Who Is Big Brother in 1984?
Big Brother is the leader of the Party in 1984 and the face of the state of Oceania. His mustached face stares from posters everywhere with the caption that Big Brother is watching you, and every Party member is expected to love him. Yet no one in the novel ever meets him, and he may not exist as a real person at all.
He represents the all-seeing power of a totalitarian state and is often compared to Joseph Stalin.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who is he? | Leader and symbol of the Party in Oceania |
| What does he look like? | A man of about 45 with a heavy black mustache |
| Has anyone seen him? | No one in the book ever meets him |
| Is he real? | O'Brien says he exists but will never die |
| Modeled on | Partly Joseph Stalin and wartime leaders' posters |
| Legacy | A common term for intrusive surveillance |
Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is presented as the founder and leader of the Party, the guardian of Oceania and the source of every victory and achievement. Party history credits him with leading the revolution and inventing everything from airplanes onward. His image appears on coins, posters, books and telescreens, and during the Two Minutes Hate his face appears on screen to calm the crowd after the image of the enemy Goldstein.
↑ Back to the topDoes Big Brother really exist?
Winston asks O'Brien directly whether Big Brother exists in the same way he himself does. O'Brien answers that Big Brother exists but that Winston does not, and that Big Brother will never die. The Party presents him as the embodiment of the Party itself. Goldstein's book explains that Big Brother is the face the Party chooses to show the world, because it is easier for people to feel love, fear and reverence toward a person than toward an organization. Whether a real man is behind the face is never answered.
↑ Back to the topWhat role does Big Brother play in the story?
Big Brother is the object of everything the Party demands: loyalty, love and fear. Winston's first act of rebellion is writing down with Big Brother in his diary. His final defeat is the moment he realizes that he loves Big Brother. Between those two points, Big Brother never says or does anything directly, which is part of what makes him so menacing.
↑ Back to the topWho was Big Brother based on?
Big Brother's mustached face and personality cult strongly recall Joseph Stalin, and the Party's methods mirror those of the Soviet Union. Orwell also drew on the propaganda of Nazi Germany and on wartime posters in Britain.
↑ Back to the topWhat does Big Brother mean today?
Big Brother has become a common phrase for any government or organization that watches people too closely, from security cameras to data collection. The name was also borrowed for the reality television show in which contestants are filmed around the clock.
↑ Back to the topMore about 1984
Written by Tori Books for readers and students.