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Examples Of Free Will In 1984

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The Development of the Theme of Free Will in 1984 "We are not content with negative obedience, nor even with the most abject submission. When finally you surrender to us, it must be of your own free will” (Orwell 258). These are O’Brien’s words to Winston as the latter is being held and tortured in the Ministry of Truth. What is free will? By definition, free will is the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate, or the ability to act at one’s own discretion. Does Winston even ever possess free will in the first place? Some critics say no, he never made a free choice. Others say yes, in order for Winston to surrender his free will he must have had free will to begin with. Either way, the idea of free will is an …show more content…

In George Orwell's novel, 1984, the theme of free will is developed throughout the book by the characters' thoughts, actions, and words. The first example of the development of the theme of free will is glimpsed through Winston’s thoughts. In the Party, there is the idea of thoughtcrime, which implies that people can make conscious decisions that are against what the party considers good. Thinking submersive thoughts and even having an improper facial expression can make someone guilty of facecrime and/or thoughtcrime, so keeping emotions in check is crucial in the Party (“1984”). Winston is convinced that his thoughts are his own, and that they are not put into his head by the Party. As evidenced by the following excerpt from the text, Winston demonstrates free will through his thoughts. “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows” (Orwell 81). These were Winston’s thoughts as he began to think of rebellion, and these thoughts were written in his diary as if he was speaking to O’Brien. Another example of Winston’s thoughts demonstrating free will comes after he wonders why the Party controls so many aspects of his life and how no one else seems to take

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Often, we get to hear that criminals were not out of sound mind when they committed their crimes and might receive lighter punishments for that reason. Winston is not like that. He knows exactly what he is doing and still holds a sense of moral when he commits the thoughtcrime at the beginning of the book when he makes the diary entry. He is aware that thoughtcrime is something despicable in the society he lives in and frightens when someone knocks on the door, thinking the Thought Police is already here to arrest him.

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Winston was never a devoted follower, constantly questioning the world around him. Even when in custody, Winston continued questioning motives and denouncing the Party and Big Brother, despite the futility. He knew no societal changes would result from his actions, but desperately wanted to share his ideas with someone, and since he was already being tortured, he was capable of speaking freely in the jail area. The purpose was to rid him of his rebellious mindset, and to do so, O’Brien needed to know everything Winston honestly thought in order to ‘correct’ it fully. For example, O’Brien forced Winston to recognize that whatever the Party said was true by holding up four fingers and saying there were five, “But there had been a moment- of luminous certainty, where each new suggestion of O’Brien’s had filled up a patch of emptiness and had become absolute truth, and when two and two could have been three as easily five, if that were what was needed (Orwell 258).

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