George Orwell 1984 Heroism Analysis

George Orwell’s definition of heroism may differ from what most believe heroism is. He believes that it is ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed. According to the dictionary, a hero has distinguished courage or ability. Winston is perhaps a hero to Orwell, but, he did not have the courage of a hero. Orwell’s character shows the traits of a hero with rebelling, although he did it in secrecy. But, by the end of the novel, Orwell leaves Winston as a helpless human which can also be viewed as the everyday man that Orwell is talking about.
In Oceania people aren’t allowed free will, they are all controlled by the party, brainwashed, and stripped of their humanity. There are no heroes allowed in this dictatorship of a country. “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” (Orwell p.16) this theme continues throughout the book as the party controls every aspect of life. The country of Oceania is in an unending war with what Winston believes is Eurasia, as he looks back he is unsure how long it has been going on. Of course the party won’t let out exact details because ignorance is strength, and they wouldn’t want the people knowing that much. Even a lie can become the truth
through the party so no one is sure what is real anymore. History can be changed and rewritten, truth doesn’t exist in order to blindly deceive citizens into believing ingsoc has always existed.
Winston Smith is a rational man who has his own ideas, and longs for the freedom he believes he deserves. Winston is a minor member of the party, he works at the Ministry of Truth faking information in news according to the parties wishes. He doesn’t like his job and he hates the party but is afraid of the extreme power that the party possess’. Winston tries to remember his past despite the fact that the party has wiped the passed from everyone's memories, he mainly focuses on what happened to his family. His only memories of unselfish and devoted love comes from his childhood which the culture of the world was based on is extremely far off from the culture of the world he is currently living in. He is almost living in a daze of what was and what is. “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious”, (Orwell, p.70). At the beginning Winston starts to show a dislike of the physical dullness of which he lives and a feeling that things aren’t the way that they should be. Winston’s journal helps him express his feelings of unease towards ingsoc and how he feels his life has been violated. He wrote in it at his desk, facing away from the screen, so that they wouldn’t know that he is performing a serious crime. Over and over Winston wrote “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Orwell, p.18) and if he wasn’t writing it he was thinking it. His rebellion continued when he ran into Julia. Julia and Winston begin to pass notes back and forth until one day Winston received one that said I love you. That letter foreshadowed what is yet to come between these two.
By even speaking to each other they are breaking the law, individual thought is prohibited, and so is individual pleasure.
Winston’s rebellion first takes place on more of an intellectual level, including reading and thought crime, unlike Julia’s who takes rebellion on more of a physical level. They both choose to think for themselves in pursuing an intimate relationship together. Winston not only ignored The Party’s teachings of how love was wrong, but, they ignored the possible consequences of doing such crimes. Even when he rents the room in Charrington to share with Julia he realizes all of the trouble he can get into, but, he is so wrapped in lust it blinds
him. Even when being tortured he showed a form of heroism. He didn’t want to give into the torture although he knew it was inevitable, “I will confess, but not yet. I must hold out till the pain become unbearable” (Orwell, p.241). Then Winston goes on “I think I exist” he said wearily “I am conscious of my own identity. I was born and I shall die. I have arms and legs. I occupy a particular point in space. No other solid object can occupy the same point simultaneously. In that sense, does big brother exist” (Orwell, p.259-260). This shows that Winston still has some fight left in him. He still knows that what’s going on with the party is wrong, and despite being tortured he has to tell them how he feels, which is also illegal. Towards the end of his torture he finally breaks down to O’brien’s torture and mind control. After he repeats “Who controls the present controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell, p.248) the signs are obvious. His display of humanity under the torture can be viewed as heroic according to Orwell’s principle of being an everyman. It can also be viewed as cowardice as he screams “ Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” (Orwell, p.286).