Did Winston have a choice? [Archive] - Literature Network Forums

DumbLikeAPoet

07-23-2003, 10:34 AM

MY wife recently read 1984 for the first time a few weeks ago and she brought up an interesting question. I'm pretty sure the question was not addressed in the book so I'll ask you all and see what you think.

Why didn't Winston live as a prole? Why didn't he just go out one day and never come back? Do you think that if he hadn't got caught that he would have joined the proles eventually?

Jonus

imthefoolonthehill

07-26-2003, 10:38 PM

I think the book actually did address this issue... Winston did not become a prole because his dissapearance would alert the thought police, thus starting the search. It has been pounded into his brain that once the thought police gets a hint of what you are doing, you will be caught soon. He had no hope of successfully evading the thought police no matter what disguise he used.

His only hope was to keep on going on normally for as long as possible. He believed that he would last longer like that than he would hiding as a prole.