Characters
Winston Smith
Winston Smith is the main character of the novel 1984. He is described as a frail man wearing blue overalls living in a very depressing and oppressing existence. He lives in Oceania, which is one of 3 regions in the world, including EurAsia and EastAsia, that have arisen after a nuclear war. Oceania is "at war" with EurAsia but things change from day to day as Big Brother exerts total control and controls the masses through massive brainwashing. He is a simple guy and a member of the "Outer Party" who are by far the most oppressed. The novel spends a lot of time in his thoughts. He has basically given up because the situation is so oppressive and there's no way out. He gets to the point where he would rather choose death then be under this extreme control. So, he starts to rebel, starting with a small thing, a diary, and then with something totally forbidden, love with another Outer Party member. He is a conflicted character and he comes across as a coward because he operates his rebellion in secrecy but there’s also a sense of desperation in him. As the story goes on it becomes obvious that the punishment for stepping out of line is death. Even with all of this oppression and fear, he sees a glimmer of hope in his love interest Julia. Julia is much more desperate than he is to change their circumstances. She initiates the connection, makes the plans and Winston falls in love with her. He is very scared but also very naïve and thinks he can trust the wrong people, O’Brien and the shopkeeper, who he wrongfully assumes may even be part of the rebellion. He foolishly trusts the shopkeeper who says there are no cameras in a unit that he rents with Julia and also foolishly goes to O’Brien, a leader in the “Inner Party”, trying to further the rebellion and take down Big Brother. In the end they not only get caught being together romantically but he is taken to the Ministry of Love and tortured, brainwashed and then put under threat of death by rats, his worst fear, in order to break him down and change his loyalties. He ends up turning in Julia as the true defector and thought criminal in order to save himself. Afterwards he returns to a better life and job completely broken with a gin addiction and an apathetic mindset.
Julia
Julia is a reckless and rebellious girl, she's highly emotional. She is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex league but she has a tendency to go against its rules. At first Winston thinks she Is following him and he is very suspicious of her. She shows up in many places and Winston is worried about her finding his diary. She slips Winston a note that says "I love you" and they start a secret affair. She is given more freedom to go about Oceania and so found a few spots in the countryside where she and Winston can meet up. Instead of Winston being put off by her past he instead falls deeper in love with her as he sees it as an act of rebellion. However, she takes these risks but leaves the men with the threat of death and acts nonchalantly about it. She is the one that figures out ways to continue the relationship and , when they get caught, Winston turns her in when facing death by his worst fear and we don't hear of her. Years later she and Winston cross paths but are completely apathetic towards another and go separate ways as though her spirit had been broken.
O'Brien
O'Brien is an inner party member, part of the rich, ruling elite. He is an evil member of the Party that traps and tortures Winston. O'Brien is introduced after Winstona and Julia's love affair starts. Winston immediately differentiates him from the other party members by the way he talks. He however is what one would think of when combining a fascistic and a communist. At one point he references them when torturing Winston and says that The Party picked up where they left off and made an even an even more efficient and controlling system to control the masses. He is very good at creating an environment where he can trap Winston and Julia by being expressionless and agreeable when they come to him thinking he is part of the rebellion.
His true thoughts and personality come out when he is torturing Winston. He is overzealous and seeks to break Winston down so he never seeks love, never disagrees, never gets out of line. He sees getting Winstons to love Big Brother as the only way and so threatens him with an insidious death in Room 101, his worst fear, death by rats eating his face in a cage. When Winston finally breaks he just releases him, but not with any feeing of remorse or pity. O'Brien is obviously a psychopath but also an instrument of the Party, an enforcer, brainwashed himself. Similar to the Gestapo and SS in Germany be he was an overzealous sadist that fully believed int he party. He enjoyed torturing, manipulating and killing people that rebelled.
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