1984 Human Nature

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In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, Winston, a middle aged man discovers what freedom means within an oppressive utopian world when it is stripped from him in an unorthodox fashion. When Winston does not conform to the limitations on human nature imposed on him by the Party, his overall condition improves, however when Winston’s means of expression are removed, the negativity adversely affects his health and he metaphorically stops living. Orwell uses Winston’s acts of rebellion to demonstrate that physical and mental well- being suffers when human nature and emotions are suppressed by an external force such as the government. If the will of human nature is prohibited and the ability to express oneself is lost, one's body rebels by inducing …show more content…
Winston once told Julia, “They can't get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile” (166). Talking negatively about how the party “can’t” change you from the “inside” and about what it means to be a “human” is something Winston would never have done before. Julia is the outlet or Winton’s innermost thoughts and his only connection to humanity and as their relationship develops and he continues expressing his opinions, Winston's well being increases. They had met “seven times … during the month of June. Winston had dropped his habit of drinking gin at all hours … his varicose ulcer had subsided [and] his fits of coughing in the early morning had stopped” (150).” He does not need to continue his nasty habit of “drinking gin” and he is not longer having the “coughing fits” or the pain in his “varicose ulcer” that had irritated his leg for years. The previous necessity of concealing his human qualities of loyalty and love was the reason for his poor health. Having met Julia, he has someone to think about, someone to be healthy for, and that removes any reasons to continue wasting his days drinking gin. His ulcer and coughing fits mirror his situation in life just like one's physical state is dependent on one's mental state. Winston realizes flowing with …show more content…
He has been converted through suffering to a man the complete opposite than he was before. Winston describes his change in reality after being tortured, “he traced… 2+2=5...‘They can't get inside you,' she had said. But they could get inside you. ... Something was killed in your breast: burnt out, cauterized out” (290). Whatever he was made of has been “burnt out”as has left him. They got “inside of” him and where his aspirations and logic had been was “cauterized” to be replaced with whatever the party desires. Now “He gazed up at the enormous face. Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (297). The torture caused his mental state to crumble to “gin- scented tears” and to love his previously sworn enemy, the one he had wanted to overthrow for months. He believes whatever is indoctrinated into him by the Party. The void that has been “burnt out” used to be filled with his substance that made a Winston himself. He is no longer ‘living’ a life but an existence. This loss of a brain, free will, and expression of his now nonexistent thoughts make him a mindless subject of the government, and in compliance with anything the Party decides is the
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