Essay Question # 3

In George Orwell's novel 1984, the protagonist Winston has thoughts about his past that haunt him and affect the way he lives gravely. Works of literature use past events that positively or negatively affect parts of the character. In 1984, Orwell uses past thoughts of Winston’s mother to highlight the affect she had on him.

Winston has flashbacks about not only his mother, but his wife. These thoughts seemed to haunt him through his daily life. His personal feelings about his mother make him go through life wishing that he was nicer to her. When he has the dream about being a little child and throwing temper tantrums about not having enough food for himself to eat, afterwards he would go through his day wondering where she was. The thoughts of Winston’s mother made him think about things like if she were still alive and if she was not than it would be his fault because he left her to starve. Also memories about his life would affect the way his was with Julia. The memories would be almost harmful to their relationship in that he would worry about how things would end up with her and how he liked to compare how much better Julia is than her.

Orwell uses these events to affect his characters for numerous reasons. The memories help to make the setting in 1984. Also the character’s memories help create the rebellion that Winston wanted against the government. Winston’s memories of his mother make him want to rebel so that maybe the way of life could be bettered.

Winston Smith’s haunting memories help to create his thoughts of rebelling against Big Brother. These past events with his mother negatively affect Winston to try and rebel. Authors use events like this in literature to produce actions or feelings in a character.