1984 - Heroes

"In the face of pain there are no heroes, no heroes, he thought over and over as he writhed on the floor, clutching uselessly at his disabled left arm." p. 239

This line is a bit of a recapitulation of Orwell's previous assertion that heroes do not exist. When push comes to shove, everybody, no matter how heroic or courageous they may think they are, always buckles in the face of fear or pain. Orwell is able to illustrate this by depicting the torture that Winston and the other thoughtcriminals are subjected to. In the end, all of them confess, all of them submit, and all of them succumb to the will of the party. Orwell states bluntly that no amount of courage, bravery, or intestinal fortitude can allow a person to outlast pain. It is easy to think that one will be able to resist submission even in the face of unimaginable horror. Most people are confident enough in their own inner strength to assume that not even pain and death can force them to rescind their ideals, values, or beliefs. However, Orwell believes that at that actual moment when the dial is cranked up to 75, or the pads are applies to the temples, or the water is poured on the washcloth, at that time, values, bravery, ideals, beliefs, courage, they all simmer on the back burner while the pain takes full precedence in the person's mind. Nobody can resist the pain at the time. In the mind, during that moment, the pain is all there is.

Personally, I like to think that Mr. Orwell is a sad, deranged little man. Heroes exist.