George Orwell 1984 Essay, Research Paper
George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty Four , in 1921 joined the Indian
Imperial Police but seven years later resigned having come to hate imperialism. This was
evident in the novel when George Orwell portrayed the Party of Big Brother, as a
government we wouldn’t desire but if we were not careful we too like Weinstein Smith,
the main character, would suffer in our lifetime. But Mr. Orwell also presented that we
must not let Big Brother control us and that we must rebel and fight back or else Big
Brother would win. In this novel I believe that hating Big Brother is what kept Winston
alive. To support this thesis the supporting arguments are Winston expressed his feelings
which proves he was a sane human, Winston was more logical than the Party, and he was
not himself when he said he loved Big Brother. Winston, the Party’s opposition, had the
only hope to rebel. Winston wrote in his diary “if there is hope, it lies in the proles.”
Winston was sane and acted upon feelings knowing he would be executed for
them. When Winston first met Julia, he thought that she was a spy and he wanted to bash
in her skull. When he read her message which was “I love you”, he was stunned and also
pleased that someone had feelings for him. If Winston was totally under Big Brother’s
power he wouldn’t have felt the urge to return the love, and have the anxiety of
wondering if she did really love him rather then just throwing away the incriminating
message. Winston felt the feeling of hatred toward the Party and was willing to search for
the Brotherhood to try to overthrow the government.
O’Brien asked Winston and Julia, “…what are you prepared to do?” Winston
replied, “Anything that we are capable of .” Winston’s strong hatred toward the Party
made him willing to murder, commit acts of sabotage, to cheat, and commit suicide.
Followers of the Party would not have felt the feelings of such contrast of love and hate
but rather to fulfill their duty to Big Brother.
Winston wh
things through in a logical manner, it helped him stay reassured that the Party was evil
and made him focus on not giving up but mentally not let Big Brother win. O’Brien,
member of the Party, when interrogating Winston said that the Party seeked power and
when you have power, power could conquer matter. Winston was logically assuming that
how could you control diseases, the law of gravity, or the climate. Everything that the
Party tried to make Winston believe, he fought back through logical thinking which
conveyed more flaws of the Party.
“He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” The above quote
was when Winston’s mind was totally brain washed at this time he was killed. Why
would the Party have killed him when he finally believed and loved Big Brother? How
come he wasn’t shot when he told O’Brien “I hate him[Big Brother]“? The reason was
hating Big Brother kept Winston alive. The Party not only wanted Winston to suffer but
to die insane. Dying insane was accomplished when Winston was totally brain washed
and we know this from the time he said he hated Big Brother to he loved Big Brother.
The Party at all cost had to prove that they had power by playing on people’s fears or
brainwashing their thoughts such as 2 + 2 = 5. Once this was accomplished, Winston was
now harmless, useless, and wouldn’t be able to help them gain power, this leading to his
death. Winston was murdered not as Winston Smith but as an accomplishment of the
Party.
While Winston was alive he hated Big Brother, some may say Big Brother bet
him and that is why he was murdered. To me Winston succeeded in conquering Big
Brother personally because when interrogated he openly admitted he hated Big Brother
and fought back using logical explanations. There was no possible was for Winston to
stop the Party from brain washing his mental thoughts. Winston Smith’s mind was lost
the minute he was brain washed and all that remained was his shadow.