1984 Big Brother Essay

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1984 Essay Topic C George Orwell’s 1984 tells a story of a totalitarian government through the protagonist Winston Smith. Among the symbols in 1984, Big Brother is a distinct symbol of the Party as well as dictators which stays consistent throughout the novel. To begin with, Big Brother is a public symbol of the Party itself. The citizens are told that Big Brother is the leader of Oceania, thus, the Party as well. However, Winston is not sure whether he exists or not as “there [is] no knowing how much this legend is true,” (Orwell 36). The Party states in its records that Big Brother goes back to the year nineteen thirty i.e early in the Revolution while Winston recalls Big Brother appearing around nineteen sixty, a thirty year difference. Within Part Three on page 259, Winston asks O’Brien if Big Brother exists. O’Brien replies that “Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party” (Orwell 259) which further shows how symbolic Big Brother is to the Party since this event occurs near the end of the novel. …show more content…

The Party is known for watching the citizens with great scrutiny from habits to thoughts. Correspondingly to the Party watching everyone, Winston observes that the poster of Big Brother is plastered everywhere similarly to how there is a telescreen in every building. Coincidentally, there is even a poster on the building across the street from Winston’s window. Winston describes the poster as being “so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move” (Orwell 1-2). He even observes that Big Brother is on everything else from coins, on stamps, on books, on banners, and et cetera (Orwell 27). Despite the reassurance citizens find in Big Brother’s face, no one can escape his eyes i.e the

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