The Symbolism of English Socialism in George Orwell's '1984'

To begin with, the main character of 1984, Winston Smith, hates Big Brother who is basically the most powerful ruler of Oceania, the area Winston lives in. In addition, Winston keeps a hidden diary in which he writes all his evil thoughts about how he hates the party and their laws. In chapter 1 part 1, it says, “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.” This shows that Winston

Even though he had his sovereignty ripped away from him, Smith felt nothing short of adorance for the face of the Party, and it becomes apparent as to how Big Brother immortalizes. “Big Brother is watching,” is assurance for the Party members that he is always with them, but the reality of the posters are that no one has freedom nor do they have privacy. Citizens of Oceania are exploited, and this is exactly the kind of vampire Foster was describing in his guide to analyzing literature. Big Brother is an old, beguiling character who can win the heart of those he leads with mere propaganda and keep rebellion at bay by altering facts, events, and teachings so that there is only a uniform ideology. However, Orwell may have created the character for political reasons due to the events surrounding the date the novel 's year of publication.

Jacobs made a strong argument about the body representation made by Orwell in his book, especially in the character of Winston. This seemed to be attributed to the fact that Orwell was dying when he wrote the book, so the story included his “personal failings” (Jacobs 14). Since Winston’s resistance did not win in the end, and he was overcome by Big Brother, the book seems to tell that resistance is doomed. This is especially true in the last two sentences in Orwell’s book in which he wrote, “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (376). Referring to Winston’s loving of Big Brother as victory over himself was like Orwell telling the readers that minds can be broken under torture, and that this pain could make the mind think of betraying loved ones. When Winston was tortured with his greatest fear, the rats, he said, “Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones” (Orwell 362).

The lyrics of Radiohead’s 2003 single, “2+2=5” refer to both 1984 by George Orwell and the administration of President George W. Bush. In the three distinct sections of the song, we hear about a character who chooses to live in ignorance, then becomes aware of the evils of his society. In the final segment of the song, the character struggles after learning about the truth, much like Winston Smith did in Orwell’s novel. The music was written and released during the presidency of George W. Bush, whose public reputation had shifted from negative to positive in the years following his controversial election in 2000. The songwriters suggest that, just as citizens of Oceania were trained to forget about history in order to maintain their

Big Brother is the face of the oppressive government of Oceania. There are posters everywhere conveying a message that you are always being watched by Big Brother. This feeling of constant surveillance through telescreens and secret microphones all over Oceania invokes fear to all the people. As the novel states, “Always eyes watching you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed – no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.” The telescreens are very dangerous to be around because the slightest of abnormality could expose you to be a thought criminal. Even in the comfort of one’s own home, while working, there is not a time that the Party is not monitoring anyone for suspicious activities. Big Brother represents the fear in people. Fear is continuously exploited by the Party throughout the book. “Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage…” This quote explains to us that there will still be fear in the future because the foundation of their world is made up of rage. Big Brother is the biggest figure that everyone fears, even at the end of the book. Hence this shows that the meaning of fear is unchanging. The proles are easily manipulated because a frightened population is easier to control

According to the Appendix in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, Big Brother’s reign of supremacy and endless power eventually falls because of one of the four reasons: it is conquered, a revolt occurs, the middle class obtains power, or it loses self-confidence to govern. However, the fall of Big Brother would most likely be because of the Party governing inefficiently that the masses, Proles, are stirred to revolt. The unsanitary conditions that the Proles live in would cause them to reject the Party’s ideals for better living conditions. Also, the Proles do not fear Big Brother and the consequences of their actions because the Party does not see them as a threat. Therefore, the downfall of Big Brother would be because of the Proles revolting in hopes of a better government for better lives.

In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, “Big Brother” is the face of the party in control of the dystopian society of Oceania. Big Brother plays the role of what might be considered the most important character in the novel; without this character, the government would have much less control over the public. It is because of Big Brother that Winston and Julia get themselves a private apartment, and it is also because of Big Brother that they get caught later in the novel. He is shown to be “larger than life” as Winston Smith is told that Big Brother exists as the embodiment of the party, and can never die. In a sense, Big Brother symbolizes the party

To begin, the routines of the children in the novel 1984 play a huge role in the way the children view Big Brother. Big Brother had complete control over how the parents were to raise their children. “All children were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions (Orwell 65-66)”, this quote can give you insight into the rules Big brother had

Back in 1949 George Orwell imagined a future where everyone was always being watched, the government always keeping tabs on people. In his novel 1984, that is the reality. He depicts the events of the government along with how everyone must watch their every move because “Big Brother” is always watching. Marxism exists in this novel through materialism. Materialism refers to the components of daily lives related directly to one`s economic status. The book 1984 also uses socialism which is the production or capitol that is owned by the community; however, the government owns property just not private property. This relates to the book because all of the characters live their lives in response to the government because they are afraid of the consequences the government might have for them. In George Orwell’s 1984, the government uses fear to manipulate the people. Orwell conveys the ability of powerful social groups to force their dominance over others by using Big Brother as a dominant figure, the Telescreen by projecting the daily events in the world, and The Parties by making sure people follow the laws of the government.

George Orwell novel 1984 contains symbols and images throughout the novel. Although symbols such as rats, the coral paperweight, songs, and Winston’s varicose ulcer only appear infrequently, they do provide important functions.

Big Brother knows this, which is why it tries to toil order to control everything it can. Big Brother even controls the propaganda put up for the war, in which one slogan said, "'Who controls the past', ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (37). Big Brother creates itself to be a God like figure, interminable and the most important aspect of citizens’ lives. They control their people down to their intense thoughts and feelings, as said by Winston, "The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account, while at the same time robbing you of all power over the material world” (165). Big Brother creates rules and expectations to prevent people from feeling that Big Brother is absurd. They create laws such as the Anti Sex law, “What was more important was that sexual privation induced hysteria, which was desirable because it could be transformed into war fever and leader worship” (134). Big Brother’s strive for totalitarian power means that it is all Big Brother can focus on. They cannot worry about little things such as starving their entire population or creating a false image, all they can focus on is world domination. Big Brother’s demand for power makes it much more of a lesser value than the

George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power.

As human beings, there are distinct characteristics that separate us from feral animals; the ability to create, to appreciate art, to curiously question the world and most importantly to sympathize for our kind. However, when that exact nature is stripped from us, we tend to become mindless, restricted, cold, and degraded as an entire race. This is the setting of George Orwell’s last book, 1984. A world where human thought is limited, war and poverty lie on every street corner, and one cannot trust nobody or nothing. It is all due to the one reigning political entity, the Ingsoc Party, who imposes complete power over all aspects of life for all citizens. There is no creative or intellectual thought, no art, culture or history, and no

In the oppressive, dystopian society of Oceania in the novel 1984, the Party has complete control over thoughts, language, and even the personal lives of Oceanians. The character, Big Brother, is likely a fictional character created by the Party, the most elite and powerful in this authoritarian society ruling over the gullible and brainwashed people of AirStrip One (today known as England). This is monitored with intense and invasive surveillance done through citizens and technology, impeding the character development of the inhabitants of Oceania. George Orwell uses the minor, yet significant character of Big Brother to represent the motif of a dictatorship as well as the motif of surveillance; this totalitarian leader is indirectly

The dystopian novel 1984, written by George Orwell, depicts the life of Winston Smith as he lived it in the year nineteen eighty four. Winston is a low-ranking member of an entity called the Party, the governing body of the city of London. The Party is represented by a single figure known as Big Brother, an all-knowing and an omnipresent factor in the lives of those that follow the Party. Although no one knows who he truly is, Big Brother still holds tremendous weight in the lives of Party members. The structure of the government in the novel mirrors the principles of Marxism, an economic system that focuses on the means of production and class struggle within a given society (Jakse ).In 1984, George Orwell uses key principles of Marxism to convey the Party’s ability to naturalize its dominance over the inhabitants of Oceania.