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How Does George Orwell Use The Image Of Big Brother In 1984

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In 1984, Winston, the main character, is a low-ranking member of the “party” which rules over London. Everywhere that Winston goes, even in the most private areas, such as his home, he is being watched by telescreens. The party uses propaganda such as a figure known as ‘Big Brother’ to showcase a leader, and bring regulation to the citizens. The image of Big Brother is everywhere in this society and is constantly stated to be watching Winston. The party also uses a group of people called “thought police” in order to scare citizens from thinking too much about anything. Winston, after physically showing his hatred for the government, is now stuck in this rebellious mindset to no longer subside to the government's policies. George Orwell uses …show more content…

This is demonstrated through many events throughout the story. Consistently, Winston is faced with the physiological strain of being watched by the government. In the beginning of the story, knowing this, he wrote “Down with big brother” in his journal (Orwell 18). From this moment after, he continues to have a lingering idea of the ‘thought police’ coming after him. He has convinced himself that there is nothing he can do about it, and they will soon come to get him. Because of this, Winston then starts to perform rebellious acts, such as having an illegal love relationship, renting a home with Julia, and getting secretly indoctrinated with the anti-party brotherhood. Towards the beginning of the book, Winston also commits acts of rebellion by writing in his journal about his thoughts, and things he remembers (Orwell 8). This constructs evidence of him that exists outside of himself. According to Winston, the party can erase the existence of anyone that they please when they do not follow regulations or think too much. When Winston writes in his journal this creates further evidence of him, as well as allowing his thoughts to wander and become deeper, which is highly discouraged by the party. Winston continues to do this regardless as an act of defiance against the party, and longing to live a free and happy life for …show more content…

Consistently throughout the book, Winston is always reminding himself that the world can change, and it will not always be this depressing way forever. He always imagines a world where he can freely do what he wants openly with Julia, like hold hands in public. He is always trying to rebel against the government in his own way, by not loyally following the party. This longing for a better society allows room for hatred against the party to generate. Winston, after getting his journal, writes “Down with big brother” multiple times, until it fills half of the page (Orwell 18). This action of Winston is a physical representation of his hatred towards the government, as well as his praying on their downfall. This only increases Winston’s motivation to rebel against the government as his disgust and hatred now fuels the actions. Julia and Winston's relationship also plays a part in his motivation against the government. Julia is a very rebellious woman, she is very sneaky, and knows her way around the telescreens. This trait of Julia’s encourages Winston to be the same. Unfortunately this inevitably unfolds in the end, when he becomes his own thought police. Since the beginning of the book, Winston has believed that no matter what he did he would get “vaporized” by the thought police. This was his motivation for continuing to rebel against the party and their strict

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Immediately following this act, Julia states that she must return to work for the junior anti-sex league. This is ironic because Julia and Winston committed a crime, then right after Julia goes to help with the prevention of this crime. This shows us that Winston does not care to follow the rules of the party. He knows that Julia is part of an important movement, aiding the Party in maintaining control, but chooses to disobey anyway. This tells us that Winston does not agree with the party but is continuing to maintain a facade of agreeing with them in order

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Winston fails to stay true to his belief of staying loyal to Julia going against how a hero is someone who is idealized for being moral. As part of the Party’s plan to reintegrate those who have rebelled against them, the final step is going to room 101 that holds “the worst thing in the world” (283). Winston and Julia have fail to betray each other throughout their obscure time in the Ministry of Love until one of Winston’s greatest fears, rats are literally brought to the table. Winston fears rats more than anything and he did not want to interact with them in any negative way causing him to yell out “'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!

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With this act of rebellion against the oppressive system of Oceania, Winston showcases his courage because he does all of this to aid him in his journey towards uncovering the truth of the past. Next, there is the selflessness that Winston possesses. For this specific quality, it is shown most prominently when Winston gets into a disagreement with Julia on their goals for their rebellion. During this argument, Winston firmly states that the reason for his desire to obtain and keep incriminating records of the Party’s lies is so that they can be left behind, thereby allowing for “‘the next generations [to] carry on where [they] leave off’” (196). From this, Winston demonstrates how unselfish he is because, rather than worrying about himself – like Julia – he wants actual change and progress to come as a result of his rebellion.

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Winston continues to disappoint further as because of the lack of his usual paranoia and good instinct in identification of character, he is defeated by Mr. Charrington’s avuncular mask, trusting him even with the notion that the Thought Police and telescreen surveillance is everywhere in the Party’s jurisdiction. His fatalism proves fatal in this scene as he falls with little resistance, allowing Julia to be violently captured in the process, conflicting with what a lover and a hero would normally do. Although unrealistic, it is to my belief that a heroic character would not betray their loved ones as well as themselves, which Winston eventually did as he developed love for Big Brother, detaching the connection he shared with Julia in the final scenes of the

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Winston keeps a diary and writes all of his thoughts down, this is know as thoughtcrime in 1984 (Moss and Wilson). In Winston’s diary most of the things he writes are thoughts about Big Brother and everything he thinks about him. Everyone in this society is supposed to love the Party and worship Big Brother. Winston does not think that Big Brother is all that good and he would like to see someone take down the Party. Someone who does not see Big Brother as a perfect figure in all ways, is considered a threat to the society because they could potentially try to persuade others into thinking the same and then the Party would not be able to control their society.

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He finally finds love for Big Brother, and then gets vaporized and never seen again. Another character in the novel that also rebels against The Party but in a hidden manner is Julia. Julia protests The Party’s siege for power by loving and having sex with Winston and other guys. In the book, Julia’s first instance towards Winston was when she pretended to fall, and gave him a note saying, “I Love You.”

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At the beginning of the novel, Winston made it prominent that he dissented Big Brother and his party’s idea. He wrote in his diary, in Book 1 Chapter 1, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER…” (Orwell 18). This shows that Winston dissented his country’s government and was willing to rebel for he knew deep inside that

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Although there are harsh rules that Winston was scared to disobey as he wanted to live his life without being tortured he decided to make a careless decision and make a rebellious decision to see Julia, a girl that he has become infatuated with, “If he could get her at a table by herself, somewhere in the middle of the room, not too near the telescreens, and with a sufficient buzz of conversation all round — if these conditions endured for, say, thirty seconds, it might be possible to exchange a few words” (Orwell 110). Winston could not keep himself away from Julia and had shared many things about himself that he thought was concealed when later he was caught with her. His act of not sharing anything about how he thinks and then still doing this with Julia and a man named O’Brien, yet relying on O’Brien at some points also led him to his downfall. O’Brien led Winston to think that he could share what he feared and how he felt with him as, “He was a person who could be talked to” (Orwell 252). Winston knew that he could only say, do, and show so much of

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Have you ever noticed that a common theme in movies are usually conservative? A recurring trend that is seen in films are either patriarchal family, use of firearms, and sometimes the viewers are strangled into witnessing christians practicing their faith. A good example of a movie that has all three of these aspects is the new critically acclaimed movie A Quiet Place. This movie has a 95% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is too much praise for a movie that is so oblivious to the problems the real world is facing (Rotten Tomatoes). John Krasinski (who was the director) claims he is liberal in his political standpoint, but it’s hard to tell when his movie is littered with conservative values.

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1714 Words | 7 Pages

“Winston feels frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the Party, which prohibits free thought and any expression of individuality” (Orwell) Winston dislikes the party and has illegally purchased a diary to write his criminal thoughts. He has also become fixated on a powerful Party member named O'Brien, who Winston believes is a secret member of the

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Winston eventually meets a woman named Julia who he is both enamored and repulsed by. His feelings of lust come from her striking and unusual beauty, while the feelings of disgust stem from the abolition of sex within Oceania.

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After falling in love with Julia and learning that there are other people in Oceania who wish to go against the ruling of INGSOC, Winston allows himself to give in to the desires that he had previously been too scared to indulge in, such as having repeated visits with Julia and purchasing items from Mr. Charrington’s shop that he knows would be reason for suspicion. After going against the wishes of Big Brother, Winston is arrested, and eventually allows his mind to succumb to the wishes of O’Brien. This is a sharp contrast to the morals centered around individual beliefs that Winston once held to a higher standard than his feelings towards Big

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911 Words | 4 Pages

As a result of the constant indoctrination, Winston succumbs to the Party’s way of thinking and “loves Big Brother” (Orwell, 300). When the Party destroys him, everything that he took pride in including freedom of expression, love and individuality is destroyed along with him representing that he had “won victory over himself” (Orwell, 300). Although he gives up all of the things which provide him happiness, this sacrifice has been made for selfish reasons as it is made to allow him to live ‘freely’ within

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They had held on to the primitive emotions which he himself had to relearn by conscious effort” (165). Winston, a member of the Outer Party, is exasperated by the internal workings of the Party as he lives in a terrifying society that completely represses humanity, while also demanding complete control of all aspects of daily life. Throughout Winston’s lifetime, Big Brother and the Party instill fear and paranoia in him through their persistent surveillance aimed at eliminating deviation from the Party and dehumanizing him, causing him to eventually misplace his loyalty as he lives unhappily. Orwell emphasizes how the Party demands not only loyalty and respect from their citizens, but also absolute obedience, causing them to live as puppets of the regime. While sitting in the Chestnut Tree Café, Winston is reminded of a conversation he had with Julia, where she remarked, “‘They can’t get inside you,’

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453 Words | 2 Pages

After a day of work, he wrote “I do not understand WHY” when questioning the motive and purpose of his job of falsifying the past (Orwell 88). People are supposed to blindly conform to the norms of their society, but Winston thinks beyond what is told to him. This symbolizes rebellion because intelligence is a powerful tool when opposing a stronger force. Furthermore, Winston wondered, “how to get in touch with” and “arrange a meeting” with Julia, even though it would be a forbidden affair. Outside of arranged marriages, there are no allowed relationships in his society.

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