His attitude towards life changes as the story progresses. His dissatisfaction increases to a point where he rebels against the government in small ways. Winston's first act of rebellion is buying and writing in a diary. This act is known as a thought crime and is punishable by death. A thought crime is any bad thought against the government of Oceania. Winston commits many thought crimes and becomes paranoid about being caught, which he knows is inevitable (Greenblast 113). .
He becomes paranoid because he is followed by a young woman who is actively involved in many community groups. Winston is obsessed with the past, a time before Oceania was under strict dictatorship. He goes into an antique shop and buys a shell covered in glass which is another crime punishable by death. He sees the same woman following him. Many thoughts race through his mind "I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards. "Two weeks ago I thought seriously of smashing your head in with a cobblestone. If you really want to know, I imagined that you had something to do with the Thought Police" (Orwell 101). The girl who was following him slipped him a note while at work. The note said "I love you"(90). They make plans to meet each other and carry on an illegal love affair. This love affair is another act of rebellion. He starts as a person who has little to live for, but after he starts he own rebellion from the oppressiveness of the state he feels has something more. .
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The book's message is so powerful that some say it went so far as to prevent the sinister future from realizing itself. Although the book starts off as the story of a paranoid man, it quickly turns into a protest against a totalitarian government. The book appears to be a satire at the start, similar to books such as "Gulliver's Travels", or Huxley's "Brave New World", but all too quickly the reader will "discover, quite unpleasantly, that it is not a satire at all.