George Orwell 1984 - Characters

George Orwell 1984 - Characters

    Winston Smith:   Winston is an everyman character, designed by Orwell as a warning to the reader - that they may one-day find themselves to be Winston if they are not vigilant. Winston is a resident of Oceania and, as a member of the Outer-Party, works to the Party's agenda. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth. His function is to help rewrite history to suit the Party's ever-changing needs. His desire to keep a diary shows that Winston would rather remember the truth.  As an educated individual, Winston is most in danger of the Party's wrath. This is the irony of his role. By being exposed to the documents he is required to destroy, Winston knows too much for the Party's liking. This is demonstrated by Winston's knowledge of Jones, Aaronson & Rutherfood - once members of the Party and later recast as criminals. Winston is aware from his very first 'thoughtcrime' that he will be undoubtedly caught. 'Sooner or later, they always get you', he reasons. This fatal knowledge does not stop him from obtaining illegal objects such as the antiques he purchases, or entering into a relationship with Julia.       

Julia:   Also a member of the Outer-Party, Julia is a co-worker of Winston's in the Ministry of Truth. Winston simultaneously fantasises about and distrusts Julia at the beginning of the Novel. This distrust is typical of the wider suspicion engrained by the government, IngSoc. As a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, Julia is publicly pro-Party. One day, Julia gives Winston a note saying 'I Love You'. This leads to their clandestine sexual affair, beginning in the countryside and carried in above Mr Charrington's shop. After being caught and tortured in the Ministry of Love, both Winston and Julia betray each other to the authorities. Their love is replaced by a brainwashed love of Big Brother.

O' Brien: O'Brien, Winston believes, is a member of a secret organisation called The Brotherhood, who work as a revolutionary force against Big Brother. When, by the end of the novel, we learn that O'Brien is really an agent of the state, who works to entrap freethinkers like Winston  and Julia, we question whether The Brotherhood is real. It may be another state apparatus designed to trap potential dissidents.   In part one of the novel, WInston is convinced of two truths - that Julia, whom he does not yet know, is a member of the thought-police and that O'brien, conversely, is an revolutionary ally, though they too have never spoken. Winston is proven wrong on both counts. However, O'Brien does provide WInston with a unique gift- the chance to discuss the mechanics of the state with full disclosure. In a way, this brings Winston closer to O'Brien than almost any other character. The candour he provides is a rare commodity within the novel. 

Minor Characters -    Mr Charrington: On the surface, a proletariat owner of an antiques shop where Winston and Julia carry on their illicit relationship. Charrington sells Winston the diary and the coral ornament which fuel his desire for change. Later, Winston rents a room above Charrington's shop in order to pursue a sexual relationship with Julia. Charrington is ultimately revealed to be a member of the Thought-Police, the secret police of IngSoc.   Katherine Smith: Winston's wife and a loyal Party member, Katherine married Winston not for love but for duty. Katherine's attitude to sex has been conditioned by the state to be something unclean and repugnant. When she discovered she was unable to have children, they decided to live apart. Winston fantasises about pushing Katherine down the stairs, so he may marry Julia.    Tom Parsons: Winston's neighbour. A loyal Party member, Tom is good-natured and extremely gullible and naive. He believes and actively tows the official Party line. So much so that, later in the novel, Tom has been turned in to the Thought Police by his daughter, a member of the Party Youth League. Tom had been talking against the party in his sleep. Even as they lead him to prison, Tom hopes to do his bit for Party interests.    Syme: An intelligent lexicographer of Newspeak and co-worker of Winston's in the Ministry of Truth, Winston fears for Syme's future, as he often casually discusses Party policy. Syme's analysis of Newspeak provides the reader with confirmation that the Party are actively trying to stifle thought through language. Winston's fears are realised when Syme vanishes soon after. Syme had been loyal to the party, but as Winston reflects - 'He sees too clearly and he speaks too plainly'.   Ampleforth: Another intellectual who was employed by the Ministry of Truth. Ampleforth fell foul of the Party by leaving the word 'God' in a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Big Brother only tolerates worship to the state.    Jones, Aaronson & Rutherford: One-time leaders of a popular revolution and contemporaries of Big Brotehr, these men were later revised to be criminals. It is suggested that they were tortured into making confessions, having been seen by Winston with bruised faces and broken noses shortly before their executions. Winston, at one time, encounters evidence of their innocence that he is forced to destroy in a memory-hole. This is later presented back to him as evidence of his own disloyal thinking.    Big Brother: The personification of the state, Big Brother is always watching. Big Brother is modelled on Joseph Stalin and his rise and tactics are a mirror of Stalin's own methods.    Emmanuel Goldstein: Supposedly a one-time ally of Big Brother's, Emmanuel Goldstein is now the leader of the revolutionary subversives, The Brotherhood. However, as with O'Brien, this organisation may be a honey-trap to lure freethinkers into betraying themselves. Goldstein is also the author of the book which Winston hopes will hold the key to revolution - The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Unfortunately, Winston's exposure to the book spells his downfall.