Second 1984 Reading Journal

Winston is having a difficult time believing in what Big Brother and the State are selling because he is not only miserable living the life he's living because of Big Brother, but also because everything is senseless and illogical. Winston is smarter than the usual and he lets his mind wander, unlike others who keep theirs on lock-down, almost acting as robots. He can see past the lies, and he knows that the government is only trying to corrupt the people so that whatever the government says is right. He remembers things others don't and can see that history wasn't really the way Big Brother depicts it in the present days. I would say that yes, Winston's small acts of defiance are a form of protest, because it shows how he is pulling away from the rules that are set by the government. By disregarding the rules and the ways of Big Brother, he is more or less "rebelling" because he doesn't like the way life is. He attempts to find every way he can to get away with things that are illegal and unapproved by the Party. This proves he is, in a way, protesting against the Party. His actions are not as substantial as Wall Street or protests seen in society today, but they are rather small and modest. He keeps them to himself. It isn't what would be defined as a protest because it is not outspoken and directly against something, but it is more inside him that he is becoming a rebel. He has started to become someone else who doesn't follow the ways of the government. He begins to take actions that question the government and he takes on some risky behavior, but it isn't as prominent. Where today's protests are direct and very prominent within the society, o one can see that Winston is "protesting". However, it is still an act of protest because he is against Big Brother and the State; he just doesn't tell or show everyone how he is doing this. Comparing Orwell's society to America's society today would be the mere difference in freedom and liberty. Today we have freedom of speech; we are allowed to think for ourselves, unlike Orwell's depiction of the society. While there are protests in both societies, we as Americans are allowed to speak against and for the things we want, whereas Orwell's society is conformed to certain way of thinking and doing.