Preview

Favourite literary character.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
487 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Favourite literary character.
My favourite literary character is Winston Smith. He is the main character in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. I consider him to be my favourite character for a few reasons. These reasons are that he is very strong willed, his fatalistic attitude, his inquisition towards many things, as well as his rebelliousness toward society. I will go into more detail in the following short essay.

He is very strong willed, Winston never let's any of the antagonists in the story intimidate him, even though they know what he is thinking. He shows numerous times throughout the story that he is strong willed, despite the fact that the thought police, The Party, and the mysterious Big Brother are constantly trying to psychologically intimidate him, he still keeps his sanity. He also shows this through the torture they force on him toward the end of the novel, he refuses to crack through everything, until the very end when the torture becomes unbearable.

Another reason that I consider Winston to be my favourite character is his fatalistic attitude, he assumes the worst will happen and although at some points in the story he makes bad choices, he also makes some good ones. Due to the fact he believes that Big Brother will eventually capture him he constantly is running, and trying to evade them, although at sometimes he does fell like giving in. He goes to O'Brien and joins the anti-Big Brother rebellion.

Winston is also very inquisitive; he uses his mind in order to rebel against the totalitarian society that tries to rule him. In almost every chapter he is researching something, or trying to find out something else. He works in the ministry of truth, and he is responsible for altering historical documents, often times he inquires as to what the actual fact is before altering it, as he wants to know. He doesn't deem much of history to be plausible. For instance the leader of the Brotherhood against the party, Emanuel Goldstein is considered to be the most dangerous man in Oceania.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Winston is 39 years old, and has an above average intelligence compared to the rest of society. 2.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Winston loathed this exercise, which sent shooting pains all the way from is heels to his buttocks and often ended by bringing on another coughing fit. The past, he reflected had not merely been altered, it had been actually destroyed. For how could you establish even the most obvious fact when there existed no record outside your own memory?” p.g 33 This quote is taken from Part 1. Winston is following what The Inner Party is forcing everyone in the party to do. Of course Winston outwardly conforms with the exercises, but in his mind he neglects and speculates everything the Party does. It is obvious he questions many times the way of the Party.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Winston wants to rebel against the party, however his desire is impossible to achieve in a totalitarian setting, which is the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four; societal regulations in Nineteen Eighty-Four help to prevent potential dissenters from needless struggle and pain. Winston understands that the party’s structure is reinforced in several ways that make it incredibly strong, and impossible change in his lifetime. Just like Lizzie, O’Brien warns Winston that, “there is no possibility that any perceptible change will happen within [their] own lifetime,” and by rebelling, “[they] are the dead” (Orwell 203). However, just like in Goblin Market, Winston ignores the possibility of death, in pursuit of his own desires. He rebels and breaks the…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As mentioned above, Winston was finally defeated. He can no longer think or act for himself, just how “The Party” wants their people to be. Winston looked up at a picture of Big Brother and felt loyal to him and “The Party”. Unfortunately this quote shows how “The Party” is undefeated and ultimately destroyed him. Winston was no longer capable of being his own person he was now who “The Party” wanted him to be. He was no longer himself. I believe in ending the story this way, Orwell shows how much power and strength totalitarianism has over…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    By which point in the novel, Winston is becoming more autonomous and less restrained by the authoritarian system designed to govern his every action and thought. Of course, since the beginning of the novel, Winston has questioned Big Brother, along with the existence of certain rules, and he was never truly a brainwashed member of society, this first written act of resistance characterizes him beyond the more typical person he was first introduced to be. As the plot progresses, Winston’s thoughts seem to revolve around Julia, a fellow Party…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Winston often faces a dilemma about who he pledges his allegiance to. His rebellious nature tells him to believe in Goldstein and to love him. On the other hand, Winston also finds it hard to rebel due to the power of the Party. This quote exemplifies this conflict inside of Winston. During the two-minute hate, Winston joins the crowd in booing at the screen but he also finds himself thinking about how Goldstein isn’t the bad guy in this society. This shows one side of Winston, the rebellious “you can’t control me” Winston. The other side of Winston is seen when his, “secret loathing of Big Brother turned into adoration.” This side of Winston admires the Party and Big Brother because of the amount of power they wield. Though the party is not…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984 Trash Notes

    • 2935 Words
    • 12 Pages

    At the beginning of the book Winston was a thought criminal and nothing more and he later evolves into a full-fledged rebel, joining the “infamous” Brotherhood. Winston was an extremely annoying character from the very start. His decisions and actions were extremely irrational and I was not able to connect with his character throughout the novel. Winston had accepted that he would die to the hands of the Party as soon as he thought about writing in his diary. As readers we can only assume that Winston felt differently about Big Brother than most of the Party members, and this made him feel alone and vulnerable. This causes him to trust just about anyone who does not literally tell him they are part of the Thought Police. He feels he can trust O’Brien without any proof, he trusts Julia’s note to him and meets up with her knowing full well that she could be a spy for the Thought Police and finally he trusts Mr. Charrington because his old age makes him appear fragile and helpless. Winston was an annoying character because he never hoped to accomplish anything. There was no goal in his mind, and no intention of creating one either.…

    • 2935 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I first read 1984, I thought Winston was just some depressed and sexually frustrated old guy. After our class discussion, however, I see that his character actually has some depth in his personality. In 1984 Winston’s ability to rebel against the Party lies in the relationship and loyalty he shares with Julia. In the beginning, Winston is to weak and frightened to revolt against the Party. Furthermore, Winston is emotionally weakened and frustrated because the dark-haired girl he desires seems distant and cold to him. However, when the girl named Julia declares her love for him, their relationship’s fidelity strengthens Winston. Julia helps him towards redeeming himself from his shameful past. In addition to this commitment, Winston is…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, Winston follows the Party’s strict rules and presents the idea of life without freedom by…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The details given that describe the pain inflicted upon Winston also help develop his character. After stating that if the party says five, it’s still four fingers that are up, Winston is shot with pain. Orwell states, “The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop.” With the specific details of the horrifying pain shot through Winston, he still did not surrender to the party’s beliefs. He held to his own. Orwell again describes the pain when he states, “All that mattered was somehow to stay alive until the spasm was over. He had ceased to notice whether he was crying or not” and again when he states, “Perhaps the needle was at eighty—ninety. Winston could only intermittently remember why the pain was happening. Behind his screwed-up eyeballs…” Through the particular detail of the pain every single time, Orwell reveals that Winston holds his beliefs strongly and that even through the pain it is hard to surrender. He portrays Winston as a sturdy person, even though O’Brien eventually replaces that.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They knew they did not live in a perfect world. Even though Big Brother did not fool Winston, he still had a major affect on him. Big Brother was the reason Winston lived in fear. Winston knew that he was committing a thought crime and what the thought police would do to him if he was caught, but he just could not keep himself from wanting to rebel. He had to get it out and that’s why he started to write in his journal. He knew the moment he began committing the ‘crimes’ he would not be able to stop. Everything he did he had to do in fear of Big Brother and the Party. He knew he could be erased from existence but he could not help it. Big Brother was the reason Winston was unable to remember his past for such a long time, and unable to live with emotion and happiness. Just like all the other citizens Big Brother deprived Winston of living a normal life. That alone was a big affect Big Brother had on Winston but the constant fear and punishment once he got caught is…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Summer Reading

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the beginning Winston goes against the law and secretly buys a journal to write in, even though if he is caught he will be taken away forever. He would have to face Big Brother, but Winston was willing to take the chance. Many times he reads throughout the novel “ War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”. Which is the official saying of the Party. While attempting to write in the journal Winston found himself only being able to write “Down with Big Brother” repeatedly. He always found himself confused on what to do but always believed that he would never conform into one of them!…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Winston is human. With no help, mortal or otherwise, and no special characteristics, can readers really expect him to be spectacular? Maybe he was not meant to be anyone's savior—maybe he was not hero at all, but that does not make him less admirable. There is admirability in his questioning and in his desire to be happy. He is still emulatble and one can learn from his mistakes. He shows readers that not all misfortune can be resolved, and if everyone is expected to be a hero, is anyone…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning of the novel rebellion had always been a part of Winston, but as time went on rebellion from the powerful Big Brother consumed him. After his hysteric outburst on paper on writing “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”, Winston reveals that, “He had committed- would still have committed, even if he had never set pen on paper- the essential crime. Thought crime..." This is the first time Winston allows his feeling to surface through the suppression of the party. Within him there is sheer hatred for Big Brother, enough to sporadically scream his demise through pen and paper. More importantly, he knew he committed a crime and that it was inevitable. Though he knows that what he has done cannot be changed he accepts its inevitability. Rebellion was rooted in the deepest part of his mind as Thoughtcrime and it was inescapable.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Winston Smith is our main character and the easiest character to relate to. He is also the character with the most progression and changes. Julia is Winston’s lover and companion that he hated before he knew her and then later loves. O’Brien lies and says he is a member of the Brotherhood, an underground organization that is against the Party or government, when in reality he is a member of the thought police. Big Brother is the leader of The Party and Emmanuel Goldstein used to be an ally of Big Brother but now leads the Brotherhood against the party.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays