1984 essay

Submitted By lilililililili123
Words: 1125
Pages: 5

Winston, truly a Rebel in 1984 Every government in the world has a unique way to maintain and protect power, even though some of them are extreme and cruel. A rebel is someone who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against a government. (DC). Once people are not satisfied with their government and seek changes, rebels are likely to surface among these people. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the society is described where the government has no limits to its power and controls every single aspect of people’s lives wherever it is feasible. For instance, it is considered a crime when people think anything that is not related to the party, or even against the party. This is called “thought crime”. Winston Smith is one of these rebels. He shows his rebellious behavior first with his thoughts and then, gradually, through his actions. He is willing to sacrifice himself in order to gain control of his own life from the government. Thus, it is very clear that the main character, Winston Smith is a rebel in the novel, 1984. Winston has many thoughts which go against the party throughout the book. One clear example is his attitude towards his job. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth and his job is, essentially, to edit the past newspapers and magazines and rid them of anything that does not conform to the reality desired by the government. However, he does not simply change the information but tries to keep some evidence that he can use to prove the government creates fake news. He wants to plant a few doubts about the government and believes little knots of resistance will gradually grow, “so the next generation can carry on where we leave off” (Orwell, 163). Winston also refuses to believe the history that is described by the government textbook. The book tells how bad London used to be before the glorious Revolution compares to the present beautiful London where everyone is living happily and people are equal to each other. After reading this, “lie” is the only word that emerges in Winston’s mind. “The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth” (Orwell, 78). Although Winston is extremely curious about the past, there is no way for him to discover the truth. However, he refuses to accept the lies in its place. “The only evidence to the contrary was the mute protest in your own bones” (Orwell, 76). This quote shows that he is protesting deep in his heart. Winston’s diary is another good place for him to express thoughts. Winston knows exactly that it is illegal to write a diary and he will be punished by death if he is detected, but he still decides to take the risk and write down his rebellious thoughts. He once repeats a short sentence over and over again, all in capital letter, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Orwell, 20) and at the next moment, he is seized by a kind of hysteria so he begins writing, “They will shoot me in the back of my neck I don’t care down with big brother” (Orwell, 21). If he is not thinking anything against Big Brother, why does he take such a big risk to write it down? The real reason is that he has no one to talk to about these thoughts, so he needs to express them out loud in writing in order to vent his dissatisfaction with Big Brother and the party. Even though all of these are just Winston’s thoughts about the government, it is absolutely enough to prove him as a rebel. However, Winston’s real actions are even more convincing than his thoughts. In the society of Oceania, people are not allowed to have sex for a reason other than making offspring. But for Winston, he first finds an old prostitute in the street because he feels the need to have sex. He notes “It was on a dark evening…There was nobody in the streets, and no telescreens. She said, ‘two dollars’” (Orwell, 55). He knows he is doing something wrong and against the law since he is worrying whether someone will catch him as he finishes and goes back to his apartment. After that, Winston finds Julia