Winston as Archetype
1984
oh, the humanity!
“If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind is extinct...” (Page 217) is one of the many things O’Brien told Winston during his times of torture. O’Brien is trying to get the point across to him that he is the last of humanity, and that everybody else has inherited this new life; everybody but Winston. O’Brien recognizes Winston as the last human to not conform to society and tells him this for the sole purpose of him to know that he is all alone now. There is nobody left who knows the truth like Winston does. The top of page 217 also says that Winston believes the principle that will take down the Party is the “spirit of Man”. Winston is a direct archetype for this idea due to the fact that according to O’Brien, he is the very last man. he is the only one who realizes that only humans who know the truth are able to overthrow the party, but with the torture taking place on Winston, it may be too late!