Protagonist and Antagonist 1984 - Boris B

Boris Bulatovic

1984

George Orwell

292/292 pages read

Protagonist and Antagonist in 1984

Winston Smith, the protagonist in 1984, lives in a totalitarian “utopia” where everything is controlled. The Party and the country dictator Big Brother make sure nothing is out of the ordinary and everything follows the set of rules. Everything is regulated and controlled just like in The Giver by Lois Lowry. The Party and Big Brother have absolute control upon their citizens and the citizens have no individual power. However Winston does not agree that the society he lives in should be like this he wants to stand. Winston opposes the forces however faces challenges in the way O’Brian, The party and Big Brother all disagree about Winston decision and will do anything in there power to stop him from opposing them. The Party and Big Brother have the most power and are the most important antagonists.

Winston is a thirty-nine year old who works at the Ministry of truth in London, Oceania. Working for the Ministry and being a citizen he as any other citizen is part of the totalitarian oppressive system. He modifies “historical” documents in order for them to fit with the modern ideas and rules of the Party.

Although Winston's job is safe and he has a decent future he is not happy. He has to work for a system which he does not support. Winston Smith believes the system bans individuality, blinds people from the truth, stops development and is not morally right. Winston does not believe in tyranny and feels oppressed and believes that it is his tuty to stop this injustice government. Everyday he goes to work to do something he believes is morally wrong and he cannot continue doing it. He thinks that what he is doing is just making it worse for the people and providing power to The Party further oppressing the poor powerless citizens. He tries to investigate what it was like in London before the Revolution but soon realizes that all the records have been wiped. There he begins to understand that what he is doing everyday is just this terminating all records of the past so that no one could stop the development and growth of the gruesome governmental system.

Only now understand what he has done he starts to feel horrible and guilty and tries to protest and rebel against the inhumane system. Winston starts doing things which do not harmonize with the already strongly established order and system. Winston Smith starts keeping a diary, embarks on a relationship with a female and ponders about the possibilities of entering the Brotherhood as to overthrow the powerful Big Brother. He is filled with fear and is afraid but still tries to rebel.

In Big Brothers political system all intellectual individuality is prohibited, one is not allowed to think and have those which do not conform with the one of The Party. Expressing one's thoughts and having a diary is illegal as well. If the Big Brother cannot watch and know what a person is thinking while doing something then that something is illegal. Big Brother and The Party have to be absent and all knowing. In Winston's Diary he express ideas which do not comply with the government's ideas which say the government should not prevail but fall to ashes. Winston enters into a relationship with Julia, another person who is employed at the Ministry of Truth. Participating in a relationship is also illegal because having a relationship is considered a sign of promiscuity. As their relationship develops and there connection increases they think about joining the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is a secret organization whose goal is to overthrow Big Brother and stop oppression of ideas and freedom of speech.

The main antagonist of Winston in the Orwellian Society is The Party. The party is the government which is governed by the dictator, Big Brother. The dictator controls and watches over all of Oceania. He controls Oceania by controlling the four ministries of Love, Plenty, Peace and Truth. The Party regulates and controls life in Oceania. They are the ones who give out clothing, decide one social events and activities and distributes food. The party suppresses rebellion and continues to grow in power by banning individuality and freedom, the freedom of speech, though and the freedom of action. People or groups who disobey these rule or act against The Party by expressing ideas which do not harmonize with the ideas of The Party are severely punished. The citizens or people of Ocean feel oppressed and dictate but yet do nothing because they are scared and feel powerless. The Party has full control over them and they do not have a bit of freedom. They are monitored constantly through screens, cameras and microphones. Large massive posters are huge though Oceania with the sentence “Big Brother is watching” acting as a constant reminder to the citizens that each of these actions is being watched and that The Party has full control over them. The Big Brother uses the Thought Police, his military to stop any sign of rebellion by eliminating those citizens who are disloyal to the ideas of the dictator.