1984 Journal #2: Topic B

In 1984, the protagonist Winston Smith is involved in a struggle against his society - the leader Big Brother and the Party . As the novel progresses, Winston begins to realize and accept his hatred towards the Party, and soon starts acting on his feelings by deliberately doing things that go against the beliefs and ideals of society. These illegal actions include writing his independent thoughts in a journal, starting an affair with a young Party member named Julia (sexual relations are illegal, especially between Party members), renting a small apartment above a shop in the prole district to carry on his affair, joining what he believes to be The Brotherhood (an organization against Big Brother and the Party), and reading a book written by Goldstein (the ultimate enemy of the Party). So far in the book, Winston has not been caught rebelling against the givernment. Therefore, I think Winston's resistance is successful to an extent. By doing the things mentioned above, he does not actually change the government that he disagrees with; however, he is able to live more freely and enjoyably than he had been before. Through his affair with Julia and the rented apartment, Winston gets a taste of how life used to be, before telescreens were created to monitor every action and the government started prohibiting the freedom to have relationships with whoever one chose. Even if his rebellious actions are going unnoticed by the government, just the fact that Winston is living free from complete control of the government (who does everything in its power to prevent independence) shows that his acts of resistance are successful, at least in his own life.