Round Characters

According to the well-known human rights activist, Malcolm X, “We are fighting for the right to live as free humans in this society. In fact, we are actually fighting for rights that are even greater than civil rights and that is human rights” (Malcolm). Human rights is the topic of the two eye-opening stories: 1984 by George Orwell and “The Train from Rhodesia” by Nadine Gordimer. In 1984, Winston, in a desperate attempt to rebel against the tyranny of Big Brother, has a rebellious love affair with Julia and gets caught, tortured, and brainwashed into loving Big Brother instead. In “The Train from Rhodesia”, a young white lady wanted to buy a carved lion statue from a black merchant at an impoverished train stop, but the racist society she
lived in kept her from seeing the true worth of the culture the carved lion was rooted in. The authors of each story use text format, genre, and literary elements to express their views on human rights in a society. Both 1984 and “The Train from Rhodesia” are political fiction stories, stories which directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative reality (Political). By writing 1984, Orwell opposes a totalitarian government in telling a third person point of view story of a man named Winston rebelling against his government. His love affair with Julia was an act of rebellion against the party. This thought of rebellion in his mind is shown in the following quote, “But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act” (Orwell 126). The people in the novel were robbed of their right to live freely. In this same way, “The Train from Rhodesia” is a political fiction written to oppose the apartheid era of injustice during the 1950’s in South Africa (Owens 1192). At this time, it was considered politically and socially correct for whites to take away the rights of blacks by expecting luxury treatment while giving treatment of austerity.
The genre of writing isn’t the only important thing that goes into writing a story.
The content is equally important. There are many literary elements throughout each of these stories, and some even occur in both, such as the appearance of round characters. The main characters in both 1984 and “The Train from Rhodesia” are round characters, meaning that they undergo change and end up different by the end of the story. In the opening pages of 1984, Winston commits “thought-crime” and has a rebellious heart towards his government. As the events unfold, he is tortured for his crimes until he is brainwashed into having unwavering compliance and love towards his government instead. Likewise, the lady in “The Train from Rhodesia” is a round character since she shows moral and character development when she understands the true value of the carved lion and the culture in which it came
from.
Along with characterization, another important aspect of a story is the setting, the place in which the story takes place.
1984 takes place sometime in the future in the fictional country of Oceania, which is present day England. The citizens of Oceania are in a state of war with the other two world powers Eastasia and Eurasia and are living in extreme poverty. Bombs and explosions go off commonly and unexpectedly. The homes are in shambles both physically and relationally, and the citizens are starved both physically and intellectually. Similarly, the citizens of Rhodesia in the story “The Train from Rhodesia” are starved intellectually. The setting of the story is South Africa in the 1950’s. This was the era of apartheid, in which blacks were robbed of the right to choose where they wanted to live, the right to vote, and so much
more. Due to these extremely harsh conditions, in each story there was a great deal of conflict between the societies and their people. In 1984, Winston struggles with oppression from the totalitarian society he lives in. He rebels against everything he has ever known and becomes so twisted that he betrays the love of his life and believes two plus two equals five. Likewise, the conflict in “The Train from Rhodesia” arises between the lady and the racist society she lives in. Initially, she acted out with racism toward the merchant selling the item she wanted, but then begins to see her society in a new light as Winston did in 1984. The genre and literary elements of a story become meaningless without the authors’ expression their worldview. Orwell writes with an unbiblical worldview in 1984 as the plot twists and Winston starts defying his government by committing crimes. The Bible says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (ESV, Romans 13.1). Not only do his actions go against his government, they go against God’s laws. Along with the crimes, Winston and Julia commit fornication on multiple accounts. Concerning this topic, the Bible says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (ESV, Hebrews 13.4). He wrote with a worldview such as this because he was predominately atheist by nature. He was baptized Anglican and buried with Anglican tradition, but his writings and life propose a predominately atheistic worldview (George). In the same way, Nadine Gordimer identifies herself as being born a Jew, but has no affiliated religious beliefs (Sharing). In her story “The Train from Rhodesia,” the racist actions of the society are unbiblical. The Bible says, “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (ESV, James 2.9). The lady in the train should not have tried to cheat the poor merchant out of the proper amount for the carved lion just because he was black. Even though most of the actions of the characters in the story were unbiblical, there is a biblical purpose behind the story itself. Gordimer was trying to expose the injustice of the racist era of apartheid. This aligns with the biblical principle of keeping each other accountable. The Bible says, “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins” (ESV, Isaiah 58.1). We are to confront people with compassion and to tell them of their wrongdoings, keeping them accountable in the future. This is exactly what Gordimer was doing, whether she meant it religiously or not. The worldview varies in these two stories and is not said plainly.
The theme of human rights in society is plainly evident in these two stories. Both authors use text format, genre, and literary elements to formulate these views on human rights in each story. The authors wrote these stories because of experiences in their lives or fears they had of these societies. Has anything ever influenced the way you look at life or live it?