August 28th, 2019
“1984”
Conformity is an unavoidable trait in human nature. Originally, conformity has and is
used in order to survive in the wild. Thinking as a group helps to preserve the greater good, and
that is completely necessary in the animal kingdom. In a society, though, technologies have
been developed that allow humans to survive almost completely independently. Society allows
for different ideas to be though and spread, due to the insignificant impact on the well-being of
someone it has. There are still reasons to conform, however. A large and serious one being
social status. If someone doesn’t think the same as everyone else, they are thought to be lesser
than everyone else. This can cause people to only express their conformity, and hide their
differences. One such character that does this is Winston Smith, from the novel “1984” by
George Orwell.
In this novel, Winston lives in the future dystopian country of Oceania. Oceania has
become a totalitarian state that relies on the brainwashing of its’ citizens to survive. Without the
brainwashing and many other mind-games and societal tricks, the country would collapse into
anarchy due to the abuse the citizens unknowingly endure. Winston has yet to succumb to the
brainwashing. He feels resentment towards the government and “Big Brother” that is always
watching. He knows that it is wrong to speak out against the government, but he doesn’t know
why he is thinking this way in the first place. Knowing that his thoughts aren’t allowed and carry
serious punishment, Winston is forced to conceal his thoughts from everyone else he knows.
His outward conformity begins to take a toll on his inward questioning, and the things he sees
and experiences become almost too unbearable to endure. This tension ultimately creates the
whole thematic meaning of the novel, that being that totalitarianism can’t be founded nor flourish
in an originally free-willed society.
When Winston begins to have resentful thoughts, he purchases a diary to write them in.
Here, Winston is vocalizing his internal questioning by providing proof of it happening. He may
still show the conformist attitude, but he starts to let it out into writing. Winston also has “friends”
who are a part of the Party, the only political party in the country. Even though there is only one
party in the country, there is a dormant rebellion that is called the Brotherhood. Winston
empathizes with the brotherhood, which is a very bad thing in Oceania. Winston even thinks that
some of his “friends” are sympathizers as well. Winston admits that he is a sympathizer, but it
turns out that it was all just a trap to get Winston to admit his thoughts to a person who works for
the party. Winston is immediately arrested, tortured, and questioned whether or not he knew the
locations of the other sympathizers. Winston obviously did not, but the Party thought they were
going to get something, so they allowed him to be released. Afterward, Winston didn’t seem the
same. His body was still living and functioning, but it was as if his personality had been killed.
He was now more like an emotionless robot than Winston Smith.
Winston hadn’t been conforming, he was thinking freely. He had been struggling with
hiding his freethinking mindset and covering it with conforming one. The fear of being caught
scared him, and his mental health had taken a toll. It reached the point where he no longer
worried as much of being caught. His lackadaisical attitude had gotten him caught, and he paid
the price.
The theme of the failure of totalitarianism in free-willed societies is crafted and shaped
by Winston’s experience in fighting his questioning thoughts by trying to cover them with a
conformist facade.