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1984 Literary Essay: Winston Smith, A Hero or Not

The 1984 by George Orwell is one of the most iconic novels of the 19th century. It had a

significant influence on the genre of anti-utopia and literature as a whole. Although the book

was written in 1949, the relevance of ideas set by Orwell is both impressive and scary,

especially in the modern world. The story tells about Winston Smith, a regular man who lives

in Oceania, a country ruled by the Big Brother and the Party, a government that tries to get

absolute control over peoples' lives as well as minds. The city where Smith resides is packed

with microphones and “telescreens,” which record and control every aspect of citizens’ lives.

A reader follows the main character who doubts the lies fed to people by the Party. Therefore

he resists propaganda and indoctrination. He is trying to survive in this nightmare while

struggling to save his humanity and love. However, in the end Winston breaks down, gives

up on his principles and becomes a fallen hero, a symbol of a dying and degrading

humankind.

Not only did the author manage to show an outstanding anti-utopic world, but he also

created an atmosphere of despair, depressing sadness, and hopelessness. The story depicts

how horrifying can be a life in a society led by fear and forced patriotism in tiniest details. It

raises questions that make readers doubt a society they live in, the privacy of their life, as

well as their moral principles. One of the topics mentioned is heroism, which George Orwell

once defined as: “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.”

This description perfectly matches the character of Winston Smith as a reader follows his
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story up to the last part. Nevertheless, in the very end, Smith realizes “the truth,” sees the face

of the Big Brother from a different angle, and comes to love him. This closure makes a reader

wonder if Winston Smith is really the hero of the novel.

Winston Smith, who is initially seen as a man standing for all the oppressed people of his

country, does not fight the injustice and suffering but accepts it at the end of the novel. In

order to find the reason for that, it is essential to understand what world the main character

lives in. Oceania is a country, which is run by a group of politicians who try to hold their

power by any means necessary. The main instruments they use are fear and suffering. As

O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party puts it: “Obedience is not enough. Unless he is

suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in

inflicting pain and humiliation” (Orwell, 364). Citizens of the country endure a hard life,

having bad food, clothes, and living conditions. However, one of the worst things people

have to face is control over information. Most citizens live in their cities without knowing

much about the outside world while the Party controls any shred of data. It spreads inaccurate

information about the war, lotteries, and significant events. Besides, due to the Ministry of

Truth, the government is able to not only falsify the present but also rewrite the past. Because

of indoctrination, constant lie, and misinformation, the Party managed to make people believe

everything they are told immediately, and they cannot understand what is real and what is

not. In Oceania, facts and reality do not mean anything. For example, if the Party claims that

the war is with Eurasia than it has always been like that, even if only four years ago, the

country allied with it. The only man who seems to remember that is the main character.

People’s minds are twisted, which as O’Brien says is a sign of power: “Power is in tearing

human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing”

(Orwell, 364).
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The only thing the Party truly cares about is keeping its power. The primary way to do it

is annihilating everyone, who doubts the regime. The Thought Police, a special governmental

body, which dealt with dissidents, captured individuals who acted, talked or even looked

unusual. One of the core tools of the police are the devices used by the Party to control

people, telescreens. They are monitors, which collect information: “The telescreen received

and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low

whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of

vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell, 3).

Yet people were not only cautious around telescreens, but other citizens as well. In Oceania,

everybody could report anyone for dissidence or espionage, even children. At quite a young

age, children are taught to live according to the Party's laws, to notice and report spies or

other criminals and treat them with no mercy. Therefore, most children became violent and

cruel even to their parents. This led to people, like Ms. Parsons, Winston's neighbor, to be

terrified of her children and unable to teach them what is right and what is not (Orwell, 32).

In the world like that, lives Winston Smith, a 39-year-old man. He resides in a small old

apartment and works in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite documents, books, and

articles, which contain statements that are unacceptable to the Party. At home, at work, and

practically everywhere he goes, telescreens watch him. “Always eyes watching you and the

voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed- no

escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull” (Orwell, 112).

Oppressed by the society he lives in, Winston starts breaking the law. First, he has sex with a

prole, later he starts recording his thoughts in the secret diary, and finally, he falls in love. By

the time Winston and Julia come to O’Brien to confess they are the enemies of the Party, the

hero does not care if they will kill him for that, because the moment he doubted the Big

Brother, he knew he was already dead.

Through the novel, Winston embodies the definition of a hero given by Orwell: he sees

the injustice, suffering, indoctrination, and he decides to do something about it. However,

unlike a fool, he does not openly fight the Party but tries to keep his thoughts a secret. The

punishment for such crime was a death sentence, so it became essential for him to stay alive

as long as possible, so he would do as much as he could to fight the regime and help people.

He was willing to do whatever was necessary to destroy the Party and stop the Big Brother. It

includes many horrible things as murder sabotage, suicide, and any other ways to cause

demoralization and weaken the power of the Party. The main character would do anything as

long as people were free because he was one of the few if not the last person in the whole

world, who kept his humanity. Nevertheless, after horrible tortures in the Ministry of Love

and room 101 specifically, he breaks and betrays everything and everyone, including Julia

(Orwell, 391-393). Driven by fear, Winston kills what was left of the human inside of him

and becomes a fallen hero, with no hope, no desires, yet with no more fear.

The 1984 is not the typical story where good defeats evil, and the hero saves everyone.

The novel was based on things that happened in real life and obviously are happening now.

Therefore, the outcome of the story is more realistic: the main character, broken and

depressed, gives up everything he thought was right, including his love, and accepts the

world he lives in as it is, full of suffering and injustice. However, after all the torture, waiting

for his death, he is not afraid anymore, and the hope does not blind him, thus he is freer than

he ever was before. The hero, he used to be, died in the Room 101 as well as the last human,

living behind just an ordinary man, who pose no threat to the regime.
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Works Cited

Orwell, George. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1949.

Gellman, Barton, et al. "Edward Snowden comes forward as a source of NSA leaks." The

Washington Post, 9 June 2013,