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Is Winston A Hero In 1984

993 Words4 Pages

Robi Santiago
English 12

1984: Winston Smith

The definition of a hero is fickle, as everyone has their own image of what they image a hero to be. My definition of a hero is one that does not stray from the usual; a hero must go through hardship, face challenges unfaceable by another, all for the sake of achieving a brighter future. These actions typically involve some sort of sacrifice, however the hero will blame no one as they took upon these actions out of their selflessness. According to this definition, Winston Smith, the protagonist of George Orwell’s 1984, is undeserving of the prestigious title of Hero as not only is he full of fear and contradiction, but his actions also end with no impact.

Initially, what stands out the …show more content…

In a sense, Winston did not completely reject all the ideals and actions of the Party until the timeline of the novel. This can be seen with how the novel states, “Winston’s greatest pleasure in life was in his work.” (46) His work, being the falsificaiton of the past, ensuring the future of the Party as the strongest, most generous and most reliable. The creation of Comrade Ogilvy and his competetive outlook against Tillotson encapsulates the pride he feels in his work, despite knowing the party slogan, “Who controls the past, … controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” (37) How does a rebel against the Party take pride in helping the Party without being somewhat in agreement? Winston continues to disappoint further as because of the lack of his usual paranoia and good instinct in identification of character, he is defeated by Mr. Charrington’s avuncular mask, trusting him even with the notion that the Thought Police and telescreen surveillance is everywhere in the Party’s jurisdiction. His fatalism proves fatal in this scene as he falls with little resistance, allowing Julia to be violently captured in the process, conflicting with what a lover and a hero would normally do. Although unrealistic, it is to my belief that a heroic character would not betray their loved ones as well as themselves, which Winston eventually did as he developed love for Big Brother, detaching the connection he shared with Julia in the final scenes of the

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