most identifies with, and the reader sees the world from his point of view. Winston is a kind of innocent in a world gone wrong, and it is through him that the reader is able to understand and feel the suffering that exists in the totalitarian society of Oceania. As a secretly rebellious free thinker, Winston challenges the societal norms placed in the story by the antagonistic government, known as the Party. Orwell wants the reader to be intrigued when vivid descriptions of advanced technology, such as telescreens and hidden microphones, are included in the text providing the feeling of familiarity and pleasure. On the contrary, constant mentions of the tyrannical rule of Big Brother keeps the reader anxious about what will happen to Winston. Furthermore, the Party, the omnipresent ruling system in Oceania, uses several techniques in order to control the minds of the citizens. By exploiting the need to fit in through the use of the Anti-Sex League, the Party is able to suppress resistance to new ideas. The Party also destroyed the ability of citizens to evaluate logically by eliminating any privacy through the form of telescreen surveillance. Finally, through the
Winston Smith is a thirdy-nine-year-old intellectual, fatalistic, frail and a thin man which is the minor member of the ruling Party in near-future London. We experience the nightmarish world that the writer envisions through his eyes. Winston is extremely pensive, curious and desperate to understand how and why the Party exercises has such absolute power in Oceania. He passionately hates the totalitarian control of his government and the Party. He has his own revolutionary dreams.He wants to test the limits of its power and he commits crimes, have an illegal love affair with Julia to get himself secretly into the anti-Party Brotherhood.
The main character in George Orwell’s book 1984 is a thirty-nine year old man with the name of Winston Smith. Winston Smith creates thought crimes, he also has anti-Party views. The story “1984” tells about all of Winston Smith’s struggles. In an effort to avoid being monitored, Winston physically conforms to society, however mentally he does just the opposite. Winston is a thin, frail and intellectual thirty-nine year old. Winston hates totalitarian control and enforced repression that are characteristics of his government. Winston hates being watched by Big Brother. He always has revolutionary dreams, he feels like he would be protected. Julia is Winston’s lover, a beautiful dark- haired girl working in the
The protagonist in Orwell’s 1984 is Winston Smith. In the novel the reader experiences the dangers of a totalitarian world through the eyes of Winston Smith. He, unlike the other citizens of Oceania, is aware of the illusions that the Party, Big Brother, and the Thought Police institute. Winston’s personality is extremely pensive and curious; he is desperate to understand the reasons why the Party exercises absolute power in Oceania. Winston tests the limits of the Party’s power through his secret journal, committing an illegal affair, and being indicted into an Anti-Party Brotherhood. He does all his in hopes to achieve freedom and independence, yet in the end it only leads to physical and psychological torture, transforming him into a loyal subject of Big Brother.
A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is
The language of this passage, illustrates Winston’s frantic thoughts and worries, by having long, and sometimes grotesque sentences, describing life, death, and suicide, the current topics circulating Winston’s mind. Prior to this passage, Winston’s had just had an encounter with the dark-haired girl, where he believing her to be a spy who was following him, contemplated killing her, but found himself unable to. In this passage he’s very overwhelmed by this past event and his thoughts are portrayed in long, sentences, that show the current hopelessness he feels. He thinks to himself; “On the battlefield, in the torture chamber, on a sinking ship, the issues you are fighting are always forgotten, because the body swells up until it fills the universe, and even when you are not paralyzed by fright or screaming with pain, life
Winston Smith, is referred to as the main character, and protagonist furthermore he is a fictional character who is thirty-nine years old and suffering from a varicose ulcer on his ankle. Nevertheless a lonely man who smokes, cheap cigaretts, and drinks cheap whiskey and seems to be sexually fustrated and a member of the ruling party in London. As he is walking to his apartment the aroma of cabbage is lingering in the hallways. It is on a cold April day. A classic dystopian novel written in 1948 by George Orwell as he writes; he gets us acquainted with Winston Smith, whom is employed at the Ministry of Truth he works as a clerk in the records department, his job is fluctuating the past, so that history is submitting to how the government
Winston Smith is the main character in the book Nineteen Eighty-Four. He falls in love with a girl named Julia which has been forbidden by law by the party who rule all. The book is set in London, in the city of Airstrip One which is part of the superstate Oceania. The world is divided into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. These three superstate are said to always be in war against one another. Winston lives in a dirty dilapidated apartment building named Victory Mansion. After sneaking out to see one another for a few months they finally get caught by the police and are subjected to torture until they can profess their love for
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