The Protagonist Analysis

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” ( Christopher Reeve). This passage from a speech given by Christopher Reeve perfectly displays what society thinks a hero should be. However not all protagonist show the same traits; some do not even seem like heroes or good guys, they seem more like villains than heroes. This makes the reader support the antagonist because they seem more of a hero than the protagonist. This happens during The Nether. Sims, the antagonist of the book, seems more like a protagonist than Morris the actually Protagonist of the story. Also, protagonists sometimes do not follow the set traits that readers have built up. Winston Smith from 1984, does

Winston Smith the protagonist of 1984 and Morris the protagonist from the Nether, display that protagonists do not always follow the same traits and stereotypes that readers have for protagonist. To begin with the main traits of a hero must be defined. Society identifies heroes as people that do the right thing and want to do something for the greater good of the community. This makes the reader want them to achieve their goal. Society thinks that heroes are different in someway. Hero’s in literature will usually stand out in society in one way or another. Superman has his powers, Batman is very intelligent, and the green lantern has his ring. These are three different examples of how heroes in literature differ from the general society. There are also a few standards that we have for protagonists in literature; one of which is that the protagonist must be doing the right thing or be on the “good” side. If the protagonist is not doing the right thing or on the “bad” side the reader might find it harder to relate with that person. For example, Grand Theft Auto 5, the newest instalment in the series, got a near perfect review expect for the fact that the protagonists of the game were all horrible people and that made it hard for people to relate to the characters. This is not the only case

Winston is the protagonist of 1984. During the novel Winston’s hatred for Bring Brother and The Party grows as the novel progresses until he is captured. When Winston is captured we see his true colours and why he is not a protagonist. One of the main things Winston does to develop as a character is form a love with Julia. This shows that he is willing to rebel against The Party and in turn becomes more human. While captured, Winston rescinds all love he ever showed for Julia while trapped in Room 101. When he shouted ,“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! ! Not me!” ( Orwell 300). A true hero would not sell out their true love in order to save themselves. As well this also sends Winston’s character growth back to where it started The final lines of the book are, “He had one the victory over himself. He loved Big brother”(Orwell 311). These are quite possibly the most important words in the book because it shows that Winston shows that he is exactly the same as when he started he journey against big brother. This leaves reader disappointed and wanting more because they wanted winston to succeed and live happily ever after with Julia as the rebel against big brother but that doesn’t end up happening. This quote gives a perfect summary of Winston when the book