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How are the protagonists similar and different in When the Sleeper Wakes and 1984? Examine the view that idealized figures are used as mechanisms...

Winston (1984) and Graham (When The Sleeper Wakes) are both idealized figures in the respective novels.


Both men are avowed revolutionaries, and both rebel because of their conscientious natures. Both are also drawn to treacherous men who betray them. Additionally, Winston and Graham experience individual epiphanies that alert them to the dangers that surround them. Graham awakes from more than two centuries of a "cataleptic trance" to face the fight of his life. Similarly, Winston comes to realize that Big Brother is malevolent in nature and that he must be defeated.


On the surface, Winston appears to be a confirmed loyalist, but internally, he is a rebel. Graham differs here slightly in the sense that he leads an open revolt against the Council (albeit in a confused state of mind) and later, against Ostrog himself. In Winston's case, however, he consistently cherishes a pessimistic view of the rebel effort. By the time the novel begins, Winston is in a state of full-blown paranoia, sequestering himself at regular intervals in order to scribble "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" into his diary. His paranoia is a debilitating influence; he feels that, no matter what he does, the "Thought police would get him just the same."


On the other hand, Graham firmly and unequivocally stands his ground in the rebel fight. Both Winston and Graham fight courageously to save their societies; however, Graham fights overtly while Winston fights in the shadows.


Both men fall into the same trap of trusting faithless mentors. Winston puts himself in O'Brien's hands, and Graham initially trusts Ostrog implicitly. However, both O'Brien and Ostrog use their proteges' idealized natures against them. O'Brien tricks Winston into committing the ultimate crime against Big Brother, and he oversees Winston's torture. For his part, Ostrog secretly plots Graham's downfall while beguiling his protege into thinking that he has his best interests at heart. With the full force of the Black Police at his disposal, Ostrog tries to enslave the rebels and to topple Graham from power.


In the end, both men experience similarly despairing fates. Winston is tortured to mental oblivion, and he betrays his lover, Julia, during his ordeal. By the end of the novel, he is a broken man, enamored with Big Brother and effectively transformed into a shell of his former self. O'Brien has essentially manipulated, molded, and tortured Winston into an instrument of the state. Winston's idealism has been distorted purposefully; the torture of innocents is the mechanism by which the state controls the masses. Similarly, Graham meets a devastating end. His plane is shot down by Ostrog's plane, and the novel ends on an ominous note. The author leaves no indication that Graham survives his crash.

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