1984.. in 2011?

In 1984, it is incredibly difficult to relate to Winston.  Winston lives a life completely unfamiliar to our world, and it is always a struggle to try to sympathize with his constant fear of being watched.  Unlike us, Winston lives a life without family and without friends (with the exception of Julia).  This fact alone has the ability to show the many differences that separate Winston from Canadian society in the 21st century.  I cannot imagine living in such an isolated way; without a single person to ever talk to and without any way to express myself.  The way that Winston had to live would be like forcing a closed bottle to have to withstand a never-ending source of pressure: without a way to relieve some of the "pressures" of everyday life, you would eventually explode, or at least go crazy.




Winston was a tragic character, but he was also incredibly self-absorbed.  Winston was incapable of focusing on anything other than himself.  To be fair, this may have just been the product of living for so long in an isolated environment.  However, Winston's selfishness was an apparent character trait since his childhood when had a family.  Early in the novel, we learn the story of Winston eating all of the chocolate ration that was meant for his entire family.  Winston mentions that his younger sister was very sickly, but even as a child, his need for self-indulgence was stronger than his desire to help others.  Even for a child that was weaker and smaller than himself, Winston had no mercy or empathy.  Although Winston admits to regretting this and feeling shame for the incident, his conscience obviously went on a hiatus for the rest of his life as we never again see Winston repent to such extent, even after causing torture and brain washing for himself and Julia.
From Winston's chocolate incident, one can easily learn a  relevant lesson.  When Winston took the entire chocolate ration, he was following his body's orders.  Winston was more than likely suffering from malnutrition and needed the sugar and energy for survival, but you cannot forget that his much smaller sister was in need as well.  Additionally, she was sick which means that she would have needed the chocolate even more than Winston.


The interesting part about this situation is how animalistic we see Winston become.  Any normal human being, under normal circumstances, would have behaved rationally and would have let his weaker sister have the chocolate, or at the very least wouldn't have taken all of it.  When deprived of the proper nutrition he needed, Winston became barbaric and his primal instincts took over.
This transition is one that can be recognized in real life, particularly in the past few years with the unemployment status on the rise.  When someone is up for a job and they have a mortgage to pay, a family to feed, bills to take care of, and a million other things to do; they will do everything in their power to get that job.  If they have to spread lies or rumours about a competitor to get the job, they will do it, no questions asked.  Whether someone is facing unemployment or starvation, desperate times call for desperate measures.  One can hardly be called selfish when they are forced to do everything in their power in order to survive.  It's human nature.  But that then raises an important question:
If it hurts someone else but helps you, is it excusable?