No, Not *That* Big Brother.

[hapax_legoman]

Have you ever had a revelation that seems so obvious with hindsight that you’re not sure if it was something you once ‘knew’ but had long since forgotten?

I was thinking today about George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Winston Smith lives in a world in which the larger-than-life Big Brother (who Winston sometimes doubts is a real person) is always

Comments

[merlinmad]

I feel like I've just been told that 2+2 does not equal 4!
I cannot believe this was never brought up in class. In hindsight, it seems so obvious an interpretation.
How is this not noticed, when religion and the Bible is used in literary analysis more than anything else?

In your particular analysis, what plays the role of the serpent, would you say?

[hapax_legoman]

I feel like Charrington and O'Brien both do their bit for serpentine temptation, but since Winston lives in a dystopia it turns out that all the serpents work for God. (Or in O'Brien's case, may even *be* god.)

[merlinmad]

Would Goldstein be the equivalent of Satan? Or is this just a non-believer/blasphemer? That is an interesting question to ask.

Hey, I was thinking the other day: in Christianity, there are Angels, who are designated certain duties or who symbolise certain things. Did they "take over" the duty of greco-roman gods, and are gods in all but title?

[hapax_legoman]

Goldstein is definitely presented as Satan, but like the 'real' devil he may just be an imaginary construct to assure society's subservience