Essay on "Winston Smith, the Protagonist in Orwell's 1984"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Winston Smith, the protagonist in Orwell's 1984, exemplifies the struggle of the autonomous individual within an oppressive state-run society. Despite the fact that Smith works for the state as a government censor, he realizes that oppressive control by state authorities is incompatible with happiness and fulfillment in human life. Eventually, Smith becomes interested in the true historical facts that are his job to alter and searches for the truth. He is apprehended by the authorities for plotting against them, tortured, and sent for re-education. The author's principal message is that government control and censorship are antithetical to healthy human societies.

Paul Baumer, the protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, realizes the futility of war during his service in the trenches for Germany during the First World War. Gradually, he comes to question the value of his missions after watching his friends die in battle and after killing an enemy soldier who dies slowly and in agony in front of him, leaving him guilt-ridden. The author, himself a veteran of that war, is obviously trying to illustrate that war exploits the individual soldier for the questionable goals of the state.

Grendel, the protagonist in the book of the same name, represents the paradox of the human condition in the conflict between the need for privacy and autonomy and the simultaneous dependence of the individual on others and on society. Grendel is engaged in a perpetual state of war with human beings and has the competing impulses of eating them and wanting to be understood by them. Before his death, he comes to the realization that religion is worthless. The author appa

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rently used his principal character to illustrate the complex nature of human life that entails numerous fundamental conflicts.

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In 1984, Winston Smith learns that the truth is more important than the fictional propaganda promoted by totalitarian dictators. He is forced to suffer tremendously for his recognition that censorship and state oppression are evil. Unfortunately, Smith's spirit is broken by the state and he is eventually reintegrated into the society that he had questioned initially. Nevertheless, his struggle serves the author's purpose of illustrating the importance of freedom of thought and truth.

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer is one of millions of soldiers conscripted into wartime service during World War I whose lives were, in retrospect, needlessly sacrificed for no purpose. Even beyond the questionable objectives and route into the war of the nations involved, Baumer's experiences illustrate the uselessness of the types of battles that took the lives of so many young men who dies in the trenches. Before he dies, Baumer comes to appreciate the value of human life, the tragedy of war, and the manner in which wartime service destroys the lives of even those soldiers who manage to survive the war.

Grendel and Beowulf are both fictional characters who represent various elements and conflicts inherent in human life. Both characters are engaged in lifelong war with various enemies. Grendel comes to see all life as meaningless but he also yearns for human understanding at the same time that he fears and hates them. At one point, Grendel tries to communicate with his human antagonists but because they cannot understand him, they fear him and that generates mutual hatred. That yearning for communication, the failure to accomplish it, and the violence that results seems to be a recurring metaphor. Even as Grendel is killed fighting Beowulf, he realizes that the only ones aware of or concerned about his demise are his mortal enemies.

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Orwell's 1984 is a warning of the dangers of state domination of the individual. At… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Winston Smith, the Protagonist in Orwell's 1984" Assignment:

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I need a brief one page response in which the relationship between on work to another is explored, making connections and comparisons between main characters in the following questions:

1. The Search For Meaning: Using (Orwell*****'s 1984, All Quiet on the Western Front, Grendel) The main characters in these works search for meaning -- meaning in their lives, in existence. What does the main character in each work search for and what he or she learns. What is the author trying to tell us about the meaning of our lives through his main character?

2. Establishing One*****'s Identity: The identity of the protagonish is of central importance to each of these works -- Who is the individual? What is important to him or her? What does he or she value? Does his or her identity have value in the end? Using (Orwell*****'s 1984, All Quiet on the Western Front, Grendel, Beowulf)

3. Political Power and Its Dangers: The main characters in these works (Owell*****'s 1984, All Quiet on the Western Front) experience effects and dangers of people in power. What does the government and its leaders expect of its people? And how can they miss use their power and at what cost to the people?

4. Isolation and the Need to Belong: The main characters in these works struggle in their sense of isolation and have a strong need to belong. In what way is each character isolated? And Why? How does this isolation affect the character? In what way is this individual an outsider or different? Is this need to belong fulfilled?

I need a brief one page response to each of these answering the questions -- I will be adding to it when I recieve this

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