1984 Big Brother Essay

Improved Essays
Show More
The novel 1984 takes place in Airstrip One, the city formerly known as London, the capital of the nation Oceania. Oceania is controlled by the Party, a totalitarian political regime, and the leader of the party is Big Brother. Big Brother plays a large role, even though he never makes an appearance in the novel. Another key character in the novel is O’Brien, who works with Winston at the Ministry of Truth. In the novel Winston obsesses over both Big brother and O’Brien in fundamentally the same way. It is not clear whether Big Brother truly exists or is a persona that the Party created. Doubt on whether Big Brother truly exists is shown when O’Brien says, “Of course Big Brother exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the …show more content…
Big Brother effects Winston by causing him to want to rebel and eliminate Big Brother’s total control. Winston wants to rebel against everything Big Brother says and everything he stands for. Winston’s obsession with Big Brother is what leads to his ultimate downfall when trying to establish himself within the rebellion. Orwell writes, “The past is fighting the future and we have two years, a year, possibly only a few months, to see to it that the future wins” (George Orwell Essays 29). Winston knows that for the future to change the past must fight for change, and that his time to do so is …show more content…
Winston’s obsession with Big Brother stems from his hatred of the Party. Winston desperately wants to rebel, therefore he does things such as his affair with Julia, keeping a journal, and attempting to join the Brotherhood. Winston keeps his journal out of historical impulse, or “the desire to see things as they are, to find out facts and store them up for the use of posterity” (George Orwell Essays 3). Winston demonstrates another act of dissent by writing things such as “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” in the journal (1984 54). Winston’s obsession with O’Brien also stems from his hatred of the Party. Since Winston believes O’Brien spoke to him in a dream, and is his ticket into the Brotherhood, he idolizes O’Brien. O’Brien becomes a larger than life figure in Winston’s eyes, who embodies everything he wants to be a part of: the rebellion, and the downfall of the Party and Big

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    1984 Dialectical Journal
    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages

    1984 Dialectical Journal

    Name: Cory Gotchall Dater: October 10, 2017 Period: 2nd Journal Analysis In the beginning of the book Winston Smith, the main character, arrives at his apartment. As Winston walks in the hallway, sidewalk, or anywhere the sign Big Brother Is Watching You is literally everywhere. I’m assuming “Big Brother” is the government watching over the “Little Brother” or better known as Winston. As I continue to read and get a better understanding of Winston I can pick up that he is grim and totalitarian.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    1984 Big Brother Research Paper
    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1984 Big Brother Research Paper

    Big brother is a power that forced fear and protection over all of Oceania. The party which is the inner works behind big brother helps keep everybody in a straight line and not stray away from what the party says is so. Big brother has been made the face of fear and tyranny and has enforced a lot of unfair laws on the people of Oceania. Some people think that in 1984 big brothers surveillance is as advanced as some of our technological appliances today.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    In the novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien discusses the experiences that he and his fellow soldiers faced throughout the Vietnam War that not only caused physical conflicts, but internal conflicts as well. O’Brien and his comrades all have one thing in common: they all carry things that help them get through the hardships of war. Tim O’Brien shows the emotional conflicts, such fear and embarrassment, which result from the pressures and experiences at war. The things the soldiers carried represented their emotional conflicts, such as fear and distress, during and after war.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    George Orwell's 1984: Prequel To Big Brother
    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages

    George Orwell's 1984: Prequel To Big Brother

    If I were to make a prequel to 1984, I would want to see the story of Winston’s childhood, and the family that he slowly forgot. As Winston was in his late 30’s at the start of 1984 his time as an adolescent would have been a pivotal time in Big Brother’s rise. A story covering the origin of Big Brother while simultaneously telling the story of Winston’s childhood and the lives of his parents could show a different side to the story. In 1984, we see a man who is virtually alone in life, experiencing a full-blown regime and the peak of totalitarianism. The contrast between this story, and one of a young family witnessing their community being robbed of its freedom of thought and capitalism would be a very interesting one to read.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    1984 Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1566 Words
    • 7 Pages

    1984 Rhetorical Analysis

    Additionally, the Party in Oceania had redefined love, and therefore effectively brainwashed its people into following Big Brother, and Big Brother alone. At the end of the book, it is revealed about Winston, “He loved Big Brother” (298). Relationships with people are destroyed because of this propaganda and because the citizens are taught that complete loyalty to Big Brother is the equivalent of love, they blindly follow the path set for them. Even Winston, who held out against the Party’s control, succumbs to the powerful word manipulation that exists in Oceania when he admits to loving Big…

    • 1566 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Brainwashing In 1984 By George Orwell
    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Brainwashing In 1984 By George Orwell

    These actions and motivations are finally explained during the tortured arguments between Winston and O'brien in the ministry of love when O’brien completely picks apart Winston’s logic and twists it to make him believe in Big Brother. O’brien, who stands for everything Winston is against symbolizes the party. He believes that Winston is insane and that he must be fixed. The whole last part of the book is about Winston trying to resist giving over to O’brian’s twisted logic, trying to resist being brainwashed. In fact, throughout the whole book he is found resisting brainwashing, trying to figure out what is true and what is lies fed to him by the party.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Alienation In 1984 By George Orwell
    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Theme Of Alienation In 1984 By George Orwell

    1984 describes a story of a dystopian society in Oceania, where a man named Winston, lives. This man contrasts with the whole of the Party, as he understands that Party deceives the people and makes them believe that everything told to them equals truth. George Orwell often utilizes a main character, who differs from all others, to highlight values of the society within which the character lives in his other novels. In the case of 1984, Orwell brings Winston into the novel to display all things wrong with his society. George Orwell uses Winston’s class standing alongside his feelings to create this alienation, which reveals the society’s moral values.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    What Is The Similarities Between 1984 And Brave New World
    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages

    What Is The Similarities Between 1984 And Brave New World

    From the beginning of the book it is clear to the reader that Winston despises Big Brother and wants nothing to do with them (Orwell 19). Winston tries to find a way to look at the past and remember what happened before the government tried to change everything (Orwell 64). Winston believed he was different because he was the only one who believed that the government was changing his life, for what he believed was for the worst (Orwell 6). Everyday was the same routine for Winston. Going to work and being watched was no stranger to him, but he started to feel pressured and crazy when one day he was put into the society’s prison (Orwell 185).…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    1984 Betrayal
    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages

    1984 Betrayal

    He loved Big Brother” (Orwell 297). After everything Winston had gone through, including his relationship with Julia, he betrays almost everyone, even himself. This ultimate betrayal not only ruins all that he had done, but will most likely return to the common theme of loneliness due to the fact that…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Orwell's Pursuit Of Free Will In Nineteen Eighty-Four
    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Orwell's Pursuit Of Free Will In Nineteen Eighty-Four

    His distinct and recurring thought is absolute hate for the leader of the Party, Big Brother, and by extension the concept of eliminating personal freedoms through totalitarianism. This is evidenced countless times during the novel, such as through his diary entries, “His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals—DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER over and over again, filling half a page (Orwell 23).” This opinion is in stark contrast to that of the common people, or proles, who are content to submit to Big Brother, “To keep them in control was not difficult (Orwell 91).” While there is no doubt that Winston hates the Party and Big Brother, there is ambiguity in regard to the specific reason for this hate. The answer may lie in Novels for Students: 1984, which indicates the reason for the Party’s oppressive laws is that some people try to exercise free will (“1984”).…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Utopia And Dystopia In George Orwell's The Hunger Games
    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Utopia And Dystopia In George Orwell's The Hunger Games

    Although a dystopian novel and literary piece of fiction, Orwell manages to capture the paradox of utopia and the quest for perfection. 1984 embodies a civilization uniform in belief and ethics, with a common admiration for Big Brother. As seen throughout the novel, Big Brother gains support of the people and manipulates the thoughts of Oceania’s public to form a belief that their world is impeccable. From the perspective of a “prole”, or any common inhabitant of Oceania, Big Brother seems to be leading a brilliant campaign, and all success of the country is to be owed to him. This adoration can be shown simply by the act of Two Minutes Hate, specifically, “At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration, and Big Brother seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector, standing like a rock against the hordes of Asia...”…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Literary Criticism In George Orwell's 1984 By George Orwell
    • 1505 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Literary Criticism In George Orwell's 1984 By George Orwell

    Orwell’s novel 1984 is a great piece of literature that should included in a list of works of high literary merit. Approximately six months before Orwell passed away, he published the novel 1984. This book is taking place in the near-future, or what is the past to us now, in 1984. Its set place is Oceania, which is a large area comprised of the Americas, Australia, England, and part of lower africa, in a city called London. England is also renamed to Air Strip One and is known as the “mainland.”…

    • 1505 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Individuality In Dystopian Literature
    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Individuality In Dystopian Literature

    Even so, he recognizes the manipulation Big Brother uses and rebels. While both characters possess these similar attributes, only one individual succeeds in conquering oppression, and the other is forced to conform to what is orthodox. Though Winston is defiant, his mentality is not strong enough to endure the torture and manipulation that follows after he is caught. O’Brien, the man in whom Winston puts his faith, forces Winston’s mind to obey him by means of physical and mental torment. In the end, Winston really believes that he loves Big Brother, and once again becomes one like the masses.…

    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Role Of Father In George Orwell's 1984
    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Role Of Father In George Orwell's 1984

    Furthermore, Winston is like a child who explains the sins that he has committed to his father who is also his advisor. In which he has to confess his sins before being able to be helped. After confessing his acts of shame, O’Brien is able to educate Winston. O’Brien was the one who “recognizes” Winston 's sanity and “engages him in combat”. O”Brien acts like a doctor who are able to find those who need help, Winston is a “worthy opponent” as he is a true threat to society and for the stability of the party he has to be…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Importance Of Freedom In George Orwell's 1984
    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 2 Works Cited

    The Importance Of Freedom In George Orwell's 1984

    Psychological manipulation, technology and control of history are various methods which the government used to control society as a result it caused the citizens including Winston to lose their sense humanity, freedom and individual creativity. When individual freedom is denied, citizens become puppets of the state. In the end, Winston gave in as his final words were, “I Love Big Brother” (311). It is clear that Orwell is warning future generations. Our world is not far from becoming a totalitarian society because of regulating methods such as phone calls and bank transactions make our era similar to 1984 in which the government used telescreens to control its citizens.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 2 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings