1984 by George Orwell - Book Report

1984 by George Orwell

Character sketch by Jeffrey Bowerman.

The two main characters in 1984 are Winston Smith and Julia. Winston has his beliefs. It is very hard to make him believe in someone else's ideas or lies. He is a little paranoid about people watching him. In the story 1984, people can be watched through TVs (telescreens). Because of this paranoia, he found a place in his apartment were he could sit without being seen. He spends much of his time sitting in this corner writing in his diary. In his diary, he writes things that could easily have him killed. Winston is a quiet person who has a few friends. He has a strong feeling about how the world is and a stronger feeling about how it should be.

Here is my example from the book that shows Winston's character:

'Just now I held up the fingers of my hand to you.

Sir Winston Churchill

English: Barnhill (Cnoc an t-Sabhail), near to Kin...

English: Sir Winston Churchill.

You saw five fingers. Do you remember that?'

'Yes.'

O'Brien held up the fingers of his left hand, with the thumb concealed.

'There are five fingers there. Do you see five fingers?'

'Yes.'

And he did see them, for a fleeting instant, before the scenery of his mind changed. He saw five fingers, and there was no deformity. Then everything was normal again, and the old fear, the hatred and the bewilderment came crowding back again. But there had been a moment - he did not know how long, thirty seconds, perhaps - of luminous certainty, when each new suggestion of O'Brien's had filled up a patch of emptiness and had become absolute truth, and when two and two could have been three as easily as five, if that were what was needed. It had faded out before O'Brien had dropped his hand; but though...