Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?
1984 was comparably a long novel. For this reason, this novel contains a substantial amount of characters. Nonetheless, there are only a few major characters: Winston Smith, Julia and O’Brien.
Winston Smith
Winston Smith, along with Julia, his lover, is the protagonist of this story. George Orwell envisioned his nightmarish world of totalitarianism through Smith’s perspective. For this reason, I felt as if I were reading George Orwell’s minds as I was reading Smith’s minds in this novel.
Winston is thoughtful. He has an intellectual ability to question the unjust rules of the Big Brother. Unlike Julia, who has a tendency to rebel only to seek her personal pleasure, Winston rebels in order to unearth the answer to his numerous questions. Winston seeks to discover why the Inner Party exercises such callous and absolute power in Oceania.
Winston’s curiosity soon leads to passionate rebellion against the Inner Party. With his curious and rebellious mind, Winston sets out to test the limits of the Party’s power. He commits countless crimes throughout the novel. Starting from writing ‘DOWN WTH BIG BROTHER’ in his diary, to sharing an illegal love with Julia and to joining the anti-Brotherhood party, Winston puts all his efforts into testing the limits of the Inner Party. Even so, Winston’s actions does not completely intend to only ‘test’ the limits of the Party, it also consists of his call for freedom and independence.
I personally like Winston Smith’s character as it is presented in this novel. He reveals the world in which legitimate optimism is an impossibility. After writing down his disgust for the Party in his diary, Winston lives in constant fear of the outcome of his thought-crimes. His disgust worsens as the fear turns into paranoia. Conversely, that paranoia became his source of his pursuit on rebellious actions. I like the fact that Winston pursued his rebellious actions even when there seemed to be no hope in doing so. Even if he was blind, to be extreme, in seeing the truths of the world he was living in, he gave himself an optimistic view of the world.
Julia
Julia is a perfect example of a contradictory character of Winston Smith. While Smith possesses a fatalistic view of the world, Julia is exactly the opposite. Julia’s purpose in having affairs with Smith and purpose for all of her doings is to satisfy and fulfill her desires.
I like Winston’s character. However, Julia is exactly the opposite of what Winston is. Therefore, I do not like Julia’s character excessively.
O’Brien
O’Brien, as the antagonist of this novel, is a member of the Inner Party that tricks Smith into believing that he is one of the Brotherhood. However, the validity of his membership in the Inner Party is also irresolute. Thus, I believe O’Brien serves as a mysterious figure in this novel.
Not knowing any distinct essentials about this man, my opinions about him become ambiguous as well. Therefore, I neither like nor dislike O’Brien.
All three of the characters in this novel reveal a single universal truth. I believe that the author intended the readers to recognize this truth. As clearly shown in the characters’ characteristics, their actions are swayed here and there accordingly to the intensity of power that is clouding them. Smith shows that people do have the right to oppose the power through his passionate rebellion against the Inner Party. Therefore, I believe that people should live undisturbed by any factors other than themselves.
1984 was comparably a long novel. For this reason, this novel contains a substantial amount of characters. Nonetheless, there are only a few major characters: Winston Smith, Julia and O’Brien.
Winston Smith
Winston Smith, along with Julia, his lover, is the protagonist of this story. George Orwell envisioned his nightmarish world of totalitarianism through Smith’s perspective. For this reason, I felt as if I were reading George Orwell’s minds as I was reading Smith’s minds in this novel.
Winston is thoughtful. He has an intellectual ability to question the unjust rules of the Big Brother. Unlike Julia, who has a tendency to rebel only to seek her personal pleasure, Winston rebels in order to unearth the answer to his numerous questions. Winston seeks to discover why the Inner Party exercises such callous and absolute power in Oceania.
Winston’s curiosity soon leads to passionate rebellion against the Inner Party. With his curious and rebellious mind, Winston sets out to test the limits of the Party’s power. He commits countless crimes throughout the novel. Starting from writing ‘DOWN WTH BIG BROTHER’ in his diary, to sharing an illegal love with Julia and to joining the anti-Brotherhood party, Winston puts all his efforts into testing the limits of the Inner Party. Even so, Winston’s actions does not completely intend to only ‘test’ the limits of the Party, it also consists of his call for freedom and independence.
I personally like Winston Smith’s character as it is presented in this novel. He reveals the world in which legitimate optimism is an impossibility. After writing down his disgust for the Party in his diary, Winston lives in constant fear of the outcome of his thought-crimes. His disgust worsens as the fear turns into paranoia. Conversely, that paranoia became his source of his pursuit on rebellious actions. I like the fact that Winston pursued his rebellious actions even when there seemed to be no hope in doing so. Even if he was blind, to be extreme, in seeing the truths of the world he was living in, he gave himself an optimistic view of the world.
Julia
Julia is a perfect example of a contradictory character of Winston Smith. While Smith possesses a fatalistic view of the world, Julia is exactly the opposite. Julia’s purpose in having affairs with Smith and purpose for all of her doings is to satisfy and fulfill her desires.
I like Winston’s character. However, Julia is exactly the opposite of what Winston is. Therefore, I do not like Julia’s character excessively.
O’Brien
O’Brien, as the antagonist of this novel, is a member of the Inner Party that tricks Smith into believing that he is one of the Brotherhood. However, the validity of his membership in the Inner Party is also irresolute. Thus, I believe O’Brien serves as a mysterious figure in this novel.
Not knowing any distinct essentials about this man, my opinions about him become ambiguous as well. Therefore, I neither like nor dislike O’Brien.
All three of the characters in this novel reveal a single universal truth. I believe that the author intended the readers to recognize this truth. As clearly shown in the characters’ characteristics, their actions are swayed here and there accordingly to the intensity of power that is clouding them. Smith shows that people do have the right to oppose the power through his passionate rebellion against the Inner Party. Therefore, I believe that people should live undisturbed by any factors other than themselves.
1 comments:
It was surprising to me that for such a long book, there were only three major characters! Out of the three major characters from 1984, the only one I like is Winston Smith. I dislike Julia because she is too naive and carefree. She believes that she can get away with anything, and she only lives for pleasure and enjoyment. She does not have good judgment, and she is a bit unintelligent as well. I dislike O'Brien because even though he is intelligent, wealthy, and elite, he is too dedicated to the Party and cannot see how wrong it is. O'Brien has an enormous amount of power, but he does not put it to good use. However, I like Winston Smith quite a lot. He is moderately intelligent and has good judgment (enough to know that the Party is feeding him lies). He is inquisitive and cautious. Smith is also a fatalist, which allows me to relate to him, as I am slightly fatalistic myself. Thus, I like Winston Smith, but I dislike Julia and O'Brien.
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