1984 character brief general overview

Characters in 1984

In the book 1984, there are various interesting characters. Their importance and status varies. I picked a few of them to discuss general brief character overview. The choices were base on their importance within the story itself as well as how interesting they are.

The main character of the book is Winston. He is a low ranking member of the party, but in reality is strongly against it. He is attracted to Julia, however their love must be kept secret. His dream is to create a revolution against the government.

Julia is Winston’s girlfriend, who he didn’t like at first, as he was afraid that she would report him to the Thought Police if she found out about his secrets. However, one day she passed him a note confessing her love. She enjoys having sex and admits having sex with numerous members of the party. She also dreams of a revolution, but for entertaining, rather than moral or intellectual reasons.

Syme is a highly intelligent man, who is in favour of the party. His main goal is to promote Newspeak and always tries to convince Winston of why it is so good. He is working on a new edition of the dictionary. Winston thinks he too intelligent, meaning the party probably sooner or later will murder him.

O’Brien is a very powerful member of the party. Winston suspected that he was a member of The Brotherhood, which is supposed to be a rebel group. However, it turns out that he pretended to be one in order to find out Winston’s secrets and turn him into the Thought Police. He is also the main figure when torturing Winston.

Big Brother is supposed to be the leader of the party and the Head of State of Oceania. However, he never appears in the book. Winston considers the possibility that he doesn’t exist and is just being used as an icon for the party. Wherever you go, there are pictures of him with a notice “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” referring to his totalitarian regime.

Emmanuel Goldstein is another character that doesn’t appear in the book. He is supposed to be the founder and leader of the opposition party and rebel group The Brotherhood. When O’Brien pretends to be a member of The Brotherhood and is asked by Winston whether he exists, the answer is “ofcours”. However, when he is asked after we find out he is a party member, Winston doesn’t give a direct answer.

Mr Charrington as the owner of a store that sells things that was already used. He is old and is along with Winston interested in the past, when the Party wasn’t in power. He seems to support the revolution against the party as he is in favour of Winston’s relationship with Julia and even provides the couple a room without a telescreen where they spend their private time. However, it turns out that he was a member of the Thought Police…

Parsons is a neighbour of Winston and a member of the party. He has a wife which, to Winston, seems rather dull. He also has children who are in the Junior Spies club. Parsons has numerous suspicions about Winston, including that he is in opposition to the party.

In conclusion, it must be said that the aim was not to give too much information in order for my articles to be read in more interest. I was correct about how these characters are often different, despite this being a totalitarian community. However, when identifying these characters, I realised that there are also similarities