Psycho-social Oppression in George Orwell's 1984 Essay

Psycho-social Oppression in George Orwell's 1984 - Essay Example 1984 has perhaps more resonances with an epic vampire tale than with one of merely political and social oppression; it evokes a scenario where the last man standing - Winston, the humble protagonist of this novel - gets converted in the end, and darkness triumphs. With his 'fall' goes out the last little light and hope for a great part of mankind. Now there is simply no escaping the ominous fact that the omniscient "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." (Orwell 2). At the beginning of the tale, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is a man with some human spirit left in him. However, by the ending, his will and individual identity get totally crushed through unrelenting torture and brainwashing, and Winston becomes a regular zombie among other fellow zombies. Love is one of the most powerful emotions we human beings can experience. Love is delight, love is a basic expression of freedom, but it is a very fragile thing also. By annihilating all tendencies of love for Julia inside Winston, through subjecting him to intense pain and torture, O'Brien and the Thought Police get rid of all vestiges of humanity in him. Because humanity means rebellion, humanity means free will. To use the language of T.S. Eliot, Winston too is eventually rendered a hollow man, and stuffed man.