Chris' thoughts on 1984, Part 3

Did Big Brother really exist? Did Goldstein really exist? The answer to these question is that it doesn’t really matter if either of them existed. They were only embodiments used by the Party to represent good and evil. As the book explained Big Brother earned his name in order to give it a protective family reference. Someone who could be trusted and always there for you.

At one time Goldstein might have been a resistance fighter, chosen to be the face of all that was wrong with the world. Had he lived he might have been years dead by Winston’s time but still used subversively (kind of reminds me of Osama bin Laden).

When Winston asked O’Brien if Big Brother existed, O’Brien said that he did. But when pressed further, as to whether or not he was a flesh and blood man, O’Brien was vague, never getting pinned down. O’Brien claimed that Winston was not a real man anymore, but according to Winston’s definition of what a ‘real man’ was, Winston did exist. So by O’Brien’s definition, both are true. O’Brien defined man differently from Winston, therefore he did exist. But he didn’t exist because he does not occupy space in the way that Winston defined man.

Coming back to my point, it doesn’t matter. People thought that Big Brother existed, and therefore he had power. They were told that he was watching, and therefore were kept in check more by fear than by any real threat. With all of the people populating the world it would be impossible to watch everyone at once. But if people thought they were always being monitored, they would behave, just in case. The power is in not knowing.

It reminds me of an article I read of Michel Focault. In discussing the panopticon, the prisoner in the cell cannot see if the ward is watching him, and therefore will behave in accordance to whether or not he thinks he is being watched. If he is trying to do what he thinks is expected of him, he will behave in the chance that he is being watched.

Big Brother, and more specifically the Party hold power not because they have the ability to monitor everyone at once, but because they hold the illusion that they can watch everyone at once. People know the punishments for disobedience and therefore behave, and even train their thoughts to keep them safe from the thought police.

It is only those who give the Party reason to suspect them that are monitored, as is the case with Winston. He took and strange look from O’Brien to be a signal, and acted upon it. He was set up, and after he acted, he was monitored full time. But the majority of the people who spent their lives in front of a telescreen were probably not watched 24/7. Power, as always is more heavy when the illusion of power holds it up.