In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work.
George Orwell's 1984 follows a thirty year old man named Winston Smith who has been living the majority of his adult life in a harsh, oppressive society. This dystopian novel deals with many ideas and raises questions about what it means to be a civilized human. One important part the novel deals with is illustrating the dangers of questioning society due to extensive surveillance and the inability to trust other people.
The heavy surveillance in Winston's society makes him very paranoid about letting his rebellious thoughts seep into his outer appearance. One of Winston's biggest fears is being caught by the Thought Police-- watch for citizens that are "different" and "vaporize" them. To avoid being vaporized, Winston demonstrates a lot of self-control to mimic behavior of his submissive comrades while in public, knowing the Police were watching his every move. One day Winston ventures to a district near his apartment where the Police have little control and the people remember a time before Big Brother. He finds an old antique shop run by an elderly man named Mr. Charrington and finds what he thinks to be his own safe haven away from the government's watchful eye. In the antique shop, Winston and his lover Julia are swept up in subversive activities such as learning about the past, wearing make-up, and intercourse. However, toward the end of the novel, the Thought Police invades the antique shop and they discover they were being watched the whole time. The novel suggests that in a powerful government, alternative thinkers have nowhere to hide but inside themselves--which is nearly impossible to do.
In Winston's society, citizens are groomed to look homogeneous making it very difficult for Winston to differentiate between fellow free-thinkers from government spies. Winston must behave like a law abiding citizen, but he is desperately looking from someone he can share his subversive desires with. When he meets O'Brien, Winston believes his prayers have been answered and looks to him as a mentor. Despite this, O'Brien turns out to be a spy for the government and betrays him. O'Brien is one example of how it is impossible as an alternative thinker to find solace in an oppressive government because everyone is concerned with their own self-interest.
In 1984, Winston is constantly trying to conceal the fact that his is different and questions the government. The novel suggests that once one is part of a controlling government, they can never resist it or get out. This is mainly due the majority fear of being labeled an outsider. Winston thought he had found a partner in law breaking with Julia, but in the face of the government, she abandoned him. Orwell makes the point that it is impossible to conform outwardly and harbor alternative ideas while functioning like a normal human. If one tries to "look" the part, either their personal ideologies will conform, or their differences will reveal themselves. Either way, it will end tragically.
First of all, I don't see the structure. It's not clear how you intended to separate your ideas into those two paragraphs. You should spend more time thinking about the structure of it before you start writing and then incorporate and outline of that structure into your thesis statement--it will make it a lot easier on you as the writer, and make it a better essay. It also relies almost entirely on summary, especially in the first body paragraph. You need to do more connecting of the evidence to the thesis and purpose of the essay. You also do some hinting at meaning, which is explicitly asked for in the prompt, but you need to talk more directly about how the meaning is affected by the tension between different inward and outward selves. I also think the essay as a whole is too short, which is probably a result of the lack of structure leaving you with nowhere to go for your third body paragraph. Introducing new evidence in the conclusion is also not usually a good thing, so try to avoid that.
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