On Being Winston Smith
John Hurt as Winston Smith in the film adaptation of 1984 Winston Smith, the antihero of George Orwell’s 1984, works in the Ministry of Truth where his job is to rewrite old newspaper reports in order to create a government approved record of events. He also has to remove “unpersons” from photographs when they have fallen out of favour with the all-controlling Party. So successful is the Party in creating the false narrative that even Winston is shocked when he discovers newspaper evidence which contradicts the confessions of three members of the Inner Party convicted of treasonable activity. Gradually Winston turns against the Party and grows to distrust it - something which means he falls foul of the Thought Police and ultimately ends up in Room 101 where he learns, in an exchange with a Party official, that 2 + 2 is not always 4 in spite of the evidence of his own eyes: "How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front o...