Preview

Who Is Winston Smith A Tragic Hero

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
936 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is Winston Smith A Tragic Hero
Significant changes of a man’s character are evident in where something’s wrong with the world and the society in where he lives. In the novel, “1984”, written by George Orwell writes a book which creates an outlook of an ordinary man named Winston Smith, the central character of “1984”. Winston is a kind of innocent in a world has gone wrong, and it is through him that the reader attempts to understand and feel the mix challenges of a man’s inner struggle to follow the rules in a world in which realistic optimism is impossible. Through this ordinary middle –aged man’s journey to change the world around him, the audience will see Winston’s failing acts and efforts throughout the course of the novel. Orwell illustrates a tragic hero whose passive rebellion character is withered and weakened by his own destructive downfall; struggles against his external reality and his failing efforts to rise above. At the beginning of the book, Winston Smith is portrayed as a passive character who strays from conformity and separates himself from the government; who exhibits dominance over all the citizens of Oceania. Winston works in the records department in the Ministry of Truth where he rewrites history according to the Party’s truth. Winston may exhibit rebellion acts outwardly towards the …show more content…
The author shows Winston to be the opposite of a true hero since a real hero under pressure and moral convictions will set themselves apart and be true to themselves to the very end. Winston did not display any of these qualities even though Winston’s thinking is far from the Party’s. The author portrays Winston is nothing more than broken man through his own thoughts and behavior, and who does not embody the traditional characteristics of a heroic hero, but more of a passive weakened man who struggles against his external reality and his failing efforts to rise

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The main ideas in the 20 pages talk about who is Winston Smith . Winston Smith was thirty-nine years old, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. He lived in Victory Mansions. He worked at a kilomentor away the Ministry of Truth. There are four apartment such as Minitrue, Minipax, Minlur, and Miniplenty. Precisely, the Ministry of love was the really frightening one because there are gorilla-faced guards. Also, Winston wrote the diary about the movie he watched. After that he thought about the things happened in the morning. That’s about a girl girl who defined as a Thought Police from Winston.And Winston did not like any girl especially the young girls. He thought young girls were the most bigoted adherents of the party. Then a…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a great novel that allows us to view the world in a different way. Winston Smith is filled with curiosity against the Party throughout the whole book. Most of his inner-questioning occurs in Part I. Many times he conforms to what The Party tells them to do, but in his mind he questions this. George Orwell is allowing us to see we must always question whatever we think is wrong. Many times we are ignorant to what is going on around us and, like Winston, we conform to everything, but sometimes we must see the reality of things.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    By which point in the novel, Winston is becoming more autonomous and less restrained by the authoritarian system designed to govern his every action and thought. Of course, since the beginning of the novel, Winston has questioned Big Brother, along with the existence of certain rules, and he was never truly a brainwashed member of society, this first written act of resistance characterizes him beyond the more typical person he was first introduced to be. As the plot progresses, Winston’s thoughts seem to revolve around Julia, a fellow Party…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984 Trash Notes

    • 2935 Words
    • 12 Pages

    At the beginning of the book Winston was a thought criminal and nothing more and he later evolves into a full-fledged rebel, joining the “infamous” Brotherhood. Winston was an extremely annoying character from the very start. His decisions and actions were extremely irrational and I was not able to connect with his character throughout the novel. Winston had accepted that he would die to the hands of the Party as soon as he thought about writing in his diary. As readers we can only assume that Winston felt differently about Big Brother than most of the Party members, and this made him feel alone and vulnerable. This causes him to trust just about anyone who does not literally tell him they are part of the Thought Police. He feels he can trust O’Brien without any proof, he trusts Julia’s note to him and meets up with her knowing full well that she could be a spy for the Thought Police and finally he trusts Mr. Charrington because his old age makes him appear fragile and helpless. Winston was an annoying character because he never hoped to accomplish anything. There was no goal in his mind, and no intention of creating one either.…

    • 2935 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I first read 1984, I thought Winston was just some depressed and sexually frustrated old guy. After our class discussion, however, I see that his character actually has some depth in his personality. In 1984 Winston’s ability to rebel against the Party lies in the relationship and loyalty he shares with Julia. In the beginning, Winston is to weak and frightened to revolt against the Party. Furthermore, Winston is emotionally weakened and frustrated because the dark-haired girl he desires seems distant and cold to him. However, when the girl named Julia declares her love for him, their relationship’s fidelity strengthens Winston. Julia helps him towards redeeming himself from his shameful past. In addition to this commitment, Winston is…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, Winston follows the Party’s strict rules and presents the idea of life without freedom by…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1984, George Orwell, English novelist, delivers a dystopian fiction novel about the future possible world of 1984. Orwell creates the character, Winston Smith, the protagonist of the novel. Winston Smith is solely against the party and is curious as to where his rebellion against the party will lead him. While still attending hate week, working for the party, and being under surveillance 24/7, Smith attempts to figure out his way to the Brotherhood. Along with Smith’s hate for the party, Orwell uses rhetorical devices such as tone and imagery to develop Winston’s character.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984, by George Orwell, comes off as very bleak and grey, as it was intended to be portrayed to the reader. This helps us to understand that the world Winston Smith is living in is grey, depressing and overall quite commonplace. A place where he always has to look over his shoulder to make sure that the omnipotent Big Brother won't catch a minor slip of a few choice words or see him flirt with the woman across the way. Orwell successfully accomplishes this through his use of literary methods.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When we first meet Winston, our narrator, and protagonist, he languishingly fulfills mundane duties at his job. Subsequently, 1984 is able to illuminate the gormless manner in which many of us lead our lives. Lives in which conformity equates to self-degradation and personal sacrifice. Winston leads a life of servitude in solitude. His wife never loved him and left him before the events of 1984. 1984 expands upon the notion that unity amongst the oppressed is detrimental in sustaining a system of oppression.In Winston's indoctrinating society…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Summer Reading

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the beginning Winston goes against the law and secretly buys a journal to write in, even though if he is caught he will be taken away forever. He would have to face Big Brother, but Winston was willing to take the chance. Many times he reads throughout the novel “ War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”. Which is the official saying of the Party. While attempting to write in the journal Winston found himself only being able to write “Down with Big Brother” repeatedly. He always found himself confused on what to do but always believed that he would never conform into one of them!…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Winston is the symbol for rebellion and at the beginning of the story he is depicted as an old man, even though he is in his thirties. He walks slowly and is very frail. This shows that not only is Winston weak but so is the rebellion. As time moves throughout the novel it is evident that Orwell stresses less on Winston’s flaws and fragility but more on the actions that Winston does against the rebellion.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Who Is Winston A Hero

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    His Vulnerability makes him so very human. If anything is to go about, Winston is an anti-hero, but at the same time, he is nevertheless the protagonist of the story and an “Everyman” type all the same. Julia: they can’t do that. It’s the one thing they can’t do.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1949, George Orwell published one of the most well-known dystopian fiction novels of the 21st century, 1984. Set in the then near future, Orwell depicts a super nation named Oceania under a totalitarian government called the Party, where every citizen’s freedom is severely limited and under constant surveillance by ‘Big Brother’. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, despises and wishes to rebel against the Party. However, by the novel’s closing, it is evident that Smith’s actions proved futile. Orwell defined heroism as individuals who try to improve the lives of themselves and their entire society, even if they do not succeed. Winston Smith displays characteristics of Orwell’s definition of heroism throughout the novel, but also exhibits traits that stop him from being a true hero.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The human drive for power has led to the corruption and downfall of many nations. In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, the power hungry tyrant Big Brother suppresses the party members of Oceania into unconsciousness. They have become mentally numb. Winston Smith struggles to free himself from the over powering Big Brother by progressively disobeying the law and sacrificing his life in his defiance, revealing how suppression breeds delusional rebellion.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “1984” is a text which depicts the story of Winston smith who is a common man or a member of the outer party in the hierarchy of the ‘big brother’ system. The “1984” world is a totalitarian society where the party or big brother tries to control everything, including thought and emotion. Big brother is a dictator ship which controls every movement in society through constant surveillance and harsh penalties for…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays