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Winston Smith In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is portrayed by the author to be a person very different from the character of a hero in the traditional sense. He is not supremely courageous or extraordinary in any way. Winston is a deeply flawed and complex individual who is not equipped with the virtual invincibility of a classic hero. He is essentially not a significant character in the context of the book’s setting. He does not lead a grand revolution or take on Big Brother directly. Instead, he performs small acts of mutiny every day because his rebellion is not an international insurrection, but a small-scale personal one. He focuses on various ways to keep him conscious of the world around him, …show more content…

Not in the classic epic hero sense, but a hero nonetheless. He acted out against his enemy and paid the ultimate price for his actions-his life. But more than his life, he lost the very characteristics that motivated him to defy the Party. Although Winston is not large in stature or supremely intelligent, he rises up to the government that he believes is wicked. Unlike the rest of Oceania, he does not yield to the brainwashing of Big Brother for as long as he can and instead holds firm to his individuality and independence. Winston’s character exhibits the characteristics of a modern hero, one who challenges the antagonist of the story but also has his very human flaws. Through the character of Winston Smith, author George Orwell expresses a message about the duality of the modern hero. Though somewhat cowardly, Winston displays several characteristics of a hero. He fights for what he believes in and is willing to give up his life for this cause. His relationship with Julia, resistance of Big Brother propaganda, and small acts of mutiny all create the hero that Winston becomes. Although he submits to the Party at the conclusion of the novel, his efforts to fight back throughout the story make him a hero audiences can

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This quote explains how the protagonist of George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith, was prepared to sacrifice his life in order to see through with the downfall of “The Party” which would allow his society to once again know true freedom. Throughout the society it was rumored that anyone who was not completely loyal to the society would be sentenced to death. Smith, knowing that he was about to betray the “The Party” on a level far more severe than “thoughtcrime” realized that he practically sentenced himself to death. He was ready to sacrifice his life in order be a small part of a much greater cause. After Smith is taken into custody, he is brainwashed into believing what the party wants him to think.

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In the novel, 1984 by George Orwell, Winston is both a anti-hero and a hero. A hero is a man who is appreciated or admired for strength, extraordinary accomplishments, or honorable qualities. A anti-hero is a focal character in a story, motion picture, or show who lacks regular heroic qualities. Winston shows both anti-hero and hero traits by showing the good and bad qualities about him in the novel. Winston was a brave man who supported his society.

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At the beginning of the novel, Winston made it prominent that he dissented Big Brother and his party’s idea. He wrote in his diary, in Book 1 Chapter 1, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER…” (Orwell 18). This shows that Winston dissented his country’s government and was willing to rebel for he knew deep inside that

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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

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George Orwell was an English novelist and journalist best known for his dystopian novel 1984 which was based on totalitarianism. Winston Smith, an employee in the Records Department for the Ministry of Truth and protagonist of this story, lives a life characterized by rebellion and hatred for the Party. His doubts for the Party’s actions and its control on truth begins to take a journey of discrete insurrection and the meeting of Julia, a young woman with cunning spirit and a worker at the Fiction Department. The plot rises as both of them have corresponding views on the Party; in this particular excerpt, George Orwell establishes antsy with this situation as Winston and Julia are caught by the Thought Police. Orwell’s use of repetition, details

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Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction”. The definition of a tragic hero also explains that a tragic hero is not an ordinary person, and that his/her downfall occurs for a greater cause. Although the modern depiction of a tragic hero is of course different than that of Ancient Greek times, the underlying characteristics and traits of one remain the same. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main character Winston, although displaying some characteristics that a tragic hero would possess, ultimately does not fit the role of a tragic hero.

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Webster’s dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities; a person who is greatly admired; the chief male character in a story, play, movie, etc.” Looking at the list, Winston only fits one of these criteria. Winston is not a hero, even though he is the protagonist in this story. His actions and behavior throughout the book is unbecoming of a hero, and in the upcoming paragraphs, I will discuss what discredits him as a hero.

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It is at this moment in the book that Winston becomes known as the heroic

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Winston Smith represents an ordinary person whom the reader can relate to; the audience experiences the cruelty of a totalitarian government through his perspective. He is the protagonist in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. Smith is introduced as out of shape, with a varicose ulcer on his ankle. His sense of fatalism leads him to commit unwarranted crimes against the Party. These rebellious actions lead to his capture.

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Most people have taken a history course at some point in their life. They walk into class, take notes on the lecture, and study for an exam. No one ever questions if the information they are receiving has been altered from the truth. They memorize the data they have learned, then pass it on to others. How is everyone so sure the information we read in textbooks is true?

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Throughout the book there are many instances which prove that he is more anti-hero than hero. The protagonist displays acts of heroism but is it enough to consider him a hero? Is Winston an anti-hero because he does not always show the complete signs or look the way that a typical hero would. Winston looked at the world of 1984 through an intellectual eyeglass.

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Everyone has different definitions of a hero and different standards for what makes someone a hero. As stated George Orwell’s definition is ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they cannot possibly succeed. Some people believe it’s more than “ordinary” people doing whatever it takes. However, when focusing on Orwell’s definition (Winston was an “ordinary person”) yes Winston is a hero.

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George Orwell’s novel 1984 presents us two characters who are entirely different, but still complement each other entirely, the protagonist Winston and his love-interest Julia. Julia’s optimistic character highlights Winston’s fatalistic one. Winston believes he and Julia are compatible and can relate to each other because they share the same believes. They both detest Big Brother and want to rebel against the Party. While this is true, their similarities seem to end there.

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The novel 1984 by George Orwell reveals the destruction of all aspects of the universe. Orwell envisioned how he believes life would be like if a country were taken over by a totalitarian figure. Nineteen eighty-four effectively portrays a totalitarian style government, in which elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation with very little citizen participation in the decision-making process of the legislative body. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to today’s society which is somehow a realist perspective. Orwell integrates devices such as irony, satire, and motifs to illustrate the life unfulfilling life of Winston Smith.

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