1984 Contradictions

Nothing is what it seems in the cryptic worlds of Winston Smith and Thomas Anderson (alias Neo), the main protagonists of 1984 and The Matrix respectively. 1984 takes place in a dystopian society that is created by a group of individuals collectively referred to as the Party. Smith is himself a member of the Party; however, he has the capacity to look beyond his social status and see the injustice and horrors that permeate the lives of all people. Winston’s subsequent treachery of the Party is obscured to the best of his ability, but all of his efforts to oppose the Party—with his unexpected lover, Julia—prove to be of no avail when he finally gets caught by the Thought Police, an undercover organization that monitors the lives of all people
In 1984, three outwardly misleading characters include Winston, O’Brien, and Mr.Charrington. Since the beginning of the novel, Winston hates the authoritarian rule of the Party and constantly expresses his hatred through suppressed means. For instance, he writes obscenities against the Party in his diary, he secretly has sex with Julia as an act of rebellion, and he attempts to join an organization that opposes the Party. Yet despite all this, he acts loyally when he is being watched; for example, he alters documents wherein he praises the Party for its numerous exploits and achievements. It is fitting that by the end of the novel, he is brainwashed to love the Party: “he had won the victory over himself. He loved big brother” (Orwell, 311). This double contrast highlights the discrepancy present within reality, as in the end, his character is directly at odds with who he initially is in reality. O’Brien is an ambiguous member of the Party who Winston initially comes to trust as a result of a dream where O’Brien says “[w]e shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (Orwell, 2). This statement itself is contradictory, as Winston initially thinks that O’Brien is referring to the joyful time when the Party is finally overthrown and people are free, but it proves to be a bright room where Winston is endlessly tortured by O’Brien. Winston believes that O’Brien shares his enmity towards the Party, but is proven wrong when O’Brien turns out to be a member of the Thought Police and his subsequent torturer. Thus, O’Brien reinforces the discrepancy between appearance and reality, as his sympathetic character proves to be a trap. Finally, Mr. Charrington, the humble owner of a small shop with a room upstairs that Winston and Julia use