Hero

[meripu1]

How is Winston a hero in this book, he doesn't really comea across this way to me.

[RiRi]

obviously, this depends on your definition of hero, but it could be said that his fight against the party, and his awwareness of what is wrong with his world is heroic, and the party's comprehensive destruction of him makes them all the more evil.

[vidar]

I think that what made the book so great was the fact that he is not a hero. He completely fails to make a real difference. There are no heroes. In most other stories the main character is always a hero who overcomes all these unrealistic odds to defeat this terrible system. Instead, here a more realistic future is portrayed, warning that if the system ever comes to this then you will not be able to change anything. The complete hopelessness of the book is its most powerful aspect.

[meripu1]

So, do you think there are any real heroes in the book, or is 1984 totally devoid of actual heroes.

[vidar]

Winston could be considered an antihero or possibly a failed hero to some extent. He does not fit the modern idea of a hero in which one person goes around shooting up an entire army single-handedly for justice. Yet, whatever he is, a world has been created in which someone such as him cannot make a difference.

[B-Mental]

Cannot a hero just be someone that struggles in vain, against the wave of collective behavior knowing they will fail. I think it is heroic to think the way Winston did. To try and fail is better than to never have tried at all.

[vidar]

Yes. He is a hero who does not prevail in the end.

[starrwriter]

How is Winston a hero in this book, he doesn't really comea across this way to me.
I don't think Winston is a hero, a failed hero or an anti-hero. He's just another victim of a totalitarian society that has no heros. That was one of Orwell's main points, IMO.

[Countess]

Jet Li in "Hero" is a true hero. :D

[Abberation]

The American Heritage® Dictionary:
2: A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life 4: The principal male character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation

WordNet, Princeton University:
1: a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength 2: the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem 3: someone who fights for a cause

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
1c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage 2 a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work

"Hero" is often used as a synonym for "Protagonist" so it may simply mean the lead male character.

However, a hero is also someone with the courage to fight for what they believe, even though they may die. The fight does not always have to be a physical struggle, in this case it is mainly mental. Winston is fighting for control of his own mind!


His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him. . . And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. . . With the feeling that he. . . was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote:

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

Winston knows that his struggle against The Party's indoctrination is futile, but he rebels anyway, even with the knowledge that he will eventually be "disappeard". It isn't winning that makes someone a hero, it is the will to fight.