Heroism In The Age Of Big Brother

Through his failure, Orwell portrays the dangers of a disunited society for the individual. Even though Winston willingly chose to oppose the Party and offered his life towards the eradication of his oppressors, his sacrifice proved futile without communal support to usurp the tyrannical regime. Despite the common suffering the people endured, their fear of the individual torment each would suffer motivated them to submit to the government. In Winston, Orwell highlights the frailty of an individual person in comparison to a mob. When imprisoned at the Ministry of Love, Winston’s will crumbled under torture and he even offered the life of the one individual he had earlier seemed hesitant to sacrifice, Julia. Hence, Orwell illustrates the need for a united social front for individuals to change the society in which they live in. Otherwise, self-preservation shall remain dominant within each individual, leaving them vulnerable to continuous manipulation through propaganda.

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.

Winston, despite his flawed nature and his cryptic thoughts, could be seen as somewhat of a hero, he got the girl, he found a flaw in the system, he attempted to join a rebellion

In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith is a prime example of the oppressed fighting against the oppressor by his actions of minute resistance, giving his love to another, and joining a secret activists group.

During Joseph Stalin’s regime of the Soviet Union, 1984, the Classic Dystopian novel by George Orwell, was burned and banned, because the book shone a negative light on communism. The book, 1984, follows the life of Winston Smith, who lives in a country called Oceania. Oceania is a totalitarian society, ruled by a government known as The Party, whose leader is called Big Brother. In Oceania, every movement and sound every person makes is constantly surveillanced, and one wrong facial expression, statement, or action can cause the ‘Thought Police’ to take the person away to never be seen again. A small percentage of the population questions The Party’s dictatorship, and the novel follows Winston’s struggles to keep his hatred of The Party

Later, Winston becomes broken and says that he knows that he was in the wrong, but preferred to be in the wrong. He showed that he still had motivation to fight for freedom. This is what causes him to go to Room 101, which is where he ends up betraying Julia because of the fear he has of rats. It seemed like everyone ends up betraying what/who they love most, since the purpose of the torture is to replace everything they know and love with Big Brother. Despite his failure, Winston still shows that he is a very heroic character based on his persistence to hate Big Brother and wanting to bring it down. The book “1984” shows that Winston is a hero because of his dedication to rebel as much as he could and his bravery to take action and to do what he believed was right. Winston was an phenomenal protagonist and was a hero defined through what he did, not by what happened to the him in the

In the novel, Winston is a character who lacks "hero" traits as he has more traits of an everyman than a hero. Winston is an out of shape, average man with a "varicose ulcer above his right ankle" (3). Considering the typical hero, not only does Winston lack the physical strength, he lacks the mentality as well. Throughout the novel, he consistently talks about "overthrowing the Party," but he never actually does it. Instead of overthrowing the Party, he rebels by purchasing a diary and writing sentences such as "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" (20) and " I don’t care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck" (21). Winston chooses to write these into his diary as he is too cowardly to say this in public. As time passes, his

Orwell develops the psychological fear of a human mind created from the image of the Party. Introducing the dilemma of the Winston – a character who wishes to escape the confinement in the society where he lives in; also trying the pursue his own individuality of thought. The dominance of the Party holds every individual to be in a continuous state of obedience. However, Orwell focuses on Winston’s

Even though Winston contributed to committing acts against the government that are quite courageous, it was all in a discrete manner. Instead of engaging in an open revolt, Winston’s sexual escapades with Julia and journal entries were in secrecy and remote locations that were never repeated twice, also in the room provided by Mr.Charrington. I interpreted Winston’s approach to act in confidence from everyone around him out of the fear of the reactions of people during the two minute hate, telescreens, hidden microphones, and brainwashed, spying neighbours outing you at the first open moment to save themselves very cowardice rather than make an open revolt. The open revolt would have spoken actions of a hero, “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”. Basically even if Winston’s public revolt to get others to go against rather than conform to the Party’s laws and live in fear didn’t succeed, it would have been the effort that counts for what a hero would do to better a country, people, or even the world. The fear Winston felt and had thought of in the back of his mind that he mentioned all kept him regretting the actions he took part in.

Imagine living in a society where the government rules every aspect of an individual’s life to the degree that their personal liberties are nonexistent and they are deprived of indulging in simple primal activities. Winston Smith lives in a dystopian world where he finds himself trapped in a society where individuality does not exist. The government controls every aspect of its citizens lives for the purpose of retaining power. It maintains its power by using fear tactics like the threat of perpetual war and the manipulation of its citizens’ minds by limiting expression and speech and controlling the narrative of history. This results in a loss of self, but the Party’s control over its citizens is multifaceted. George Orwell uses Victory

In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological

Orwell and McTeigue conceive the concept of a cautionary tale by emphasising the importance of the Individuality through Winston’s submission and V’s immortality. Portrayed throughout the novel as an individual in his ways of thinking with the exception of Julia, Winston meets his demise at the hands of O’brien. Once broken through his fear, the individuality of Winston had shattered leaving him as one in society. Winston’s complete submission is presented through his final meeting with Julia to which all forms of their previous individuality were

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

“We are taught that the hero’s journey is the journey from weakness to strength. But...[this is] wrong. The real hero’s journey is the journey from strength to weakness.” The real hero shows the ability to rise above challenges, even in a state of weakness, and wind up victorious. The real hero is flawed, but his courage, selflessness, and sacrifices for the greater good will rise above all. Winston Smith of 1984 is described as a “small frail figure” with a “varicose ulcer above his right ankle.” This is evidently not the image conjured when one imagines a hero, but due to the deceiving nature of appearances, we must consider his actions. What does Winston do? He writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” repetitively in his diary, he engages in a

Despite Winston's passionate hatred for the Party and his desire to test the limits of the Party's power, his capacity to carry out action against the Party is burdened (i.e. lacking positive freedom) by his intense paranoia and overriding belief that he will ultimately suffer scrutiny and brutal torture for the crimes he