Big Brother is portrayed as a puppet master controlling all aspects of Oceania and manipulating its citizens. In the novel, it is unclear if Big Brother is a real person or fictional propaganda created by the Party. Big Brother controls Oceania through the four ministries that dictate media, economic affairs, and education, allowing the government to change people's perceptions of reality and convince them they live in a good world. As the omnipresent father figure, Big Brother is depicted everywhere to make citizens believe they are constantly watched and compelled to obey him, even though his actual existence remains uncertain.
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1984 Big Brother Interpretation
1. Davila
Jonathan Davila
English 4, P.4
April 21, 2010
Master of Puppets
In the book 1984, we see the book mentioning Big
Brother a lot throughout the story. While reading the book
we are unaware if Big Brother really exist or is he just
one big lie. In my presentation I will be showing a picture
of how I see Big Brother and the way I see him controlling
Oceania. In the book everyone is under control by the
government and the leader Big Brother. My picture will show
Big Brother as a puppet master controlling all the
movements that go on in Oceania and controlling all the
people to do what he expects them to do. I will be
describing how Big Brother controls every aspect of the
story and how he manipulates the way everything is
portrayed throughout the story. In the novel, we do not
know if Big Brother is a man or someone who was just
created by the Party. In the Party’s propaganda, Big
Brother is shown as a real person and is thought to be one
of the founders of the Party along with Goldstein.
In the story, People look up to Big Brother as there
leader and everyone listens to him. Winston speaks a lot
about Big Brother and believes he should be taken down, but
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in the end realizes he and everyone else in Oceania needs
him. In the story people must see Big Brother as some kind
of unknown father figure and know that they need him to
survive. In the government of 1984 everything is controlled
by Big Brother in the forms of 4 different Ministries. Each
Ministry controls a different subject such as media,
economic affairs and education. By controlling these
problems he can change the way people view the world and
make up things that aren’t even real to make people believe
that they are living in a good world. In Oceania they have
3 slogans that are all over the place so everyone could see
them. People are also surrounded by photos of Big Brother
and are convinced they are being watched by him everyday
without even knowing if he exists.
Big Brother is a father figure to everyone in story.
He makes people believe they need him even though they are
unaware of his existence. Big Brother shows that the more
we see and hear things the more we start believing. By
controlling everything in Oceania, everyone will begin
looking up to Big Brother realizing he is the reason why
everyone is able to survive. Everyone is convinced
throughout the story that they are living in a good world
where they can receive everything from an imaginary
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government. In the end Big Brother will always play an
important role in the lives of all the people in Oceania.
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