1984 Big Brother Essay

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In 1984 , the godlike Big Brother lurks in every conceivable public and private sphere through the Telescreens, hidden microphones, secret cameras, and prowling Thought Police. Big Brother’s sinister smirk hangs on every street corner in large, floor to ceiling posters that citizens cannot escape even in their own home. Big Brother’s inescapable presence commands not only perpetual obedience but utter, unwavering devotion. Questioning Big Brother’s decisions, proclamations, and reign unequivocally leads to vaporization, dubbed “becoming an unperson” in Newspeak, and torture in the heinous Ministry of Love. As Winston remarks in his diary “thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” A similar system existed in Maoist China. Chairman Mao was thought to never make mistakes; questioning Chairman Mao or the government in any way, including reporting the inefficiency In 1984, the Party systematically “turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations. The family had in fact become an extension of the Thought Police” (Orwell 136). Additionally, Party organizations like the Junior Spies strategically inculcate children to feverishly devote themselves to the pageantry and ideals of the party, and, due to their ferocity towards anyone misconstrued as an enemy “it was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children” (Orwell 20). The Junior Spies effectively transform the Oceanian youth into pawns of the totalitarian government. Like Mao’s Red Guard, these children are ardently loyal to their “patriotic” cause, and the terrifying new power of children to effectively kill any adult with a simple accusation subverts the traditional family dynamic, as children are compelled to turn in any supposed “thought criminal”, even if that ‘criminal’ is their

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