In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, the main character is Winston Smith. A simple, frail, skinny man, wanting to know what life was like before the revolution, and just to have a small taste of freedom. Is Winston a typical storybook hero? Or is he is something else, something better or worse? Throughout the book there are many instances which prove that he is more anti-hero than hero. The protagonist displays acts of heroism but is it enough to consider him a hero? Is Winston an anti-hero because he does not always show the complete signs or look the way that a typical hero would. Winston looked at the world of 1984 through an intellectual eyeglass. He wanted freedom and he broke laws that were set. But he did not start a revolution. …show more content…
The heroic efforts by Winston and Julia were completely thwarted. Winston had finally shown signs that he could be a hero. But they were ruined by O’Brien. Julia and Winston are forced to separate and then they are both subject to torture. The downfall of Winston begins at this point, any heroic signs that had begun to sprout out of Winston were utterly destroyed. He went back to his old ways of only looking out for himself. The qualities of a typical hero once again vanished. Winston was tortured so much that he ratted out Julia and confessed everything. He even said he’d rather Julia be tortured and die than himself. He had betrayed her, and he had betrayed himself. “I betrayed you. She said. I betrayed you. He said.” (292)He promised himself that this would not happen. And he just kept tumbling and tumbling. Winston was not a hero, he was an anti-hero. He was never fully invested in other people until he fell in love with Julia. Even then, he still betrayed her. Winston had occasionally showed signs that he could be a hero. However, it was never in his own, it was only when Julia was with him. He just isn’t cut out to be a hero. He was never looking out for other and all of his