Is Winston a hero?

Is Winston a heroic character in 1984, he definitely isn't the obvious hero whose goal in life was to tear down big brother and make life fair for everyone, but he did rebel and try to bring down big brother. He was, up until we start reading about his story, someone who was very complacent in the oppressive society of big brother. In fact, it could be argued that he is more of a villain because of his help in the ministry changing history to reflect the parties views. Whether or not he wants to actually end the parties power or simply just be allowed to have sex shamelessly is also a question to be asked. In the beginning of the book Winston writes over and over in his notebook down with big brother, was this symbolic of his future heroic actions to try and take down the party? Perhaps simply buying the book illegally from the proles marked the start of his journey as a hero rebelling against big brother.Or does none of it really matter because he didn't make an impact? Through all the torture he seems to lose any heroism that he did have as he fully submits to O’Brian. So even if we did call Winston a hero it is kind of irrelevant because it didn’t change anything.
-Nicole Southey

Comments

  1. Sarah H.April 25, 2019 at 5:44 AM

    I think Winston was fascinated with the idea of becoming a rebel, but never truly was a rebel because none of his actions made a difference in Oceania. However, if Winston was ever rebellious I would think he rebelled against the state with his thoughts.. Winston's greatest "rebellion" against the state was reading a book and actually comprehending what it said unlike Julia. Also I think it's showing that when they were interrogating Winston they broke him by using Julia and not Goldenstien or any of his followers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HadiyahApril 25, 2019 at 5:28 PM

    I don't really think Winston was a hero either, nor was he really a rebel. I do think he was a little rebellious even though he wasn't able to change anything. What he did believe though was that the proles were the only ones who could change anything so maybe he wouldn't be able to make a change even if he really did anything to rebel. I do think he actually wanted society to change though, not like Julia who just wanted sex. I don't think he lost any heroism because he was tortured into submitting to O'Brian because I doubt anyone could stand that amount of torture and still want to rebel afterwards.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlbertApril 25, 2019 at 8:14 PM

    I like to believe that one's heroism stems from motives. Even though what Winston was doing wasn't really impactful in the end, his risk and confidence though his rebellious actions, I think makes him more of a heroic character than a complacent or even villainous one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Irina April 26, 2019 at 11:47 AM

    I wouldn't call Winston a hero. Although I would not consider the fact that he did not accomplish anything as a reason he is not a hero, I would cite that his spontaneity of most of his 'rebellious' decisions and the fact that his desire to 'rebel' is not for any noble cause is reason enough to not call him a hero.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Minji ChoiApril 27, 2019 at 8:14 AM

    I wouldn't call Winston a hero. I think a hero can have flaws, like Winston, but ultimately in the end, Winston barely did anything and ended up succumbing. I felt that after he made the agreement to serve in the Brotherhood, he didn't do much except meet with Julia, and then he got arrested and taken away. Even though he did resist of the things that O'Brien tried to instill in him, he didn't really put up much of a fight. He cracked pretty easily, which might've been forgivable if it had happened after he had done something significant to help the Brotherhood, but he didn't even do anything. I don't even know if he could be called a traitor to the Brotherhood because he's hardly a member of the Brotherhood.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kristine WangApril 27, 2019 at 9:48 AM

    I would label Winston as a moderate rebel but not as a hero. There is a certain degree of bravery that is needed to be characterized as a hero that Winston lacks. Some of the things Winston does might seem bold, but if we look at his thought process behind those actions, we will realize that he isn't being that brave at all. For example, Winston commits thoughtcrime that is punishable by death, but Winston sees death as inevitable and thus he doesn't fear it. Therefore, Winston's act of committing thoughtcrime isn't that courageous since he doesn't see much risk in performing this act.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tim ChoMay 17, 2019 at 5:29 PM

    I think the circumstances of living in Oceania make it near impossible to be a hero in the way we think about it. If we think about a hero having to have made an impact, then it's definitely impossible to be a hero in the struggle against the Party. I think that people who want to act against the Party (potential heroes) have this in mind, as Winston does. I think it's unfair to blame Winston for submitting to months of torture (who wouldn't?). I think Winston was figuring out his motives for acting against Big Brother, and based on these motives I think it's unfair to deny Winston any consideration for being something of a tragic hero.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Samaia JonesMay 21, 2019 at 6:24 AM

    I agree with most of the comments already made. I don't think Winston is much of a hero but in many areas of the book he does rebel against Oceana. Rebelling against a dystopia like Oceana does take some heroic qualities. As a reader you feel more compelled to think of Winston as a hero, in order to leave some hope. Great blog post!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oppression in Oceania vs Sedation in BNW

When asked in class whether we would prefer to live in either BNW or Oceania the majority said they would prefer to live in BNW. I find this preference not surprising because in BNW its citizens are not under the constant threat of violence and execution that exists in Oceania.   However, I believe that if I didn’t have to live in either of the dystopias but had to choose one to exist in the world I would prefer that Oceania exist. My rational behind this decision is that even though it is harder to live in Oceania it might be an easier target to overthrow for the future of the next generation because the Inner Party simply has not mastered what the BNW has: the creation of a self-perpetuating totalitarian state through addictive self-gratifying sedation. BNW is brilliant in how it uses human desires to maintain a happy complacent population. Instead of trying to restrict an individual’s behavior BNW encourages its people to pursue their base human desires by conditioning everyon
Read more

Handmaid’s Tale Movie vs. Hulu Series

     Before we started reading the Handmaid’s Tale in class, I watched the Hulu Series, which I thought was very good and portrayed the book very well. I found that th older movie didn’t match up with the book as well, and I thought it was cheesier and the acting not as good.      In the movie, the Handmaid’s uniforms were portrayed differently than described in the book. The book described their hats as white with large wings on either side so that they couldn’t see out. In the movie, they worse red veils which completely ruins their purpose. I think the Hulu series portrays their outfits very accurately. In the Hulu Series, Serena Joy and the Commander look like they are both in their thirties. In the book, I think they are portrayed as being much older, which helps the reader to understand that Serena Joy is infertile and portrays their status in society much higher. In the movie, Serena Joy and the Commander are both older, probably in their fifties or so. This matches up much
Read more

Stressors Project

My blogpost for today is not going to be about the book instead it is going to be about the stressors project (just wanted to form some thoughts on it). I think this project is a really interesting idea and I like the anonymity of it all. Thinking of stressors in general the first thing that pops to my mind is school, so a lot came to mind when thinking more in depth about what gives me anxiety in school. The first thing I thought of was the constant homework assignments that Uni teachers give, and a lot of the time it is just busy work. Teachers probably think the more homework we get the more we will understand the subject, which turns into teachers giving random busy work assignments. Often I procrastinate these assignments and they start to add up. Having so much work to do after school makes it hard to participate in other activities. The 30 minute rule for homework needs to be enforced so Uni students can have a life outside of school. Another big stressor that I think of
Read more