Who Is Winston Smith A Hero In 1984

Riley Phillips Miss Prill Yearlong English II Honors 05 April 2024 Creative Title Unwavering dedication, resilience in the face of adversity, hope in spite of despair, and selflessness to a fault. All heroes share these traits. Humans have been depicting stories of these individuals for centuries, giving an image all aspire to become. However, in George Orwell's 1984, this image becomes distorted. Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984, is depicted as an antihero. Throughout the story Winston rebels against an oppressive government, vowing to do everything in his power to destroy it, yet he is inevitably converted to a believer. During this story we see first hand that Winston Smith is an inherent anti-hero whose extensive flaws, deplorable

Within another minute perhaps, it [crumbled] into ashes'' (Orwell 79). This quote demonstrates Winson bringing evidence that could have been used to disprove the party. Whereas a normal hero would have taken this to use against the party and gain more support, Winston chose to get rid of it permanently. By keeping himself safe and destroying something that aligns with his beliefs of going against the party, he is directly contrasting what a hero would do. Ultimately, the actions committed by Winston convey a sense of selfishness and contrast the nature of what we know a hero to be. Finally, Winston is solidified as an anti-Hero by his retrogression as a character, losing any of the qualities we would have used to deem him as a hero in the first place. For instance, Winston's final moments in the novel go as stated, “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He has won the victory over himself. He loved “Birth Brother” (Orwell 298). This quote is very jarring and uncomfortable for the reader. It happens at the very end of the book and shows that Winston's character development is at odds with normal character