3.+Characters

=media type="youtube" key="s62SfngNzBM" height="385" width="480"= //A video introduction of Winston, Julia, O'Brien, and Goldstein.// =Characters=

Winston
Winston plays the role of the protagonist in the novel. He is a middle-aged man with an unhealthy body. Winston works under the Party in the Ministry of Truth division and is in charge of altering the truth and correlating records to what the Party is saying. Although Winston is a Party member, he has a tremendous amount of hate towards the Party. Through Winston, Orwell shows the oppression forced upon society by the Party. Constantly being watched and followed by the Thought Police, Winston is rebellious and several times he dodges potential danger by the skin of his teeth. One instance is when Winston finds himself unwillingly writing "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" over and over. His curiosity does not help his situation either. Winston is a smart man, and even though he lives life just as every other Party member, going through the day never questioning anything, he wonders why and ponders on the past. His rebelliousness and curiosity eventually catch up with him in the end and lead to a brainwashing return to the Party life.

Julia
Julia acts the role of the love interest in the novel. Winston first observes her stalking him and assumes she is working for the thought police and is trying to catch him. Later in the novel, it is found that Julia is a very productive member of society, however in her own private time she is against the present society. Julia is a rebel of her own sort. She rebels against Big Brother silently simply because she is young and likes the thought of rebellion. Her rebellion is very shallow, unlike Winston's whose is completely thorough. Winston observes that Julia seems to be a rebel 'only from the waist down' in that she has no reasons for betraying the party. She eventually is caught with Winston and is taken to the Ministry of Love. In the ministry of love it is assumed that she was put through torture. In the ministry of love O'Brien informs Winston that Julia betrayed him right away. Betraying a loved one means simply that their love is denounced in a way they wished something bad was forced away from themselves and to their former loved one. It is easy to believe that Julia betrayed him right away, as her character is not very deep and strong willed. However, in her last meeting with Winston she tells him that she betrayed him because sometimes they force you in front of something you cannot withstand. She says that no matter how much you would like to think that you didn't mean it, you really did for that moment. Winston and Julia agree to meet again, however the words shared were very hollow and there was obviously no real thoughts of making actual future contact.

O'Brien
O'Brien is a pretty interesting character, whom we only learn about through Winston. In the beginning, O'Brien seems to be a devout member of the Inner Party. He holds a high position and is respected by all. O'Brien does put a bit of a scare in Winston, but there is something about him that draws some curiosity from Winston. As Winston becomes evolved with Julia and begins partaking in more and more activities against the Party's rules, O'Brien notices. However, O'Brien, in reaction, does something the reader does not expect; he actually takes Winston and Julia under his wing as a member of the Brotherhood himself, supposedly. O'Brien convinces Winston and Julia that he is one of them and that he absolutely hates the Party. He even provides Winston with a copy of Goldstein's book, //The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism//. All of these actions taken by O'Brien were to manipulate the minds of Winston and Julia. He had to gain their trust, so he could truly learn about them and after he did so, he tore them down. After Winston is caught by the Thought Police, having no clue O'Brien turned him in, he tortures Winston, admitting to Winston that he betrayed him. He tortures Winston until he admits to the crimes he committed. He tortures Winston with Winston's worst fear, and finally breaks Winston of Julia and of any thoughts against the Party.

Emmanuel Goldstein
Goldstein is a character that is never seen within the book but acts as a guiding light for those wishing to betray the party. He plays a contrasting being to Big Brother. Party members only know Emmanuel Goldstein as an enemy of the party and a person they must hate. However, his memory lives on through text he has written. It is illegal to own Goldstein's text, however the members of the 'Brotherhood' own copies for short periods of time. It is said that even if his texts were completely wiped from Oceania there is enough in memory to be written all over again word for word. It is believed that Emmanuel Goldstein is the leader of the party, however no one has seen him in recent years. It is a mystery as to whether he is, or once was, even alive at all.

Big Brother
Big Brother is one of the two characters (The other is Goldstein) that is never physically present in the novel. His face is often seen on posters and on telescreens, however his physical presence is never known. Big Brother acts as a figure head for the party, a commanding power that invokes fear and love from all of the Citizens in Oceania. When he appears on posters he often appears with a slogan underneath him that says 'Big Brother is watching you'. Winston believes that Big Brother is not actually a person, but a type of symbol that is often presented instead of showing the powers that be. Big Brother is merely a reference to those of the Inner Party that cause all of the war shortages and major changes in the history. He gives a figure in which to look on with love for providing what little they have, and for some he provides a figure to hate for not supplying them with enough.