Big Brother

Today’s society is predicted as living in a world George Orwell envisioned in 1984. The system Orwell invented is compared to what the United States government is capable of doing. Government control of society is an essential subject due to the current mind set of the world today. In 1984, George Orwell represents how Big Brother is compared to today’s government, showing the consequences and dangers of a government with unlimited surveillance power.

Throughout the whole book Winston has been keeping a diary. He writes his diary in a hidden corner of his home where Big Brother’s huge telescreen cannot detect him. Winston needs to keep this as a secret because expression is a deathly crime in Oceania. Winston’s main purpose while writing in his diary is reflecting his hopes for a future world where humans do not lack humanity. Winston writes his desires, angsts and memories, but most importantly, he writes about the truth; for example: “ Freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four. If that is granted all else will follow”(). The reader is able to see how Winston uses his diary as a source of rebellion towards a government that decides to deny reality. By finally expressing these thoughts he loses a lot of weight from his shoulders. The diary is a very important symbol in 1984 because Orwell is really representing his own thoughts and warnings about the future through Winston’s

Absolute control over society is the central theme in the novel, 1984, by George Orwell. One method this power over society is exercised is use of language to manipulate and control people. The story features a society called Oceania, which is located in the European region. In Oceania, there is a form of totalitarian government called the Party which controls the entire society. The Party controls thoughts by making certain words or phrases illegal. In addition, any anti-party thoughts or motives are also deemed illegal. To control society, thoughts are monitored by telescreens which read reactions and record speech. A force, called the Thought Police, is also engaged to take power over and eliminate society’s individual beliefs. The

George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.

It is evident by the first chapter that Winston is not a fool, yet intends to play jester in public and continues the act in private. Winston is trapped in his own thoughts and is in dire need of an escape. He finds this evasive escape in the empty journal from Mr. Charrington. Winston’s diary doesn’t just represent a place where he is left free to throw his empty thoughts, it seems to be more. Winston’s secretive scraps of paper represent a place that the Party has not discovered. A place where he can think peacefully without the overbearing weight of the stress of his life or death daily performances and the rebellious thoughts confined and trapped in his head. The diary is similar to the prole apartment that Julia and Winston share. Winston desires a place that has remained untouched by the powerful influence of Big Brother. Winston and Julia have an elicit affair at the flat, which is punishable by the Party. Winston reads by himself and to Julia a book that has been neither altered nor approved of,

“1984” is an imaginary novel wrote by George Orwell in 1949. The novel takes place in a fictional country called Oceania. In 1984, the society is a mess in the control of the “big brother”, people are leveled by three three classes: the upper class party, the middle outer class party, and the lower class proles. But the lower class make up 85 per cent of the people in Oceania. Winston is a outer class party member working for the “big brother”. This novel uses Winston as an example to show how the “big brother” takes the control by mind, manipulation and technology.

In the novel, Winston is a character who lacks "hero" traits as he has more traits of an everyman than a hero. Winston is an out of shape, average man with a "varicose ulcer above his right ankle" (3). Considering the typical hero, not only does Winston lack the physical strength, he lacks the mentality as well. Throughout the novel, he consistently talks about "overthrowing the Party," but he never actually does it. Instead of overthrowing the Party, he rebels by purchasing a diary and writing sentences such as "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" (20) and " I don’t care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck" (21). Winston chooses to write these into his diary as he is too cowardly to say this in public. As time passes, his

The quote from Winston’s diary in 1984 illustrates the acts of rebellion he has towards the “totalitarian” government in Oceania. Winston’s urge to challenge the political regime that rules the all of Airstrip One, as he sometimes, have the flash back from the past and through his fantasies, he envision the future without the totalitarian government. Winston, however, is craving for freedom of being in a world where people are not being watched, and where they can act, feel and do whatever they desire. As mentioned in the Sparknote Editors’ summary of 1984 that the history shows “Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia, but Winston knows that the records have been changed. Winston remembers that no one had heard of Big Brother, the leader of the Party, before 1960 …” (1; bk. 1). This past in Winston’s mind strengthens his mind to rebel and refuse to be convinced by the Big Brother. In reference to the future, Winston’s fantasies of having total control of his life, which then lead to “dreams of a place called The Golden Country, where the dark-haired girl takes off her clothes and runs toward him in an act of freedom that annihilates the whole Party” (1; bk. 1). The past and future in Winston’s quote contribute to the factor that strengthens his urge to rebel, which then lead to his journaling as a way to expressing his repressed emotions. In addition, Winston wishes a world where people could count on each other, provide support to each

He panics on what to do thinking big brother found out he even puts a little trap as small as a hair just to to find out if someone is spying at him. Something winston wrote in his journal is” to the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free. When men are different from one another and do not live alone- to a time when truth exist and what is done cannot be undone from the ages of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of big brother from the age of doublethink greetings”. He is writing of how things used to be before it all changed with big

Additionally, the portrayal of this dystopian society controlled by a totalitarian government might have been understood well by contemporary audiences, mirroring the rules of totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy- the citizens have no influence on the government and have no freedom of choosing the rules that govern and control every part of their lives. Therefore, Winston blames the misery in his life totally and completely on the government and on Big Brother. In Winston’s case, we can see that the propaganda, deprivation, and strict rules fail to make him concur with the party and accept Big Brother- in this situation, the party has to use extreme force and torture to make Winston love the party as well as Big Brother, in order for the party to maintain complete power.

The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed…even if he had never set pen to paper” (Orwell 21). It is explained that the Thought Police does not require any evidence to prove one guilty of thoughtcrime as a mere expression would allow for punishment. Policing in Oceania is a prime example of how totalitarianism is a major role in how individualism is frown upon. This limit in self-expression stops people from being hopeful and Winston’s diary not only expresses his desire to be free, but also dehumanizes him as it limits him from speaking his mind. In addition to the lack of self-expression inducing diminished hope for individuality is the lack of personal freedom and consciousness.

The dictatorship of Big Brother and the American government, both use similar ways to monitor their citizens, but they have different reasons for it. Big Brother wants to closely monitor his citizens so they are obedient by fear and the American government watches their citizens to protect them and their rights. They do this through televisions, spies and surveillance cameras.

George Orwell’s 1984, a utopian fiction novel, illustrates what its like to live in a society with unrealistic amounts of censorship. The censorship is taken to the extreme and controls everything, even the society’s history. The Party of Oceania even forces a created language called Newspeak, in attempts to stop political rebellion by eliminating rebellious words from their vocabulary. The people are not allowed to express individuality, engage in sex, disagree with the Party, or have their own personal thoughts. Winston goes against the Party and illegally purchases a diary. In this diary he writes what he cannot speak.

Readers of George Orwell have long appreciated the significance of his representation of a futuristic dystopian world. ‘Big brother is watching you,’ ‘Thought police,’ ‘Ministry of love,’ ‘Hate week,’ are expressions that Orwell used to represent his preoccupation with the totalitarian regimes of 20th century. More than one out of four Americans said they have red his dystopia and use his expressions in their language. Many critics claim that the novel opened up new prospects of political awareness. ‘1984’ is a political fiction in which the government eliminates all forms of political opposition, be it real or imaginary. The atmosphere of the novel is completely depressing because there is no hope for change. The government dominates people morally and forces them to live in constant fear. His terrifying vision of a future in which all aspects of society are controlled by a tyrannical system attracted the

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.