1984 -- winston a hero

[jasbox]

Hi

I'm doing an oral on 1984, and my topic is 'In what way is Winston a heroic figure?'. Could anyone give me some ideas or examples demonstrating Winston as a hero?

[droodles]

first you should form an opinion of what a 'hero' is to you then relate it to winston.

[millstone]

"knowledge is power"
how is this shown in 1984?

help me too! i have no idea how to approach this and no one else is doing this topic (they gave us 22 seperate ones)

[excal]

So that you don't plagarise obviously ;p

You should consider:

- the proles, and how they live in ignorant bliss
- how the Inner Party keeps a tight noose around those who know (the Outer Party)
- how Winston actively seeks out Goldstein's book (on that presumption that knowledge is power)

I'm sure there's more, but that's should be enough material to get you started.

[Eriny]

Hi

I'm doing an oral on 1984, and my topic is 'In what way is Winston a heroic figure?'. Could anyone give me some ideas or examples demonstrating Winston as a hero?

I've never studied 1984 (but I read it a few years back). Personally, I'd argue that Winston isn't a hero, and that's the point. He's completely human like you or I and makes all the same decisions that a normal person would. In this place, you can't be a hero because the party doesn't let you.

[Collin Li]

You could also back up the "against" argument by suggesting that the Party is in so much control that Winston's life was carefully planned and that he was just to be used as a symbol of hate (like Goldstein) for the masses. Mao brought up some evidence about this: http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,2380.0.html

But droodles gives the most important piece of advice, you need to have your definition of 'hero' clear first.