GROWING UP IN AMERICA, MANY PEOPLE ARE TAUGHT THAT
THERE IS THIS THING CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM. THIS
DREAM DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE. MEN OR WOMEN, BLACK OR
WHITE, PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD CAN TAKE
REFUGE IN THIS COUNTRY AND BUILD A LIFE OF THEIR OWN
AND POTENTIALLY BECOME SUCCESSFUL. ANDREW
CARNEGIE EXEMPLIFIED THE AMERICAN DREAM: HE WAS A
POOR IMMIGRANT WHO BECAME ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST
MEN ON THE PLANET. THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE CAN ENTER A
SOCIETY OF FREEDOM AND BECOME WHATEVER THEY WANT
TO BE IS AN IDEAL. BUT IDEALS ARE NOT ALWAYS REALITY,
WHICH IS AN IDEA THAT CAN BE SEEN OFTEN IN LITERATURE.
MANY AUTHORS USE THEIR WORK TO PORTRAY HOW MANY
SOCIETAL IDEALS ARE ACTUALLY FLAWED. IN GEORGE
ORWELL’S NOVEL 1984, THE PROTAGONIST, WINSTON SMITH,
STRUGGLES WITH THE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE
PRESENT AND THE PAST. WINSTON DREAMS, IMAGINES, AND
ROMANTICISES THAT CAPITALISM AND THE PAST WAS MUCH
BETTER THEN PRESENT TOTALITARIAN RULE. WINSTON DOES
NOT HAVE ANY REAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PAST, BECAUSE
THE HIGHER POWER, BIG BROTHER, HAS DESTROYED ALL OF
IT. SO THIS POSES THE QUESTION, IS IMAGINATION REALLY
STRONGER THAN KNOWLEDGE? ORWELL USES WINSTON’S
EXPERIENCES WITH HIS IMAGINATION AND HOPE TO SHOW
THAT HIS IMPRACTICALITY RESULTS IN HIS DEMISE. SO NO
WINSTON’S IMAGINATION AND HOPE IS NOT STRONGER THAN
HIS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. IN FACT, THE AMERICAN DREAM
HAS BECOME A FANTASY.
IN THE BEGINNING OF THE NOVEL, READERS ARE TAUGHT
WINSTON'S LIFESTYLE AND HOW HE LONGS FOR THE PAST.
WINSTON IS A VERY LONELY CHARACTER, AND HE LONGS FOR
SOMETHING EMOTIONALLY TANGIBLE. EVERYTHING IS SO
BLEAK AND RUN DOWN, THE WHOLE CITY IS IN CRUMBLES.
WINSTON EXPLAINS MANY OF CONTRADICTIONS THAT BIG
BROTHER FORCES UPON THEIR PEOPLE. FOR INSTANCE, BIG
BROTHER’S MOTTO IS "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,

AND IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" AND TO WINSTON THIS
SEEMS CRAZY BUT TO REST OF THE POPULATION,
EVERYTHING