Winston Smith was one of the few people who dared to attempt to rebel against the government. His need for companionship “ He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the monster. He was alone” (page 28), and hatred for the Party “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (page 20), drove him to commit his first act of rebellion, writing in his journal.
Ariana Dalmau Mrs. Stevenson Pre AP English II July 13, 2015 1984 Part One, Chapter One Summary An occurrence at work that morning pushes Winston to start writing an illegal diary. “He tried to squeeze out some childhood memory that should tell him whether London had always been quite like this. Were there always these vistas of rotting nineteenth-century houses, their sides shored up with balks of timber, their windows patched with cardboard and their roofs with corrugated iron, their crazy garden walls sagging in all directions?” (Orwell 3)
Throughout the story, Winston commits various “thoughtcrimes”, which are punishable by death, against “Big Brother” in order to escape its tyranny. We see the things he commits these crimes with, specifically with his diary and Julia, to be what he cherishes most. At the start of the book, Winston’s first “thoughtcrime” was writing in his diary. In this society, expressing thought is against the law and
Entry 2 In the third chapter, I began to learn a little bit about Winston’s past and the past of this whole crazy place called Oceania in which he lives. In the beginning of this book, Winston talks about how one can’t control what they dream so they are left vulnerable when they sleep. This vulnerability is clearly a theme because Winston has a meaningful dream about his mother and young sister, “Winston was dreaming of his mother. He must, he thought have been ten or twelve years old when his mother had disappeared.
Owning the diary is a punishable offense and the contents of the diary would get Winston convicted of Thoughtcrime. He writes anti-party messages in his book, such as “down with Big Brother” to privately resist the regime. Though Winston is committing a crime by
In 1984, written by George Orwell, the past is seen or portrayed to be a very crucial part of the understanding of the novel. A few examples that illustrate this theme of the past are Winston's job as a records editor at the Ministry of Truth, O'Brien destroying the photograph of three one-time party members, and the use of Telescreens. Winston's occupation entails the destruction of past records, which solidifies the theme of purging the past in the novel. One example of this is demonstrated when Winston is describing the Records Department. He says, “the records department, after all, was itself only a single branch of the Ministry of Truth, whose primary job was not to reconstruct the past but to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers, films, textbooks, Telescreen programs, plays, novels- with every conceivable kind of information.”
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.” Winston begins a diary – punishable by death. He writes down his thoughts about his job, life, the tyrannical government, and expressing anything in anyway illegal in Oceania.
His diary is one of the ways Winston shows that he is courageous. By Winston keeping a diary, he is committing thoughtcrime because
In George Orwell’s lasting novel 1984, he creates a society where no free thought or free will is allowed. Even thoughts (Thoughtcrimes) or facial expressions (Facecrimes) can end in torture and eventually, disappearance. In this novel, Winston Smith’s fate is sealed from the beginning but he still tries to exercise his own free will. Winston often knows that his actions will get him caught, but he continues to make his own (bad) decisions: "Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or if he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference.
Winston’s realization of the Party’s morally wrong actions gets him to start rebelling against him. The first instance of a rebellion is when he purchases a diary from a store, which is prohibited. He secretly writes down any anti-Party suspicions, knowing that he is going to get captured for it. In the first act of 1984, Winston continues to write in his diary.
The novel describes the journey of Winston Smith as he rebels against the Party and tries to maintain his human qualities. By creating a totalitarian government in the novel 1984, George Orwell is able to express how important humanity is to not only Winston but also
The reader can see, however, that Winston, despite his “loyalty” to The Party, is still committing acts of rebellion. Orwell depicts Winston arriving at home and instantly pulls out a notebook and beginning to write. The act of having a notebook alone is considered a crime. The term “thought-crime” is commonly used in this society. The Party does not allow individualized thoughts, therefore, confirming, the idea that Winston’s use of a journal is his first act of documented rebellion.
In the entry, Winston tries explain as to how the party and Big brother use different forms of media to spread their propaganda, which will lead them to ultimate power. He also makes an attempt to instigate mutual feelings in Winston smith of the future. The overall tone in the diary entry is more or less plane sailing. In most part of the entry it is very dour with some parts giving a feeling of fear to the
Winston is defiant and rebels against Big Brother and the Party through various illegal actions. After purchasing an empty diary, he continuously wrote “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” when the telescreens were out of view (Orwell 21). This simple thought is considered to be a severe crime where Winston lives because it is direct disapproval towards the Party. Winston feels as if Big Brother is controlling every aspect of his life, so this rebellious action allows for him to vent his frustration.
This moment of weakness for Winston demonstrates his ego because he is satisfying his urge to rebel against the government in an efficient and appropriate way, as described by Marie Doorey in a reference about psychoanalysis (Doorey). Winston waited until he had acquired the diary to begin conspiring his thoughts against Big Brother. Winston mistakenly thought he was writing in secret, when in fact he was not. He was always being watched by Big Brother. Moreover, Winston attempts expressing his individuality by writing his thoughts and feelings in the diary.
