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To What Extent Is Winston A Hero In 1984

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Prompt 3: Is Winston a hero?

Everyone has their own perception of a hero. “1984” takes place in a dystopian society run by a totalitarian government. There was no freedom of expression and there was no freedom of original thought. Winston, one of the main characters, who rebelled against the party’s policies. He participated in thoughtcrime, as well as getting sexually involved with a woman that wasn’t his wife. Eventually, he was caught and killed for his actions. Does that make him a hero? Winston is not a hero, because he puts his personal interests first, lacks moral integrity, and his fears are stronger than his intentions.

Winston is not a hero because all the things he does are for himself. Winston does not have an important heroic …show more content…

An example of this is when he confessed to Julia, “I wanted to rape and then murder you afterwards” (Orwell 101). Winston hated Julia because of his sexual desires. He was more than willing to kill his wife so he could live a life with Julia. Winston throughout the entire novel has always had violent and murderous thoughts. All of these come from how he can’t get what he wants. Speaking of murder, Winston spoke to O’Brien about all the terrible things he’d do for the brotherhood. One of the questions he asked was, “You are prepared to commit murder?” (Orwell 142) Winston says yes. This might appear like he’s being an anti hero, willing to commit violent acts to take down the party, but that doesn’t make him a true hero.The brotherhood wasn’t even real, but Winston blindly followed it and trusted O’Brien, which only encouraged him to accept these behaviors. It was the agreement made between him and O’Brien that was the downfall of Winston. It was also his desire to live a life with Julia that made him act irrationally. She was all he could think of when he was first sent to the prison camp, but that was soon to change when he was confronted with rats. He would rather have Julia go through all that pain and die instead of him. Does that make him the hero we thought he was? It only proves that his morally corrupt character is nothing more than a …show more content…

His pact with Julia was the one thing that got in the way of O’Brien’s plan, which was for him to love big brother. Winston had no attributes that would persuade others to believe his truths. He continues to live in fear, which is why he continues to work for the ministry of truth and hides when he’s with Julia. When caught by the thought police, he repeats, “We are the dead” (Orwell 182). It was at that moment when Winston knew this was going to be the end. The foreshadowing had begun since the very beginning of the book when Winston wrote, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”. He had accepted his fate since then, which was what made him rebel in secret. He couldn’t die. He has once told Julia, “I am afraid of death. You are young, so presumably you're more afraid of it than I am. Obviously we shall put it off as long as we can” (Orwell 89). A true hero doesn’t let fear control them. It was his fear of death that made him take the wrong risks. It has always been his love that was his only source of strength, once he lost that love for Julia, all hope of overthrowing the party was

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