1984: Winston's individuality.

 In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, the protagonist Winston, a man in his late thirties lives in a dystopian country of Oceania. He lives as a citizen of “The Party”, a group of government obssesed zealots that sole purpose in life is the preservation of the Party's principles. However, these principles are what makes the novel dystopian fiction: they revolve around oppressing the common people, making them nothing short animals. They watch the people and display propaganda through, “telescreens”, violating the privacy and having constant video and audio contact with everybody in the counrty. Through watching them, the Party aims to oppress the minds and destroy individuality among the people. Also, the culture is molded around militaristic ideals, so therefore, everybody is in complete unison and stepping out of line is impossible. To step out is to commit thoughtcrime, punishable by death. Thought crime can be anything that is different than what the party wants. Whether it be speaking your mind or showing any sort of intelligence beyond average, you are taken away during the night, “vaporized”, or having all records or you existing being deleted.

On the contrary however, Winston is unaffected by the Party mind altering tactics. Being a unique character in the book and the narrator, we are able to see through the party's eyes through the eyes of Winston. As a middle aged man, he lived near the establishing of the party, which was around the 1950s, as it is 1984 in the book.

Modern themes of democracy and natural rights that are common today are seen in Winston. As he is someone who commits thoughtcrime, you can see how the book is a inverse of today's world where equality is common.

The plot of the story and where I see it is going is how Winston becomes involved with the destruction of the party and the bringing about of a new better world. I see him gravitating and him become closer and closer to the Brotherhood, which is a rumored organization that conspires agianst the party that may or may not exist.