Winston’s Heroism

Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell’s 1984, is depicted as a young man who
harbors revolutionary dreams. He is a minor member of the ruling Party in London. He is also
intellectual and contemplative. He is boldly opposed to the enforced repression and totalitarian
control that is evident in the ruling government of his day. Through Winston, the reader is able to
experience the nightmare-like world that the author envisions. Winston’s attempt to resist his
intellectual ability to reason about his resistance and his resistance towards his stifling
individuality allows the reader to see the oppression propagated by the Thought Police institute,
Big Brother, and the Party. Winston is an ordinary character doing what he possibly can to
change the systems in Oceania; he is a hero that the reader can admire and emulate.
Winston lives in a country where everyone is under authoritarian rule. Absolute
obedience and adherence to the law are expected lest someone is punished. ” Big Brother”
upholds the law and looks for anyone trying to go against the rules. Winston understands that the
authorities are oppressing the citizens of Oceania. He is depicted as a feeble man who is humanly
limited. He lacks bodily strength and even has ulcers on his ankle. However, his shortcomings do
not deter him from doing what it is that he believes in. he is determined to accomplish what only
a champion can do. He depicts the courage of a hero. He fits Orwell’s description of a hero, who
despite being constrained, strives to fight o have systems that respect human dignity. He does not
support the oppressive state authorities, and this shows in his actions. In the novel, the author
remarks, “Winston’s greatest pleasure in life was in his work. Most of it was a tedious routine,
but included in it there were also jobs so difficult and intricate that you could lose yourself in
them” (Orwell 55). Winston still enjoys his work despite the challenges that he encounters. Over
time, he can no longer hide his displeasure with the state. His opposite position becomes evident.
He openly rebels against the unfair regime and starts to match towards the path of social
freedom. This, however, is not an easy route.
Winston boldly opposes “Big Brother” despite knowing the consequences because he
wants to change the lives of the people in Oceania for the better. Winston says, ” ‘We believe that
there is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of secret organization working against the Party and
that you are involved in it. We want to join it and work for it. We are enemies of the Party”
(Orwell 215). Here, he boldly expresses his intentions to join the opposition party and work
against the government. He is uncertain about O’Brien’s loyalty towards him. He does not know
whether he is a person to be trusted. Despite these facts, he still considers taking chances because
his focus is on opposing the government. He wants to be part of any group determined to effect
social change. He is not sure about O’Brien’s intentions, and his knowledge of the possible
success of his mission is limited. Despite this, he is determined to do what he can as an ordinary
man in Oceania and see whether he can achieve positive social change.
Winston’s heroism is evident throughout the novel, and this makes him a character that
the reader can identify with and emulate. For instance, he engages in an affair with Julia, and

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even after being caught, he still holds onto his beliefs. He is certain that Julia hates the state. The
author remarks, “It was merely one symptom of her revolt against the Party and all its ways, and
somehow it seemed natural and healthy, like the sneeze of a horse that smells bad hay” (Orwell
154). This shows that Julia and Winston were on one side. She, too, disliked the Party. The two
are later apprehended and tortured for failure to submit to the authorities. She supports Winston
in questing the Party (Bounasri 23). She, too, is tortured.
Winston’s resilience is depicted in the torture chamber. He is tortured and mercilessly
beaten. He gives up several times, but he understands that he has a mission. He knows that
torture that is committed by authoritarian regimes is evil and must fight it to the end (Rothbard
2). His heroism is one of human nature. As an ordinary man, he possesses no superpowers. He is
just a simple man determined to achieve social change. During one of the many torture
encounters, he says to himself, “I will confess, but not yet. I must hold out till the pain becomes
unbearable. Three more kicks, two more kicks, and then I will tell them what they want” (Orwell
304). These words prove that Winston fits Orwell’s description of a hero. He is very ordinary. He
feels pain and even contemplates confessing and telling the men what they wanted to hear so that
he could rescue himself from the pain. Sometimes in the torture chamber, he would be bitten so
much so that he struggled to stand. It would then take a while for him to recover before again the
beating resumed. Winston is a true human hero. He takes it all in because he wants to ensure that
the people of Oceania live in a better society. Winston is the reference norm for values in
Orwell’s novel (Bloom 63). He sacrifices and suffers for the sake of the citizens. His selfless
nature can be seen in these acts.
In the end, Winston gives in to the torture. He is oppressed so much that he decides to
abandon his opposition position. Physical suffering reconditions him mentally and leads to a
dislocation of his logic (Al-Jubouri 107). He depicts the impact of O’Brien’s conversion process,
one that manages to convert negative obedience into conformity and genuine submission. This,
however, does not disqualify Winston as a hero. He still is a hero that the reader can emulate, but
he has limits. He gives in o the suffering as that is the most humane thing to do. He is just an
ordinary civil servant (Tyner 129). He had to choose between life and death; he chose the former
because only then would he be able to impact change in society.
Overall, Orwell depicts Winston as an everyday man who does his best to change his
society. He is opposed to the way the regime of his day treats people, and he boldly speaks out
against it. This does not auger well with those in authority, such as O’Brien, and he ends up
getting tortured. At first, he is willing to take it all in. he is beaten until he cannot stand on his
own. In some instances, the torturers have to give him some time to recuperate before continuing
with the beating. As an ordinary man, he gives in and gives up his opposition position. He,
however, still remains a hero. He had fought a good fight on behalf of the citizens of Oceania.

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Works Cited

Al-Jubouri, Firas Adnan Jabbar. Milestones on the Road to Dystopia: Interpreting George
Orwell’s Self-Division in an Era of ‘Force and Fraud.’ Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
2014.
Bloom, Harold, ed. George Orwell’s 1984. Infobase Publishing, 2009.
Bounasri, Aicha. “Nuances of Alienation in George Orwell’s1984 and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible
Man: A Comparative Study.” (2016).
Orwell, George. “Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).” The complete novels 7 (1990).
Rothbard, Murray N. George Orwell, and the Cold War: A reconsideration. na, 1984.
Tyner, James A. “Self and space, resistance and discipline: a Foucauldian reading of George
Orwell’s 1984.” Social & Cultural Geography 5.1 (2004): 129-149.