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1984: The Journey of Winston

Winston’s character is very complex and is ever-changing. His ideas,
feelings and thoughts morph and evolve throughout the novel. The
changes in his perception of the Party, and life in Airstrip 1 in general
have been mapped and divided into five phases. In this way, Winston’s
persona can be effectively observed and documented.

Phase 1 – Winston does not like the Party but dares not stand
against it in any way
In the very beginning of the story, Winston Smith appears to be just like
every other citizen of the totalitarian Oceania. He abides by the rules and
does his job properly. It is, however, evident that Winston is suppressed,
and in conflict with himself. It doesn’t take much time for the protagonist
to commit his first crime: writing in a diary, which is punishable by death.
Winston seeks to use the diary as some sort of emotional outlet. Winston
is not actually devoted to the Party, like everyone around him seem to be.
He is frustrated, and wants to rebel. He remembers O’Brien, a member of
the Inner Party who Winston believes has an imperfect orthodoxy.
Winston is not sure about it and knows very well that he might never
know, but still he has a little fragment of hope. Winston also dislikes
women, especially a dark-haired girl who he sees commonly at his
workplace in the Ministry. He has been sexually oppressed by the Party
like every other citizen, and the women that he sees serve as a cruel
reminder of what he cannot have. He is attracted to the dark-haired girl,
yet he despises her at the same time because he knows he cannot have her.
When Winston looks down, he realizes he has written “DOWN WITH
BIG BROTHER” several times as a result of finally letting out his
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emotions about Big Brother, which had been trapped inside of him for a
long, long time.
In the second chapter, Winston remembers his dream, where O’Brien tells
him to meet him in “the place where there is no darkness”. He is unable to
express his idea of rebellion when he is conscious, so he does so when he
is asleep. A big part of Winston’s character is his pessimism. He is
fatalistic, and now that he committed a thoughtcrime, he cannot get rid of
his feeling of impending doom. He seems to be certain that he is bound to
get caught and punished by the thought police. Later, he has a dream in
which he remembers his mother, who disappeared several years ago. In
this dream, he imagines a place called the Golden Country, in which he
sees the dark-haired girl from the ministry rip out her clothes and come
running towards him. Although this can be seen as one of Winston’s
sexual fantasies, it signifies something bigger. The dark-haired girl is
removing her bonds, escaping from the control of the Party and gaining
freedom.
Phase 2 – Winston begins to strongly desire freedom, and
dreams of revolution
We can infer that Winston longs for freedom and individuality, again
giving us insight into his rebellious character. At this point in the story,
Winston’s desire for rebellion is far too underdeveloped for him to start a
revolution against the Party, or even stand up for himself. The fire inside
of him burns quietly.
Later, Winston jots down in his book that a successful revolution can only
come from the proles. However, he acknowledges that the proles lead
animalistic lives and cannot rebel. Winston knows for sure that anything
the Party says must be taken with a grain of salt, as everything fed to the
people is just propaganda and lies. Winston’s detection of O’Brien
seemingly unorthodox persona causes him to write the diary as some sort
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of a letter to O’Brien. Winston then buys a paperweight, a beautiful rock,

from a prole. Winston sees this paperweight as a method of escaping back
to the time when Big Brother was not in control, when life was better.
Winston attempts to use it to reconnect with the past.

Phase 3 – Winston begins his silent stand against the Party

when he starts his affair with Julia
In the first chapter of Book 2, the dark-haired girl who Winston despises
subtly passes him a note, which reads “I love you”. Winston is obviously
confused, as he had previously believed that the girl was part of the
Thought Police. This is a turning point in the novel. Eventually, he
manages to meet the girl, who introduces herself as Julia. He is thrilled by
the fact that she has had several sexual encounters because he hates the
Party. He hates their vile, inhumane policies. He is attracted to Julia’s
corruptness, because it destroys the Party’s policies of “purity” and
“virtue”. Despite Winston’s evident physical unattractiveness, Julia still
loves him. She is attracted to his idea of rebellion, which is what brings
the two together. Although Julia’s idea of rebellion is merely to outwit the
party, Winston believes in a wide-spread rebellion. Julia’s feel for
rebellion and revolution is not as intense or strong as Winston’s, yet they
share the same general idea. They rent out a room in Mr. Charrington’s
house where they regularly make love. They understand the risk of doing
this and punishment it holds, but their thirst to outwit Big Brother and love
for each other outweigh the consequences.
We are given foreshadowing on how this fiasco will end when one of
Winston’s friends, Syme, disappears. Winston has always known that this
would happen, yet he is still caught unprepared. The vanishing on his
friends reestablishes his sense of impending doom, reminding him that one
day he will get caught. In the sixth chapter, Winston finally meets
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O’Brien. O’Brien invites Winston to his house and tells him about the
Brotherhood, even giving him a book about it. Winston is ecstatic, because
he is finally joining a true rebellion. He does not care that this might end
with him being tortured and killed as it would mean finally standing up for
what’s right and taking a stand against evil, something he’s wanted to do
for a long time.
Phase 4 - Winston is ready to rebel, and seeks to use the
‘Brotherhood’ to destroy the Party
Later, in their room, Winston meets Julia and they both agree that if and
when they get caught, they will maintain their individuality and not betray
each other, because they cannot see the Party succeed. Winston is excited
about joining the Brotherhood. However, Julia is still skeptical about the
whole idea of a wide-spread rebellion and does not whole-heartedly trust
O’Brien the way Winston does. Winston is gaining confidence in his
desire for revolution. In the final chapter of Book 2, the inevitable
happens. Winston and Julia are arrested by the Party. As it turns out, Mr.
Charrington was an undercover agent of the Thought Police, hiding
amongst the proles. O’Brien was also part of the Thought Police and has
pretended to be part of the Brotherhood. This was excruciating for
Winston and Julia, as everything that was holding the permeance of their
relationship together has been ripped apart and mocked by the Party.
Everything they had believed in, all hope that they had, was decimated.
O’Brien represents the manipulative, shrewd, vile and calculating face of
the Party. He could have turned Winston in the first time they met, yet he
waited patiently to gain Winston’s trust completely before brutally
betraying him. He concocts an image of an ideal, heroic, rebellious figure
to inspire hope and optimism in Winston, just to snatch it away. This was
only a part of his psychological torture which he will soon use to procure
complete unquestioned submission and subjugation from Winston.
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Winston let go of his fatalistic nature for a short period of time and it
destroyed him.

Winston is brought to the Ministry of Love, which as Winston mentioned

in the beginning of the novel, was the most terrifying of the lot. He is kept
in a room with no lights or windows in utter darkness. During this time,
there is a lot of enigma created around the ambiguous Room 101, a place
which every prisoner seems to be absolutely terrified of. He then learns of
O’Brien’s treachery. He succumbs to severe torture by O’Brien, who
shows Winston no mercy. O’Brien not only aims to make Winston lie
about agreeing with the Party, he seeks to physically and mentally
terrorize Winston until he actually believes and supports the lies of the
Party. Ironically, Winston begins to love O’Brien, looking at him as some
sort of celestial figure that can stop the pain. He develops some misplaced
sense of reverence and admiration for O’Brien. Through O’Brien, the
Party executes their one and only agenda – the absolute control of power.
Eventually, Winston is coerced into believing the Party’s lies. Winston is
given rest, for his soul and body to heal. He is tortured less often and he
has time to reminisce. He understands that the Party hasn’t won yet, and
that even though his mind has been manipulated, his heart hasn’t. He still
feels as strongly about Julia as he did before, if not stronger. When
O’Brien questions him about his feelings about Big Brother, Winston
replies that he hates Big Brother. O’Brien is enraged, and orders Winston
to be taken to Room 101.
The Final Phase - Winston loses his individuality and the Party
succeeds
Here, Winston faces his biggest fear of all – rats. O’Brien cunningly
manipulates Winston through his fear of rats to turn him into the
submissive individual that the Party needs him to be. Through this
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subjugation, Winston finally lets go of the last shred of humanity that

tethered him to his own reality. All his hopes of dying with his
individuality intact have been lost. Fact, reality and truth no longer hold
any ground. This shatters the thin line between sanity and insanity,
causing Winston to be trapped in a mental place where he is perpetually
unaware of his own thoughts. The Party succeeds in having him trapped in
his mind.
O’Brien now smiles, happy that his job is done. He releases Winston,
knowing that he will never betray the Party again. Winston meets Julia
and is horrified by any thoughts of having sexual encounters with her.
Winston loves Big Brother now.