Both Dr. Morbius from Fred Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet and Winston Smith from George Orwell’s 1984 are comparable characters in both superior intellect as well as motives for secrecy. Both men also succumb to an unfortunate end that is ultimately of their own doing. Dr. Morbius was a smart man to begin with, a doctor and one of the soul survivors on Altair IV where he lives with his daughter Altaira and robot Robby. Much of his research revolves around the Krell, a super species that lived on Altair IV 200,000 years earlier but perished suddenly.
It is a Krell laboratory that Dr. Morbius conducts his research in, with loads of Krell technology that has been left behind. One of these things is called a “plastic educator” and is capable of enhancing human intellect. When Dr. Morbius used the device for the first time he nearly died, but as a result his already impressive intellect was doubled.
Smith’s job is in the Ministry of Truth where he works as a editor. He rewrites articles to make it look like Big Brother and the party are without fault. For example if say the party predicted something and it did not come true, Smith would alter the prediction to match what actually happened. Smith also has to eliminate people from the record books who have been
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One is a character with impressive intellect. Typically the protagonist is someone of above average intelligence, possibly even too smart for their own good. In addition, the main character often operates under a cloud of secrecy. Especially in dystopian narratives the government is something to be feared, and intellectuals will hold certain beliefs that may not be popular or sanctioned by the government. Eventually the secrets will come out and the protagonist will meet an untimely end. It is fitting that especially in dystopian but also utopian stories that there are not typically happy