Winston Smith, Hero in Disguise: In George Orwell's dystopian, modernistic world of 1984, there are no true heroes or villains. There are no white knights and even the book's antagonist, O'Brien, is not clearly the main source of immorality. Yet, through all this the reader is rooting for Winston Smith. We want him to succeed and even when he ultimately fails, we have sympathy for him. In spite of his failing mind and body, we still search for that glimmer of hope in a hopeless world which probably does not exist. Winston Smith is an unconventional hero, and despite his failures he retains this status for defiance against all odds. When Winston Smith is introduced to the reader Orwell makes a conscious effort not to present him as a hero in the usual sense. At the very opening of the book in the second paragraph Orwell points out the "varicose ulcer above his right ankle" (1), setting him apart from being a glamorous protagonist. Despite this, the audience is still drawn to Winston as the book continues along. So what earns Winston his deserved status as an unconventional hero? The answer lies in his ideology. Winston is a philosophically driven person and this allows the reader to see past his flaws. In Orwell's world of 1984 Winston is completely unique in this sense. No other character is driven in the same way as him. Take for example Julia; she is largely motivated by personal gain. Julia participates in public services only to avoid being caught breaking the law. When Winston reads The Theory of Oligarchical Collectivism, Julia quickly falls asleep out of disinterest. O'Brien, is not motivated by ideology either. Instead, he works blindly following the party's dogma without any personal philosophy. This sets Winston apart to be a hero. However, Winston is no knight in shining armour due to his personal flaws. When Winston is examined for imperfection it