The year of the title of George Orwell's most famous novel has been nineteen years ago, but the dystopian vision it draws has maintained its ability to captivate readers with an unsettling sense of foreboding about the future ahead. At the heart of many of the issues touched upon in 1984 is a topic of contemporary debate: the conflict of the individual against the state. In the totalitarian world depicted by Orwell, the omnipotent position of the state only increases the importance of the individual as a counterweight. In 1984, the characters Orwell plays are all the more important because the only rebellion possible is personal rebellion, so there are no heroic plots, only heroic people. Orwell's antihero protagonist, Winston Smith, notes that "[r]ebellion meant a look in the eye, an inflection of the voice; at most, an occasional whispered word" (60). The personal became political, and thus increased the importance of character in the novel tenfold. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although character is of central importance, the novel is also an expression of Orwell's political ideas. The novel contains a long digression in the form of an illicit book that Winston reads, apparently written by Emmanuel Goldstein, a mythical "resistance" leader. Orwell appears to use the episode to further expose the details of the ultra-fascist government described and outline how it came to be (although the book turns out to have been written by the very men he criticizes, perhaps more for the sake of plot plausibility than anything else ). Orwell writes that "Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic, there are three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle and the Low. [...] [N]o progress in wealth, no softening of mores, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality one millimeter closer” (166-67) This seems to be a more nuanced expression of Orwell's socialist vision of class conflict and his fear of fascism in the midst of a entire novel which is a vague warning of it. Therefore, we can plausibly interpret the character of Winston Smith, our protagonist, within this framework of class conflict and motivations outlined by Orwell. Although he is certainly an individual, Winston is also a example of the middle class that Orwell outlines in Goldstein's book. The society created by Orwell in 1984 is neatly three-tiered, with an upper class, a middle class and a lower class. The lower class is made up of the Proles, illiterate and mistreated masses who lead a somewhat medieval existence. The two upper classes contain members of the so-called Party which, in turn, is divided into members of the Outer and Inner Party, the latter being much more powerful. Winston is a member of the Outer Party, and therefore a clear member of the middle class. Winston's main motivation in the novel is not entirely clear from his character alone, but it becomes more understandable if we understand him as acting within the confines of Orwell's film. class conflict theory. For most of the book, Winston is driven to undermine the Party by hatred of Big Brother and the Party itself, but other than nostalgia for the past, the reader is not sure exactly why he does so. In Goldstein's book, Orwell writes that "[t]he aims of these three groups [classes] are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim The purpose of the Low, when they have a purpose […] is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men are equal” (166).Winston's taking action against the Party stems from his desire to supplant its power over him and to gain that power for himself. Such a desire is, in most cases, subconscious and expressed subtly. In class disputes, one form of power typically sought is economic power. Orwell shows that Winston possesses very little economic power over his own life, as when he "got himself out of bed - naked, because a member of the Outer Party only received three thousand clothing vouchers a year, and a pair of pajamas was worth six hundred." " (29). Orwell juxtaposes the mention of Winston's status as a member of the Outer Party with the mention of a small but uncomfortable physical detail and specific numbers to reflect the kind of discomfort that pervades Winston's existence as a member of the middle class . Less tangibly, Orwell also sees the pursuit of power for its own sake as a legitimate motivation in class conflict. O'Brien, Winston's teacher/torturer, tells him: "The Party seeks power for its own sake himself" (217). Winston also seeks to take power from those higher than him. The first time he wrote in his diary, "[h]e found that as he sat helplessly and reflected he had also written, [ ...] printing in large and precise capital letters - DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" ( 19). Orwell shows that the expression of this thought was almost subconscious, it flowed from Winston's hand without realization, but forcefully. Winston is deprived of even the most basic personal freedoms and economic powers. He wishes to not only obtain these powers, but also bring down those above him, seeing it as the only path to obtaining the tangible and intangible things he lacks. In this, he is an excellent example of the middle class motivations outlined by Orwell. Another powerful motivator for Winston is his nostalgia for the past; however, his nostalgia informs his desire for more power. He is haunted by the past not only because it is difficult to prove or discern, but also because he cannot be sure that his desire is valid. He was a child when the Party's rule began, and therefore cannot remember anything that would refute the Party's claims. Winston reads in a history of the party that before the party came to power, "[t]he capitalists owned everything in the world, and everyone else was their slaves" (63). This idea worries Winston because, if it were true, then it would mean that the Party leaders have simply replaced “the capitalists” in their function, and in the past that Winston vaguely aspires to, he would have no more power than he has in the past. Today. He even questions an old proletariat at some risk to himself about the past in general and the ruling class in particular, but fails to get a clear answer. This is incredibly frustrating for him because he cannot be sure whether, at another time, he would find himself in the same position of bourgeois servility as before. Winston's methods are also typical of the bourgeois psychology outlined by Orwell. Through Goldstein, Orwell writes that "throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main lines is continually repeated. For long periods the Highs appear to be firmly in power, but [...] [they] are then overthrown by the Middles , who enlist the Lows on their side" (166). Winston, even before reading the book, has already made a similar realization. And he concludes: "If there is hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in them teeming and neglected masses, which constitute eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could ever generate the strength to destroy the Party" (60). Orwell uses condescending language to characterize the proles, describing them as "swarming" and evoking.