1984 Essay, Research Paper

The classic novel 1984 by George Orwell, the modern classic of “Negative Utopia”, is the novel that we are just starting. There are many things from this book that are used everyday in comic strips, comparisons in news articles, and even the television show “Big Brother” is taken from 1984. However, the characters in the book are also things to be remembered.

Winston Smith is the first character that we’ve been introduced to in the story. So far what I’ve been getting from Orwell about Winston is that he’s a very lonely guy who’s not an outcast from society but voluntarily separates himself from society. For some reason he hates almost all women which immediately makes me think that he has some kind of disorder or that he had some kind of tragedy occur to him at a very young age (later proved to be losing his family). Also from the first four chapters I found he was a very, very smart and clever guy. Not many people would even think about putting something on their diary to see if someone was reading it, much less put something as inconspicuous as a speck of dust. I also got the impression that Winston is also a little paranoid since he often gets excited with every little occurrence.

A character that he reminds me of is Jonas in The Giver, which I read in 8th grade. The reason they remind me of each other is because they both live in societies that are very unique, and they both know that they are not like their fellow citizens. They also both learn that they are not alone simply through eye contact with other unique individuals like themselves. Jonas ends up making a big impact on his world and I can be sure that Winston will do the same.

At this point in the novel I feel that Winston is very clever and sneaky. I like Winston because he seems to have many problems going on in his life and those kinds of characters are just so very interesting and exciting. I just can’t wait to see what happens to him because it seems that with every single occurrence his life could change one way or another. I love the way he looks at things because it’s so unique and individual and it gives you a different perspective on which to look at things with.

1984 has many exciting turns of events I heard and I’m really excited about getting in to them. I can’t wait to see what happens to Winston and how his character plays out. Now about writing another one of these I don’t know if I’d like it. Maybe we’ll get stuck into a 1984 type world where homework will be nonexistent or something. Yeah, that’ll be great.