Why Winston Is A Critical Thinker

4 Pages 1073 Words

Being a critical thinker isn’t easy. It’s a skill that has to be acquired over time and practice. Being a critical thinker means that you don’t only look at the facts but you look at an idea from every possible angle, while formulating your own thoughts and meanings. The character of Winston from George Orwell’s 1984 is a perfect example of a critical thinker. Winston is able to think critically about Big Brother, because he is able to formulate his own ideas on what is right and wrong about the parties’ policies. Winston’s ideas formulated through thinking critically cause him to revolt against the parties’ suppression of sex, truth and free deliberation. Although Winston’s actions lead to his torture, it is safe to say that his critical thinking brings him real life because he is able to think outside the bubble and become an individual. Orwell in relation to Winston was also a critical thinker. In fact, Orwell used the character of Winston to express his own critical views on government, and to influence his audience to become critical thinkers
At the start of 1984, the reader learns that Winston the protagonist is living in a harsh and oppressive world, a world were everyone has been brain-washed to think as Big Brother wants them to think, and not as individuals. From the start of the book Winston shows that he doesn’t conform to how the government wants him to act. He is a critical thinker because he doesn’t think like everyone else. All the other citizens just accept that there are telescreens spitting out propaganda and watching their every move, or that Big Brother controls and monitors all actions of their lives.
Winston doesn’t conform his ideas like Big Brother wants him to, instead Winston thinks of rebellion and freedom. “Down with Big Brother,” were the words he wrote in his small diary, a diary which could get Winston in lots of trouble with the Thought Police. But to Winston expressing ...