1984 Big Brother Analysis

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In George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, Big Brother is the dictator of Oceania and face of the Party. Big Brother is on all the telescreens, watching every citizen of Oceania. In George Orwell’s 1984, Big Brother, whether real or fictional, helps prop the Party by reassuring the general population, threatening the Oceanians into submission, and acting as a magnet for dissent. As the face of the party, Big Brother must project an aura of vitality and confidence. Therefore, his appearance is key. Big Brother looks “about forty-five, with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features” (Orwell 1). He is avuncular, trustworthy, and charismatic. His appearance is propaganda, meant to present the health of the state and the Party. …show more content…
Big Brother is the recipient of all the population’s emotions, from love to hate. Those that revere Big Brother become loyal members of the Party and functioning members of the Oceanic state whereas those who despise Big Brother end up channeling that hatred towards him and not towards the proper target: the Party itself. In a fit of rebellion while hidden from telescreens, Winston repeatedly writes: “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Orwell 18). The source of Winston’s discontent is actually the Party, but he has focused his dissent on the scapegoat for the Party, Big Brother. Winston goes back and forth between loving and hating Big Brother, but not the Party: “At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother turned into adoration” (Orwell 15). Big Brother is meant to root out dissent. O’Brien says to Winston: “We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him...we bring him to our side” (Orwell 255). When all the dissenters direct all their hate towards Big Brother, the Party will capture the seditionists: “Big Brother was merely getting rid of a too-popular subordinate” (Orwell 45). Thus, Big Brother’s function is be the flame for the moths, so whether he is real or not has no effect on his

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