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Winston Smith is the main protagonist of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984) and its various adaptations.
Winston is a working man in a dystopian society that where War is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength". Winston is portrayed as the everyman of the story's setting as a means for the audience to relate to in the premise.
Portrayals[]
The character of Smith has appeared on radio, television, and film in adaptations of the novel. The first actor to play the role was David Niven in a 27 August 1949 radio adaptation for NBC's NBC University Theater; the next radio Winston Smith was played by Richard Widmark on a 26 April 1953 broadcast of The United States Steel Hour on ABC.
In BBC One's 1954 adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four Smith was played by Peter Cushing, and in the 1956 film, Edmond O'Brien performed the role. Perhaps most popularly, the late John Hurt portrayed Winston in the 1984 film version.
Biography[]
Winston Smith works as a clerk in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to rewrite historical documents so they match the constantly changing current party line. This involves revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs—mostly to remove "unpersons," people who have fallen foul of the party. Because of his proximity to the mechanics of rewriting history, Winston Smith nurses doubts about the Party and its monopoly on truth. Whenever Winston appears in front of a telescreen, he is referred to as "6079 Smith W". Winston meets a mysterious woman named Julia, a fellow member of the Outer Party who also bears resentment toward the party's ways; the two become lovers. Winston soon gets in touch with O'Brien, a member of the Inner Party whom Winston believes is secretly a member of The Brotherhood, a resistance organization dedicated to overthrowing the Party's dictatorship. Believing they have met a kindred spirit, Winston and Julia join the Brotherhood.
However, O'Brien is an agent of the Thought Police, which has had Winston under surveillance for seven years. Winston and Julia are soon captured. Winston remains defiant when he is captured, and endures several months of extreme torture at O'Brien's hands. However, his spirit finally breaks when he is taken into Room 101 and confronted by his own worst fear: the unspeakable horror of slowly being eaten alive by rats. Terrified by the realization that this threat will come true if he continues to resist, he denounces Julia and pledges his loyalty to the Party. Any possibility of resistance or independent thought is destroyed when Smith is forced to accept the assertion 2 + 2 = 5, a phrase that has entered the lexicon to represent obedience to ideology over rational truth or fact. By the end of the novel, O'Brien's torture has reverted Winston to his previous status as an obedient, unquestioning slave who genuinely loves "Big Brother". Beyond his total capitulation and submission to the party, Winston's fate is left unresolved in the novel. As Winston realizes that he loves Big Brother, he dreams of a public trial and an execution; however, the novel itself ends with Winston, presumably still in the Chestnut Tree Café, contemplating the face of Big Brother.
Personality[]
Winston Smith is the everyman and is meant to serve as the audience surrogate. He is a worker for the Outer Party and is miserable in his job, though he is an efficient worker. He secretly hates his job and wants to rebel against the Party and its leadership over Oceania. He buys a diary to detail his true thoughts and opinions about the Party even though it is considered illegal. He knows "thoughtcrime" is illegal and wants to know how long he will be able to keep up his thoughtcrime before he is captured by the Though Police.
When he starts a relationship with Julia, which is considered forbidden because the only type of love that is legal is love towards Big Brother, Winston starts to enjoy life more. He starts secretly rebelling against the Party and enjoys it. He takes appreciation to the little things like rainbow-shell or to an obese but dedicated singing woman. He also enjoys going out to a field to gaze upon nature and the sunset. He gains hope that they could keep this up forever and that the Party's rule would eventually collapse, though he would be wrong.
Winston seems to be a bad judge of character. He believes that O'Brien is secretly rebelling against the party when in reality, he is a dedicated member to the Inner Party and is the one that mentally breaks Winston. He also initially believes that Julia is dedicated to the Party when she actually hates the Party and that Charrington was helpful in Winston's rebellion when he is actually a member of the Thought Police and was baiting him. The only time he correctly guessed someone's fate or character was when he predicted that Symes would be vaporized because he is too intelligent, which he was corrected.
Winston gets captured by the Thought Police and is taken to the Ministry of Love. Before his torture, he believes that he could keep on a straight face and his beliefs even during and after the torture. However, when he does get beaten and torture, he willingly submits to the Party and confesses to crimes he didn't actually commit. He did plan to keep his beliefs or at least his love to Julia after his torture even after the beatings stop and he was put through torturous rehabilitation led by O'Brien. However, after being revealed by O'Brien in the last of his many torturous teachings that his health has deteriorated and that he looks ugly, Winston starts wishing to die.
After the torturous teachings, he is held in a cell which he starts to enjoy. He regularly exercises and starts to believe in Big Brother and the Party. However, while sleeping, he suddenly starts crying out to Julia. This forces O'Brien to put Winston through Room 101, which contains the someone's worst fear. A rat is placed on Winston's face, which terrifies him and makes him beg for Julia to go through it instead of him. He is released with no love for Julia anymore and no thoughts of rebellion. After an announcement of Oceania's success in the perpetual war, Winston realizes that he loves Big Brother.
Appearance[]
Trivia[]
- Winston Smith is also the name of a cat owned by a pro-choice activist in Stephen King's Insomnia.
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Animal Farm Nineteen Eighty-Four | ||
