Winston Smith

Winston Smith was the main protagonist of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1948 by George Orwell. He was born in London, Airship One, Oceania (England).

About Winston
While much of his past is a mystery, considering his job has him rewriting history for the totalitarian system, he might not be certain about his own past. However, Smith is very aware of his government regime and secretly writes about it in his diary he was able to obtain in secret. Born in 1945, for most of Smith’s life, he has witness a dim outlook, since Oceania is in a constant state of war. Smith is a member of the Outer-Party, middle-class and wears Blue-Overalls, and knows he’s being watched by the ruling Inner-Party. Smith knows a telescreen in his living corners, which are also closed circuit television because they can’t be turned off.

His feelings and meeting Julia
Winston writes about his dismay of Big Brother, but he knows it like committing suicide because if he’s caught, it’s a death sentence. Winston Smith is presented the everyman of the harsh society he lives under, even writing ‘DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER’, since such thought is enough for a guilty verdict. He begins writing to those yet to be born and explain how he is a dead man from the age of Big Brother, which would foreshadow his fate, as he listens to a fellow member of the Outer Party confessing to crimes he didn’t commit. The false confession is used to remind Party members of their fate on the telescreen. The members are then seen at the Chestnut Tree Café, although there is no law against going to the cafe.

When Smith meets Julia, he begins to open up to her. As he starts a relationship with Julia, Smith begins to test how far he can go in his silence protest against Big Brother. As the story goes on, Winston Smith reflects on his childhood, losing his family and his fear of rats. While on the job, Smith is informed about members of the Inner-Party who have been sentenced to death. As a rule, Smith is to erase the men from the Party’s past by creating a story of another Inner Party member, a patriot in the Eyes of Oceania, who died fighting for the nation. Smith also sees two children of his friend, Tom Parson, and noticed they were immune to the violence the State does to people.

His meeting with O’Brien
As the story goes on, Smith meets O’Brien, an Inner-Party member, who has seen Smith and Julia talking about Big Brother. Smith was very wary of O’Brien do to the appearance of meeting a fellow resistance member. Smith is given a book about the Party presumably written by the Enemy of the People, Emmanuel Goldstein, and reads about his life. Smith is unaware of the fatal trap that O’Brien has just set. However, giving his job of rewriting history, Smith isn’t sure what can be deemed as true.

After this, Smith continues writing in his diary and explains moments in his life. He writes about his disapproval of the Party methods of control, and the hope of there will be an uprising against Big Brother. Smith goes to the prole neighborhood and sees how they are free from control since there are only telescreen to watch them. Smith even speaks with a man about life before the Party, a clue that Oceania was once a capitalist nation. Afterwards, Smith meets up with Julia, who explains about how the Party was trying to get to the people.

Trivia

 * Strangely, John Hurt, who played Smith in the 1980s version of the film later played the very Big Brother type, figure in V for Vendetta.