The protagonist, Winston, is someone whom the reader gets the most insight into his life. He is portrayed by George Orwell as a middle age man, probably in his forties, who seems irritated and frustrated with his life. There seems no where for him to vent his frustration; the Two Minutes Hate did not help him vent his frustration at all. All these culminated in his desire to rebel against the party and his perverse fantasy of Julia.

The reason we can relate with Winston’s personality and emotions is because he is portrayed like a normal human being, nothing special or powerful about him. He also suffers from varicose ulcer above his right ankle, causing him to walk slowly and taking rest several times on the way. We are given a physical description of him in the beginning. He is described someone with small, frail and meager body that seemed to be emphasized by his blue uniform belonging to the party. His hair was fair and his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades. This helps the reader to picture Winston as someone who is younger than his shagged looks, pale, lifeless and the image of an unkempt person is etched in the readers’ minds.

Winston’s first act of rebellion was when he penned down his frustrations and anger in a sort of diary book. This is illegal as no one is allowed to have negative thoughts about the party. This could face dire consequences should the Thought Police finds out. Similarly, keeping a diary is a crime that can be punishable by death or forced-labor camps. George Orwell invokes the reader's sympathy for Winston as he was not even sure of the date and what kind of entry should he pen in the diary and also for whom to read. Still, he decided to pen down an entry as a form of frustration he feels is essential.

All these while, in the Two Minutes of Hate, Winston has seen past videos of rebellion and about an organization called the Brotherhood. It was led by O’Brien. Winston had been looking forward to a day when he would join the brotherhood and topple the party. However, the reader questions Winston’s absolute trust in the figure O’Brien despite not having met him before. This could possibly mean that Winston has been driven by the party to a point he needs someone to save him. This desperation has blinded his judgment of people.

Winston also meets Julia at certain point of the novel. This is where the romance starts to develop within the plot. We understand that Winston has a terrible relationship with his wife as he feels that she is overly obedient to the party that even their sex life was affected. Sex, to her was only an act of procreation, nothing more. Winston, although still loves her wife, succumb to the temptation of Julia and the thought of such rebellious act excites him. Winston is definitely not a bad person despite his acts. We have to understand that he was pushed to the limit by the party and his obsolete life. Thus it led him to such fascination with sexual activities and rebellion as an act of political rejection of the party. Again, he didn’t further question Julia’s identity and the possibility that she could be a spy from the party.

Winston, once again gains the reader’s sympathy when he was betrayed by O’Brien and led to his betrayal of Julia. The trust he invested in O’Brien, hoping that he could make a new and better world out of Oceania, had been abused and used against him. He was tortured and finally brought to Room 101 where he betrayed Julia. The treatment used by the party is to threaten someone with his weakness or phobias. This is effective and helps the party instill any ideas that they want the people, especially the rebellions, of Oceania to believe in. Winston, out of desperation, gave in and pleaded that they would carry out the punishment on Julia instead. As the reader, we feel sad for Winston that he has to make such decision in order save himself. Winston may have shown that he is selfish and cowardice but we cannot brush of the fact that circumstances forced him to act the way he did.

Winston leaves the reader to ponder about his obedience to the party and his love and trust for Big Brother. It is expected that he would succumb to the party after his torment but however we question his intentions to do so. Could he be doing it on the superficially level? Perhaps he still harbors thoughts of rebellion but chooses to hide it, fearing further torment.